Press release:
Genesee Community College has just launched a redesigned Web site at www.genesee.edu, exemplifying the college's continued efforts to best meet the changing needs of its broad student population – both through its degree and certificate programs and online.
The underlining purpose and theme of the new design is user-friendly interactivity. Now more than ever, the vibrant atmosphere of campus life at Genesee Community College comes across on its home page.
The site was overhauled to give users streamlined page portals for fast access to essential departments and utilities, while infusing interactive options and information. For instance, the popular and ever-updated rotating home page photos now include a multi-dot navigation bar beneath the photos allowing users to click through the informational options at their whim and will, instead of waiting for the images to cycle through at their own pace.
Beneath the rotational photos is the new resource carousel featuring links to the most popular Web pages, such as Orientation, Homecoming, Open Houses and Course Schedules. Like the rotational home page photos, these are "clickable" using the right and left arrows giving the user maximum interaction control.
Below the resource carousel, two popular features return with greater prominence, College News and the Events Calendar, while the new Faces of GCC column on the right highlights student success, which is the central, unifying force behind the college's overall mission. Faces of Genesee provide photos and related comments by students of all ages alongside their academic area of interest. Each time a user returns to the home page, a new Face of GCC pops up. But here's a quick tip: by clicking on the headline, a user can view all the current of Faces collectively.
"The college's Web Team, which has representation from every department and division, meets monthly and is continuously monitoring webpage usage and exploring the newest utilities for the most effective user experience," said Richard Ensman, director of External Affairs and chair of the Web Team. "The digital world offers so many new opportunities and we are vigilant in maintaining the most up-to-date presence on the Internet."
The new site also features daily updates to the calendar of events and college news, and designated tabs for users to quickly find the resources they need in Academics, the ACE program, Admissions, Athletics, Arts, Campus Life, the Alfred O'Connell Library and The BEST Center.
The bright yellow Quick Links tab at the upper right of the page provides yet another fast connection to important pages, by expanding the homepage size and giving access to important resources such as Financial Aid, the Directory or the Course Catalog. The user can quickly collapse the home page back to its original size when desired.
At the bottom right, social media icons link to GCC's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WordPress and Flickr accounts, and to the college's RSS feeds. Each of Genesee Community College's campus centers -- Albion, Arcade, Dansville, Lima, Medina and Warsaw -- also has its own link in the footer of the site.
Beyond the homepage, many tertiary pages have also been revised and updated. Of specific interest is the Student OneStop page, which provides more than 60 links to key departments and resources. The library page not only provides 27 alphabetical categories of online databases, but users can also quickly see the newest acquisitions using left and right scrolling arrows and quick-click information about access, availability and sign out.
"At GCC, our Web development work is never done. We are always looking for new ways to share information and make our resources readily available to the community in the best possible manner," Ensman said. "We also always encourage comments and suggestions to make our Web site ever better."
