Since its launch in mid-Apr. 2005, the new Andrews University website has received a lot of attention, from more than just future students checking out the campus, or faculty and staff looking to download an expense report. The site’s crisp design and user-friendly layout won two awards this fall and took its designer, Martin Lee, to the nation’s capital to present at a conference.
The university received its first award in late Aug., when Lee received news Andrews won an award of excellence in the category of “Entire Website” in the University & College Designers Association’s (UCDA) 35th Annual Design Competition. Winning entries were displayed at the association’s annual conference in San Diego, Calif., in Sept.
Most recently, Andrews received a silver Pride of CASE V award for Best Institutional Website this past Dec., competing against other colleges and universities in Wis., Mich., Ind., Ill., Minn., and Ohio. The award was announced at the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) District V Conference in Chicago, Ill.
“It’s nice to see us win something, because it shows we’re being recognized and that our work is paying off,” stated Lee, Andrews Web coordinator.
Lee’s hard work also took him to Washington, D.C., where he presented at the Serena Xchange 2005 Global User Conference, held Sept. 18–21. Serena, the vendor of the university’s content management system (CMS), was impressed with the site’s online calendar and asked Lee to demonstrate how to create one at the conference.
Serena also invited Lee to be on their product advisory board, where he’s able to share his opinions and make suggestions on future product versions and features.
“The Andrews Web presence has come a long way since its inception,” said Lee. “With more and more people going to the Web for their information, it’s become important for us to make the Web a priority as well. We’re a small office with limited resources, so we’ve had to learn to work smarter to accomplish our goals by doing things right with technology and design. And, we’re happy to see that we’re getting good results.”
Beverly Stout, University Relations news writer
