Announcing UAA Website Initiative

by Bruce Schultz, UAA Interim Chancellor  |   

Dear UAA Faculty and Staff,

UAA’s website serves prospective and current students throughout their college journey and after graduation. Our website allows students to explore the college experience and see themselves succeeding at UAA. EAB (Education Advisory Board) research shows that students rank the university website as the most helpful information source in their experience searching for a college to attend. 

As part of addressing the holistic student experience, University Advancement partnered with Information Technology to hire Michael Tallino-Smith to the position of Associate Director of Student Web Experience. He has been charged to implement structures and strategies that improve our web experiences to best serve our students.

To start on this monumental and varied task, I am appointing a web advisory committee to begin the process of making our UAA 2025 aspiration of "putting students first" a reality on our website. Over the next six to nine months, this group will be focused on the following progress, specific to the Anchorage campus web environment.

  • Accessibility policies
  • UAA homepage
  • Current student experience
  • Information architecture and organization
  • SEO improvements

Collaborations with community campus stakeholders are underway to expand this work across our campuses. Results of the alignment process will inform the potential expansion of this work in the future.  

UAA leadership nominated these individuals to begin the work on these important priorities and I wish to thank them in advance for their service. The web advisory committee includes:

  • Zachery Ahrens, USUAA Senator
  • Mary Jo Finney, Dean of the Graduate School
  • Cassandra Keefer, Executive Director of Admissions
  • Kimberly Morton, Executive Director of Student Engagement and Inclusion
  • Kirstin Olmstead, Director of Public Relations
  • Michael Robinson, Web Librarian
  • Benjamin Shier, Chief Information Officer
  • Michael Tallino-Smith, Associate Director of Student Web Experience
  • Raymond Weber, Dean of the Community & Technical College

This document provides more detail and a timeline of this important work. 

Thank you in advance for your support of this important work.

Sincerely,
Bruce Schultz
UAA Interim Chancellor

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