OCTOBER 16, 2019 • VOLUME 90 • ISSUE 8
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
OPINION: JUNIOR HOUSING P. 5
SPORTS: NOTHIN’ BUT NET P. 12
DT: FALL FEST P. 6 & 7
Fall Fest REVAMPED To learn more about the changes, see pages 6 & 7
Brand-new qu.edu
Quinnipiac to launch a new website next fall based on feedback from the community
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Quinnipiac’s main website, qu.edu, will launch its redesign in the fall of 2020. “The website really is kind of the key into the university,” Jim Ryan, associate vice president for the Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications, said. “It’s the one place where (people) get to go to see exactly what our university has to offer. We have an incredible story to tell and I think it’s very important that we make sure we get that story right.” The website’s redesign was approved in April. Ryan said that it will no longer be targeted mainly at prospective students. It will now be aimed at the entire Quinnipiac community, from prospective students to alumni, and everyone in between. “We have a new president, we have a strategic plan, the university of the future,” Ryan said. “We need to make sure the site reflects the things that are important in that plan, the four pillars of that plan.” The new website is currently going through the design phase and the university is hoping to allow the entire community to give feedback. The process will include oneon-one and group interviews, focus groups and university-wide surveys. Associate Vice
President for Information Services Janice Wachtarz said the process will help discover how the community envisions the website. “I’ll take in everyone’s ideas, what they want and expect from the website and then narrow it down to an MVP,” Wachtarz said. “We need to launch our most viable product.” Ryan stressed that the website will be in a state of constant improvement and that the new site will be easier to adjust and change as time goes on. “No website’s ever perfect and no website’s ever done,” Ryan said. “We’re never going to be, OK, we built it, we’ve launched it, see you later. Right? That’s just not reality. That never happens.” This will be the sixth iteration of Quinnipiac’s website. Wachtarz says that the average website lasts around four years. The current version of qu.edu will turn three in November. Keith Rhodes, former chief digital officer of the university, was in charge of creating and launching the current website in 2016. He said that the current website is doomed to fail. “Quinnipiac is a tuition-dependent university and the university website is the primary vehicle and communications flagship – where students actively learn about the See WEBSITE Page 2
Staff Meetings on Tuesdays at 9:15 p.m. in SB123
SCREENSHOT FROM QU.EDU
Keith Rhodes, former chief digital officer, designed the current qu.edu, and he said he stands by his work.
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INDEX
Associate News Editor
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By STEPHEN MACLEOD
Opinion: 4
Arts and Life: 8
Sports: 10