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Course Marketing Pages Project 2016 – Changes to Campus Solutions

03 Feb 2016

In June this year, new functionality will be available as a major improvement to the course marketing pages within the corporate website

The University’s web presence is one of the primary means of driving student recruitment and in a recent survey of prospective undergraduate students who declined to take up an offer at the University, 84% stated that course content was an important factor in their decision-making.

What are we doing?

The project will improve performance of course marketing information by displaying richer content such as videos, images, charts, and variants of course titles on the University and School websites. It will also improve search functionality and course listings. To facilitate these enhancements, new features will be added to the existing Web Publishing Module in Campus Solutions and the Podcasting Service.

What are the benefits?

After the project has completed, course marketing pages will have the ability to display richer content on the central and School websites, have improved search facilities and course listings, and be standardised across the University, resulting in greater engagement with course information by prospective students, evidenced by Google Analytics.

When will the new functionality be available?

The project will complete by 6 June 2016, with new functionality available across all programmes displaying course information through the corporate website. However, it is envisaged that only a small number of courses will display enriched content from the launch date. This will allow for content to be updated over a longer period of time reflecting both when rich content is available, and the capacity for colleagues in Schools and Faculties to update course content.

Who is involved?

The Course Marketing Pages Project Board reports to the Student Recruitment Marketing Group (SRMG) and is comprised of the following colleagues:

  • Paul Govey (Chair), Head of Student Communications and Marketing, DSE
  • Marie Gray, Head of Communications and Marketing, Faculty of Humanities
  • Sali Midjek-Conway, Head of Communications and Marketing, Faculty of MHS
  • Caitlin Clifford, UK/EU Marketing and Recruitment Officer, Faculty of Life Sciences
  • Zabina Kosar-Ahmed, Student Recruitment Manager, Faculty of EPS
  • Tony Fargher, Team Leader Business Improvement Team, Student System Office
  • John Crowe, Web Developer, Division of Communications and Marketing
  • Andy Simmons, Content Manager, Division of Communications and Marketing
  • Vera Sokolovski, Project Manager, IT Services 

Next steps

A small number of courses, identified by Faculty leads, will be the focus of enriched content in the first instance and will then act as exemplars of best practice. Each Faculty will then develop a longer-term plan for the provision of enriched course content across all of its courses. 

Communications to users

IT Services will shortly be communicating with all Campus Solutions users about the project and the forthcoming changes. Further details will be made available as soon as this is confirmed.

Training

IT Services will undertake training for colleagues using the Web Publishing Module in advance of the 6 June go-live date. Additional training and toolkits will be available as part of routine activity after this date.

Further information

For further information concerning the overall project contact vera.sokolovski@manchester.ac.uk.