UWM’s website is the university’s online identity, reflecting the quality and reputation of the institution. It is our No. 1 recruitment tool, having reach and impact that surpasses all other communication channels. For many, it is their first encounter with and first impression of the university.
Prospective students consistently report that the quality and usability of a university’s website can influence whether they will consider that university in their search process. For UWM to be competitive in the higher education digital landscape and for its online presence to support UWM’s 2030 Action Plan commitment to students’ academic and personal journey, it is essential that UWM.edu deliver a unified, on-brand, welcoming and inclusive experience.
UWM Student-centric Web is an initiative that builds upon the goals of UWM’s Web Identity 2.0 initiative, which are to improve the quality and consistency, accessibility and efficiency of maintenance of UWM’s website. Student-centric Web aims to further improve UWM.edu with a focus on the needs of future and current students. Student-centric Web is part of the Build the Brand initiative.
Goals
- Adopt a mindset that UWM.edu is a single website focused on the needs of future and current students.
- Improve the user experience and digital accessibility across the UWM.edu website.
- Provide clear information hierarchy and a consistent, unified user experience.
- Reduce the quantity of website content.
- Maintain a healthy website over the long term.
Carnegie Engagement
MarComm is partnering with the Carnegie Dartlet Web Team on the Student-centric Web initiative. Carnegie’s work includes:
- Gathering data by conducting discovery sessions, a website content audit, user experience assessments, student user research and web content editor surveys.
- Establishing a new navigation system and content structure for UWM.edu that aligns with how students search for information.
- Optimizing content and layout of key student-facing web pages, such as academics, admissions, cost and aid, and student support services.
- Creating audience-specific gateway pages so that future students, current students, parents and family, and other audiences can easily find information that is relevant to them.
- Identifying opportunities for content consolidation and reduction.
- Establishing a web governance framework to ensure a healthy web presence over the long term.
- Conducting usability testing on improvements made to the UWM.edu website.
Campus Community Involvement
Making UWM’s website student-centric has a direct impact on UWM’s ability to recruit and retain students. The campus community is involved in this important work in a number of ways:
- Stakeholder discovery sessions with Carnegie.
- Student user experience research.
- Survey of web content editors.
- Workshops on critical aspects of web content management, such as writing for the web, accessibility and search engine optimization.
- Web governance workshops.
- Usability testing.
Deliverables
- Key recruitment and retention pages are being updated and improved.
- A new website header, footer and navigation (including universal navigation and footer) are being rolled out (view new header rollout schedule).
- New audience gateway pages are being created or, if they already exist, updated and improved.
- Key content quality issues are being fixed for campus web content editors (broken links, overly large images, incorrect heading structure, etc.).
- Support and learning resources are being expanded.
- A web governance framework is being introduced.
Deliverables will be rolled out in phases.
Rollout
UWM will implement Carnegie’s recommendations through several phases in 2025 and 2026.
| Phase | Timeframe for completion | Status of work | Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | January 2025 | Progress | Key recruitment and retention pages updated, improved New audience gateway pages New website header, universal navigation and footer rolled out for home page, top-level pages |
| Phase 2 | May 2025 | Progress | New website header, universal navigation and footer rolled out for key student services and support pages New website header, universal navigation and footer will also be rolled out as part of Web Identity 2 projects in progress during late 2024 or beyond Two additional top-level pages updated, improved (About UWM, About Milwaukee) Web governance framework introduced Support and learning resources expanded |
| Phase 3 | August 2025 | Progress | New website header, universal navigation and footer rolled out for schools/colleges Key issues fixed for campus web content editors (broken links, overly large images, incorrect heading structure, etc.) |
| Phase 4 | January 2026 | Scheduled | New website header, universal navigation and footer rolled out for all web content on Web Identity 2 Web content and web content editor activities aligned with web governance framework |
| Phase 5 | April 2026 | Progress | Complete move of all UWM.edu web content from Web Identity 1 to Web Identity 2 and address digital accessibility content remediation in support of digital accessibility compliance. |
Contacts
If you have questions about the Student-centric Web initiative, please don’t hesitate to reach out to:
Lead: Mark Jacobson, markj@uwm.edu
Director of Web – Marketing, Communications & University Relations
Co-lead: Regan Jacobson, jacobsr@uwm.edu
Web Creative Director – Marketing, Communications & University Relations