New Media at Lewis & Clark

The Lewis & Clark website is a powerful tool for communicating with the institution’s key audiences. The new media team in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications maintains the front pages of the institution's website and helps faculty, staff, and departments set up and manage sites using our content management system, Trillium.

What We Do

We empower you to manage your Web communications without the hassle of learning HTML and the other fundamentals of website creation. You understand your area best and are therefore best suited to develop content and create a communications plan for your area.

We use our expertise to help you develop the best strategy for communicating on the Internet. We assist with content planning, information architecture, and setting up webpages with Trillium. We also help with image selection and scanning and provide Trillium training and website advice. We will work with the Division of Information Technology to set up more technical and advanced website features as needed (e.g., alumni directories, rental postings, admitted-student websites, course schedules) and assist you with finding outside vendors as necessary.

How It Works

Department and Faculty Webpages

Academic departments, administrative offices, and faculty members have the choice of two types of websites:

• Personal sites, which are created with an HTML editor and uploaded to the server with an FTP program. The Division of Information Technology provides technical assistance for this type of website.
• Trillium pages, which incorporate the standard Lewis & Clark webdesign and are edited with Trillium through a Web browser. The new media team provides technical support for this type of site.

Lewis & Clark Front Pages

The Lewis & Clark website has four front pages: an institutional page, an undergraduate college page, a graduate school page, and a law school page. Each page shares these common elements:

Front Page Navigation – Each front page has a set of navigation links that are specific to the needs of that page’s audience as well as some standard navigation links pointing to frequently visited features such as the site search, A-Z index, maps, People Finder, and webmail. The navigation links on the three front pages, which are located above and to the left of the main content area, have been chosen with care and approved by the appropriate administrators for each area. The new media team contributes professional knowledge of audience behavior based on Web usage research as well as technical expertise and deep familiarity with the Lewis & Clark website. To avoid confusing visitors to the site, changes to these navigation links should be made only rarely and with much thought. Criteria for selecting the websites to use in the left side panel of navigation on the front pages include: institutional priority, the use of the standard Lewis & Clark Web design, unique content, quality and quantity of content, target audience appeal, and regular care/maintenance.

Campus News – This section is managed by the public relations team in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. Departments and faculty members can work with the public relations team to craft Web releases for the campus news section.

Campus Events – Events are automatically added to the front pages from entries in the Web calendar of events. All Lewis & Clark faculty, staff, and students may add events to the calendar. The major events list is managed by the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. Major events include campuswide events such as new student orientation and commencement as well as major multiday events such as gallery exhibitions and symposia. Any member of the Lewis & Clark community may suggest additions for this list by e-mailing the new media team. Please read the policies first.

Spotlights – Spotlights give each school the ability to highlight or promote programs, websites, accomplishments, events, and other noteworthy items. The short spotlight text for the front page is written primarily by the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. However, for all spotlights, there must be content to link to from the front page.

Personal Pages

All members of the Lewis & Clark community have access to personal Web space. For assistance with personal pages of all types, contact Information Technology.

Other New Media

While our primary focus is on the Lewis & Clark website, we are here to assist with other new media needs as well. We can help you plan your new media projects (e.g., DVDs, virtual tours, fill-in form PDFs) and assist you in finding the right vendors, independent contractors, or student workers as necessary.

Timelines

Websites take time to develop and require careful thought and planning. When you are considering starting a new website, you will benefit by meeting with the new media team early in the process as you are planning the content for your site. If you already have a site, remember to meet with the new media team early when you are planning new webpages for events, conferences, and new programs.

A new site typically takes 4-6 weeks to set up after we have received your final approved content, but without prior planning or final content, it is likely to take longer. Regular site updates and fixes can happen more quickly. Expect a 1-2 week turnaround for smaller projects and requests. Emergency changes and assistance are possible but not encouraged. Please note that priorities are based on institutional need.

Trillium is designed to empower individuals to make regular updates and additions to their websites themselves. The new media team offers Trillium training classes as well as individual training sessions. Please schedule individual sessions with us at least a week in advance.

Who Will Work With You

Noah Kersey, communications officer for new media, provides consultation, training, and Web development services for Web content creators.

Roles and Expectations

The new media team expects that our clients will do the following:

• Identify a single person – either staff or faculty – as the website contact.
• Take ownership of the website, keep content up to date, and train any students who will be working on the site.
• Provide timely responses to e-mails and phone calls. (Naturally, queries that go unanswered will delay projects.)
• Provide final content in electronic format in the early stages of the project. (In most cases, project timelines begin when we receive final approved content.)
• Start projects in a timely manner, giving us a minimum of 4-6 weeks for new websites and large projects and 1-2 weeks for smaller projects.

Our clients should expect that the new media team will do the following:

• Listen openly and carefully to the client's goals and needs.
• Provide timely responses to e-mails and phone calls.
• Give the client our best advice and refer the client to other resources as necessary.
• Balance the client's needs with the best interest of the institution.
• Provide regular communication about deadlines and project status.
• Meet all agreed upon deadlines or provide adequate notice to extend a deadline. (Naturally, all final content and instructions must be provided in a timely manner for a project to be completed on time.)
• Seek approvals from the single client contact before any new site or page is made public. (When we get requests from other faculty, students, or staff, we'll refer those requests to the single client contact.)