WKU launches new design of website

Emma Collins

On Jan. 20, WKU launched a new, updated version of its website wku.edu.

The changes, which were the collaborative effort of a group of faculty and staff members called the Web Standards Committee, were prompted by the desire to create a more modern look with updated features that were easy to use, said WKU’s chief marketing officer Stacey Biggs.

In addition to a new look, the website also has a larger focus on encouraging prospective students to join the university.

“It does definitely have a focus towards prospective students. If you look at all the various calls to action that are throughout the page when you scroll down, you’ll see a lot of places where it says, ‘Apply to WKU,’ ‘Visit WKU,’” Biggs said.

One new feature focuses on potential students. It is an interactive map that allows visitors to explore WKU’s four campus centers when viewers click on various locations.

One updated feature was The Campus Portal, now called myWKU.

“It was previously called The Campus Portal, and we kind of rebranded it and changed platforms,” Gary Hackbarth, the director of Enterprise Systems said.

MyWKU allows students to use their netID to log on to sites such as Blackboard, TopNet and WKU Web mail simultaneously.

The entire process took nearly a year and came with its share of challenges.

“What particularly makes it so difficult is you’ve got 20,000 current people, plus however many prospective student … you’re trying to make that many different types of people happy,” Eric Wolfe, the director of Enterprise Applications and Programming said.

Despite those challenges, the response so far has been mostly positive.

“Most people feel it’s a fresh new look that is definitely geared towards the younger crowd,” Wolfe said.