November 18, 2011

If you’ve been to the Westphal website recently, you’ve probably noticed some big changes. Our site, www.drexel.edu/westphal, has received a stylish and updated new look with increased usability and social media features. The site is loaded with tons of information about our programs, faculty and initiatives, examples of our student’s creative work, info on admissions, and the latest news and happenings at Westphal. 

Starting this past February, we began the time-consuming process of migrating our old website to a content management system called Sitecore. The advantages of Sitecore are easier site maintenance, ensuring web accessibility compliance, ease of visual updates, and a more up-to-date site design. In total, we migrated several thousand text pages and images, and it took more than 70 meetings over the past year and half to complete the project. 

Josh Gdovin, Graphic Design alumnus and owner of Gvodin Designs, a multimedia design shop, designed our new site. We also owe special thanks to Sandy Stewart, our Academic Associate Dean, who worked closely with Josh in coordinating all of the aspects of the new web site along with Drexel’s IRT department and our own Jason Rappaport.

We launched our previous site in 2005, which has served us well over the past six years as a mainstay of our outreach to prospective and current students, faculty, and diverse constituencies who want to know more about our College. That site, which has received more than one million hits each year, was designed by Westphal students working with Electronic Ink, an international business system Design consultancy firm dedicated to improving the way people interact with technology, environments and one another.

The website would not have come to completion had it not been for the hard work of the committee members: David Tristano, IRT, sitecore project manager; Allen Daniel, IRT Usability expert; Josh Gdovin, Gvodin Designs, designer; Sandra Stewart; Jason Rappaport; Bill Rees; Zeek Weil; Justin Mignone; Anne Cecil; Luke Abruzzo; Miller David; Troy Finamore; and Jordan Santell. Content migrators included Katelyn Godfrey, Jenna Dundas, Jacquelyn Parsons, Jamie Lynch, Ross Reagan, and Colin Wagner. If you have feedback about the new website we’d love to hear from you. Please email Lisa at visco@drexel.edu.