Who’s Who
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
By Phil de HaanWe (Matt Jeltema, Luke Robinson and Phil de Haan) are working with a good group of people as we think about what Calvin’s Web site might look like in the future. In fact I joined the project a little late and still feel like I’m catching up with an amazing amount of work that was done before my arrival! Jeanne Nienhuis, the associate director of admissions and financial aid, led what had been called the Next Steps Committee and she did a great job putting this project in motion and setting a foundation and a framework for where we go from here. So thanks Jeanne!
Other members of the committee are faculty members Keith VanderLinden from computer science, Steve VanderLeest from engineering and Kathi Groenendyk from communication arts and sciences, vice presidents Henry DeVries and Tom McWhertor, Jan Druyvesteyn from advancement, Steve Ruis from admissions, Joy’l VerHeul from student life and Jennifer Heeringa from information technology.
As my last post noted the RFPs have gone out and now we are starting to get some calls and emails from folks who received the packet. So that’s exciting. We’ll keep you posted as we proceed…
Phil de Haan, interim director of communications and marketing
In the Beginning
Friday, November 16, 2007
By Phil de HaanSo, here we go.
After 10 years with pretty much the same approach to our Web site we’re looking to reinvent the way we do www at Calvin College.
A group of us has been meeting for a while now to think about the many issues related to calvin.edu, including where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going.
At this point three of us—Phil de Haan, Luke Robinson and Matt Jeltema—have been asked to coordinate the project and we have a team of folks with whom we are working, including from the faculty side of the college, student life, enrollment and external relations, admissions and financial aid and communications and marketing.
It’s a big undertaking we’re embarking on here. Calvn’s Web site is probably the single-biggest opportunity (communications vehicle?) we have to connect to a wide variety of audiences—everyone from prospective students and their parents to alumni and friends to current students, faculty and staff. Not to mention the media, other colleges and universities, community partners and many more!
Our goal is to build a new Web site that is rich in content, visually dynamic, easy to navigate, uses appropriate Web and multimedia technology and, in a broad sense, is a showcase of all that Calvin has to offer. Oh, and we want it to be easy to use for those on campus who author pages!
We’re getting the RFP out today as we look for someone with whom we can partner on this grand undertaking. And we’re looking for feedback ... from students, faculty and staff, from parents, from donors, from media. We’re here and we’re listening.
Phil de Haan, interim director of communications and marketing