Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - Needles Hall (NH) 3001 - 3:00 pm
Present:
Lara Babalola, Marta Bailey, Janice Cooke, Sarah Forgrave, Guillermo Fuentes, Eva Grabinski, Marlon Griffith, Lauren Harrison, Adam Hewgill, John Kemp, Janet Janes, Tammy Marcinko, Geoff McBoyle, Paul Miskovsky, Kris Olafson, Kevin Paxman, Terry Stewart (Chair), Wendy Philpott, Evan Truong, Jonathan Woodcock, Kelley Teahen, Allan Bell (for Chris Gray), Pat Lafranier, Christine Liebig
Absent:
Mary Lynn Benninger, Michelle Douglas-Mills, Jaymis Goertz, Jim Johnston, Don Duff-McCracken, Guillermo Fuentes, Karen Jack, Isaac Morland.
Guests:
Bud Walker, Janet Passmore, Melody Mui, Julie Kalbfleisch
1. Chair's remarks
The Chair welcomed Christine Liebig from Centre for Extended Learning (CEL); newest member of WAC. Also welcomed our guests.
2. Minutes of February 17 - approved
3. White Whale Web Services (Jason Pontius, Janie Porche)
- discussed underlying philosophy before 'unveiling'
- primary considerations: Drupal Content Management System (CMS) -- they aren't experts but realize Drupal doesn't do well with deep navigation; faculty/dept navigation clarity; proposing site-wide global navigation; navigation and usability; Waterloo's website traffic with mobile users especially the use of the BlackBerry so including a BlackBerry-only homepage; finding what you need (search) should no longer be a problem and to solve permanently. header - search box top right with auto-complete; UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO wordmark in top left.
- navigation - homepage will have panels that open with one click access; across the top: ABOUT WATERLOO (for external visitors; history, administration, campuses, student life, teaching and research); TODAY @ WATERLOO (Daily Bulletin, etc); FACULTIES & ACADEMICS; OFFICES & SERVICES A-Z/APPLYING? START HERE (go-to place; to streamline; input from Maketing & Undergraduate Recruitment (MUR)). Separate gateway navigation: Students, Faculty, Staff, International, Alumni, Employers
- wanted to know what it feels like as a student; to define the waterloo experience; make something to speak to the students and show their desire to learn and commit to learning in a positive and interesting way; found University of Waterloo photo club - displayed samples of this very active club; some poetic and lovely; difficult to strike a balance so these photos helped a lot; photos by students are a good idea and promotes engagement. more about photos: don't use staged photos; if using staff photos, don't have the only contributor being the staff photographer;
- the 8 University of Waterloo words should be talked about without stating the words. Feedback from staff and faculty: the the words are not authentic; want to talk in sentences and statements that are true. "The last way to look 'bold' is to say 'bold'"
- 4 links on the photo's right: YOUR RESEARCH; YOUR EXPERIENCE; YOUR IMPACT, YOUR COMMUNITY footer: contact us; maps & directions; about this site; social media icon/links (FB, Twitter...) The Chair invited comments regarding the new design:
- "Love it; can work with it."
- "Could you bookmark your own page and upload own image?" WW answer - "Theoretically, yes. Something we've thought about already."
- "Awesome design." "I feel emotional and proud that I went to University of Waterloo"
- "will the photos on the homepage change after each visit?" - Depends on how many pictures are in the image pool. If there are many then that could work. If not so many, recommend not rotating through them. Next step? Sarah Forgrave is collecting information. Chair asked "how many like the new design?" Show of hands: ~95%.
4. Waterloo CMS Project Update (Eva Grabinski)
(Eva's Powerpoint presentation is online) The Drupal installation will be a central implementation as per IT Task Force report. Benefits include reduced duplication, maintenance, training and support. The launch will be with the new web design; the web design will use the Waterloo Content Management System (WCMS); high-level project schedule based on McGill's schedule displayed; 4 team members attending DrupalCon conference in April with follow-up presentations; collaborating with Universities: Calgary, Brock, McGill and Windsor. Concern voiced by WAC member that the central implementation announcement needs to be mentioned at University Committee on Information Systems and Technology (UCIST) and computing Technology and Services Committee (CTSC). Eva will follow-up.
5. Policy on Advertising on University of Waterloo web pages (Terry Stewart)
Karen Jack absent. Chair mentioned Alan George's memo of thanks to the committee for its work. Bud Walker is now looking into a framework for a university-wide policy, including web advertising and eCommerce. A draft will be presented to Executive Council. Item will be removed from future agenda.
6. Web Technology and Standards Committee (Paul Miskovsky)
Kick-off meeting has occurred although a few members were absent due to illness. Discussion included the Open Data Initiative: a proposed project/committee that will look at opening up data access and licencing for certain types of data common to many web projects on campus. The next meeting is in three weeks.
7. DNS Resolution Policy (Terry Stewart)
The Domain Name Resolution Committee met and defined a Charter. Terry will distribute via e-mail. The committee has an initial draft of recommendations and hopes to share it at the next meeting.
8. Student Portal Proposal (Terry Stewart/Bud Walker)
Four students did an impressive presentation about the need for a student portal during last Tuesday's Student IT Advisory Group meeting. This resulted with interest moving forward, and further discussion between Alan George and Bud. Another presentation by the same students will take place in May -- members of UCIST, CTSC and WAC will be invited. Federation of Students is keen and perhaps willing to help financially. A concern by a WAC member about its integration with the new design was noted.
9. Next meeting - Wednesday, April 14 (instead of April 21)- 3:00 pm in NH 3001
*Meeting adjourned - 4:50 pm*
-- PatLafranier - 18 Mar 2010