Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Website Update Stalls

With no clear launch date in sight, the first major overhaul and redesign of the university’s main website since 2002 remains at a standstill.

The university was last cited as saying the new website was set to operate by the end of the 2009-2010 academic year. According to university spokeswoman Julie Bataille, the university hopes the revamped site will be up and running by the end of the semester, but no specific date has been set.

“We’re very near launch. The timing is still being worked out,” said Scott Anderson, the university’s web communications manager. Anderson declined to comment further or discuss what has caused the delay.

“The main outstanding issue right now in terms of timeline is getting the new content management system in place to support the site,” Bataille said of the holdup. “[University Information Services] is in regular contact with them and working through implementation issues to move the project forward.”

Despite the slow progress, many positive changes will be reflected in the updated version. The university showcases the test site of an interactive and visual map tool of campus buildings with fresh interfaces and new features at https://maps-test.uis.georgetown.edu/.

Bataille also said the website’s renovations account for shortcomings in both image and infrastructure.

“The project involves not just a new front end design but also the implementation of a new back end technical infrastructure and content management system to support it,” she said.

Students, faculty, staff and parents of Georgetown students were consulted during the project to provide feedback on functionality and aesthetics.

any freshmen who spent time last year navigating the website during the application process were less than impressed with the current format, which has been in place since 2002.

“It’s really hard to navigate,” Katrina Perito (COL ’14) said, adding that she opted for other search methods. “I would just go to Google and search for what I needed that way.”

“Honestly, I didn’t really like it,” said Matt Kietlinski (COL ’14), who also said he resorted to alternative search methods. Kietlinski used hoyasaxa.com, a Georgetown-centric search tool, to look for the specific pages he needed.

The university declined to comment on the costs associated with the project.

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