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Launched June 22 following consultation with senior administrators and other stakeholders across campus, the existing homepage was updated to make it more user- and smartphone-friendly. Unlike the old homepage, the new page fits better on smartphone screens without pinching or zooming.

“We’re refreshing our current design and improving some features,” says Stuart Robertson, web manager in Communications and Public Affairs, who led the six-month refresh process. “It gives us more flexibility in what content we display on the homepage, and allows us to better display stories, audio and video from U of G.”

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MOOC madness has taken a turn for the better. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) entered public debate in 2012 when Coursera, Khan Academy and Udacity, together with a number of prominent U.S. universities (Harvard, MIT) started to offer free online courses to anyone. Hundreds of thousands of students signed up for courses in artificial intelligence, circuit-board design and other disciplines, mostly science, technology, engineering, and math. For little or no money, anyone with a reliable Internet connection could take a course that might earn them a digital “badge” upon completion. Everything was coming up roses.

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Over the last several years, the trend in college recruitment tactics has shifted from traditional marketing like direct mail, printed brochures and TV commercials to more interactive content marketing strategies, like social media and mobile apps. Traditional marketing is increasingly showing a decline in its ability to provide the highest return on investment, while newer digital technologies are showing strong engagement and conversion rates.

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There’s high competition in higher education. Every day, thousands of colleges and universities go head-to-head, vying for prospective students’ enrollments. For today’s digitally savvy youth, school websites must be on their “A” game.

“For the vast majority of institutions, it’s your No. 1 communication tool,” said Molly Honan, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Emmanuel College.

Learn how Emmanuel College’s team collaborated with students and faculty to fuel a website redesign that upped campus visits and deposits while boosting mobile traffic 94%.

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Not too long ago, most kids automatically attended their neighborhood school. But today’s kids (and their parents) have many more choices. Public, private, magnet, charter, year-round, traditional schedule—the options are vast. For many parents, the first step in learning about a school isn’t through a school visit, but through the school’s website. What is the school’s culture, mission or priorities? Does it offer services or foreign language? What extracurricular activities does it have? How diverse is it?

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When it comes to marketing and recruitment campaigns, universities are increasingly turning to digital tools to complement their traditional stable of print ads, brochures and Viewbooks.

In November, Victoria-based Royal Roads University ran a campaign that used Google Glass, the high-tech glasses designed by the Internet search engine, and a GoPro video camera to allow prospective students to virtually sit in on lectures, take a tour of the campus, and participate in Q&A sessions with faculty members – all in real time.

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More than half of Canadians think university and college tuition should be free, a new poll released exclusively to The London Free Press reveals.

The majority of those asked — 53% — said Canada should offer free postsecondary tuition, the Forum Research poll found.

“It shows that a large number of people see the benefit of free tuition,” said Lorne Bozinoff, president and founder of Forum Research.

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