project:
Undergraduate Majors website pages update at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Role: Project Manager
Date: Summer - Fall 2023
TL;DR:
The Academic Services and Enrollment Management team partnered with the Digital Experience Group at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to overhaul undergraduate majors across unl.edu. The project was a collective effort from various members across campus. Discover how our team reexamined design, development, and project management while managing tight deadlines and adapting to evolving requirements on the path to the finish line.
100+
new web pages published
40+
cross-functional team members
micro-site
Best of CASE District VI Award
Overview
There are over 100 undergraduate majors at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). Each major has a dedicated web page that is hosted within the respective college. The Academic Services and Enrollment Management (ASEM) team works to recruit prospective students and frequently uses the majors web pages in digital marketing efforts. In fall 2021, ASEM partnered with the Digital Experience Group within the Office of University Communications (UComm) at UNL to create a template that would create a consistent and comparable web page for all majors, no matter the college.
timeline
This project kicked off in Fall 2021, before my role began at the university. At the start, ASEM and UComm partnered to create one web template for all majors. The projected goal was to have all majors converted to this template by July 2022. The expectation was for each college to build each page on its own for their respective majors. However, after a failed launch, it was understood that it would be in ASEM’s best interest to leverage its expertise and manpower to assist the colleges.
I joined the ASEM team in February 2022 and took over this project in April.
Only 44 majors had transitioned to the first version of the template. ASEM learned that it was too much work for the colleges to transition.
ASEM gathered feedback from all cross-functional team members on current processes and adjusted.
SPRING – FALL 2022
ASEM and UComm built a new template. This template would now be implemented by the web developer team rather than each college.
Conducted peer benchmark with 17 institutions across Big Ten, and others such as Colorado, Arizona State, Alabama, USC, and UCLA.
Reviewed admissions.unl.edu major finder data.
Conducted a user study with undergraduate freshman students at UNL.
FALL 2022 – SPRING 2023
ASEM met with colleges to review the new improved process called “Majors 2.0”
Colleges used a copy template and submitted images for each major.
All majors were live by the expected deadline of September 18.
SUMMER – FALL 2023
my role
My primary focus was to keep the project moving forward to ensure deadlines were met. Below is a list of tasks that I lead:
Created and maintained a cross-functional team calendar.
Managed 100+ projects in ASEM’s project management software to keep all team members informed.
Created instructions, examples, and a fillable copy document for colleges to easily follow and submit content.
The primary resource for communication and task delegation.
Solved problems head-on to ensure the team could focus on their tasks to avoid missed deadlines.
Constant communication with colleges, stakeholders, and team members to create consistent transparency on project completion.
Jumped into copy editing and image resizing when team members were out of the office or tasked with other projects.
Organized and documented feedback for future project to benefit from.
Below are just a few of the different materials I created and maintained.
Cross-Functional Team Calendar. The screenshot on the left includes a zoomed in look at August, the busiest month throughout the entire project.
ASEM Wrike project example. This view showcases the marketing major and the tasks associated.
ASEM Wrike project example. This view showcases the marketing major and the tasks associated in a Gantt chart layout.
The copy template allowed for nearly full creative freedom for each college. Using a document allowed for easy editing for both the college and ASEM.
An example of a complete copy document helped colleges as they filled out their documents.
An instructions document was provided with materials to help each team member understand which document to fill out and what spec sizes were needed for images.
challenges
As with any project, there were many challenges. ASEM faced many internal and external challenges including unforeseen university-wide font changes, admissions site crashes, medical out-of-office emergencies (this one was my fault!), and having limited team members due to vacancies. Additional challenges that were solved quickly include:
Creating edits to the template to include “options.” (Options are supplemental to a major, ex: Secondary Education major with Mathematics option)
Simultaneously improving the “majors finder” site that filters each major based on interests.
Maintaining momentum throughout the different trials and errors on a nearly three-year project.
Navigating different personalities and preferred processes from team members outside of ASEM.
Constantly adjusting the workloads of team members to ensure project completion.
Communicating with every team member, even when they don’t need every specific detail.
Meeting a three-month deadline to guarantee the use of the pages in digital marketing efforts while each team member was expected to meet deadlines for other projects.
outcomes
After an intense three-month project, ASEM and I were able to pat ourselves on the back because of many accomplished goals.
Met the deadline without any extensions.
Collaborated with 8 colleges which included 40+ team members.
Edited 114,000+ words.
Reviewed and resized 1,000+ images.
Published 114+ web pages.
ASEM
The largest and longest project I have managed.
Sharpened my internal communication skills.
Learned new ways to effectively organize and distribute information.
PERSONAL
check out a major page
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check out a major page ~
Now that you learned the ins and outs of this project, how about you check out a major web page! Click the button below to view the management major, one of my majors at UNL, so I’m bias. ;)