UNCW Website Redesign Project

UNCW Website Redesign Project with various samples of redesign examples

We’re counting down the days until the newly designed university website goes live.

Training is underway and content managers are getting Cascade access to review and edit their sites. 

The website redesign team continues to review the overall site to identify needs for modifications. We are reaching out to schedule meetings with site owners and content managers to work cooperatively to prepare their sites to go live.

Content managers can submit support tickets for specific issues through Cascade. You can also book 30-minute consultations with OUR and ITS team members for one-to-one support.

If you have any questions, please send us a email.

Comprehensive Redesign and Restructure 

The web team worked with Stamats Marketing conducting extensive discovery and analysis to develop an updated navigation structure and create an engaging, accessible new design to better represent UNCW's excellence and vibrant campus community.

Easier Content Management

The redesigned website is intended to make maintaining and updating information easier for content managers.

  • A variety of design components are available to customize pages and keep them consistent with the UNCW style guide.
  • Taxonomy and shared libraries will help distribute content across pages and save content managers time and effort.
  • New calendar, news and directory modules in Cascade will provide additional flexibility. 

New & Exciting Website Elements are Coming!

Degree Program Finder

One new feature is the academic degree program finder. It allows prospective students to easily search for and explore their options in an engaging way. The goal is to promote all academic programs consistently while telling each one’s story with an intentional and compelling design.

myUNCW

The redesigned UNCW website will include a helpful new section called “myUNCW.” While the target audiences for the university website are externally focused, myUNCW will be tailored to meet the needs of current students, faculty and staff. It is intended to be a one-stop location that our internal audiences can bookmark to support their daily business needs. For content managers’ convenience, most sites will have a corresponding folder in myUNCW where content that is specifically targeted to internal audiences will be housed.  

Examples of myUNCW content include: 
  • Internal announcements and featured stories 
  • Resources for current students and employees  
  • Advising information  
  • Meeting minutes 
  • Forms and requirements for current students 
  • Finance information (other than student accounts) 
  • HR information (other than jobseekers' info)    

You Should Still Update Your Existing Site

With the fall semester in full swing, you should review the information in the website you maintain to ensure it is current and accurate. Please make note of any pages that are no longer relevant, for an easier transition to the new site. You can find some helpful tips for evaluating your content on the Redesign SharePoint site.

The current UNCW site will remain available through the website archive provided by Randall Library's University Archives and Digital Initiatives units. This helpful resource is a great way to find content that you may want to retrieve. If needed, we recommend linking to these website archives from the new site. This helps to ensure our new site stays clean and up to date. 

Send Us Your Essential PDFs for Assessment

PDFs cause issues with accessibility, liability, search results and user experience. Content is being transitioned to more accessible formats such as webpages or one of the following applications: Qualtrics, DocuSign or Microsoft Forms.

If there are PDFs on your site that you believe are absolutely needed, please submit a myTAC ticket request to the web team. We will assess the PDFs for accessibility and necessity.

Do you have additional questions about your PDFs? Be sure to check out our FAQs page.

More Info:

Scroll for more updates.

Moratorium on New Web Projects, Permissions & Modifications

Due to the extensive nature of the redesign project, a leadership-sanctioned moratorium has been placed on all new web projects, permissions or website modifications that require custom code from the web team until the new site is launched. In addition, we are no longer offering Cascade training in the old templates nor are we on-boarding any new content managers.

Exceptions for institutional-level, time-critical requests will be considered by OUR and ITS leadership. If you believe that you need an exception, please email redesign@uncw.edu. 

You can read the announcement informing all content managers about the moratorium on all new web projects, permissions and website modifications at 06/23/2021 communication.

Questions or Feedback?

We want to hear from you! If you have thoughts, questions or concerns related to the website redesign project, please contact us at redesign@uncw.edu.

Past Project Updates

  • Project Update on August 3, 2021 (via website)

    Help Us Test the New Site Structure!

    Your input about the direction for the new website is especially valuable. It helps ensure that the site is effective for our audiences and for all of you busy Seahawks! To that end, we need your help to test the usability of the new website structure. Usability testing ends Tuesday, Aug. 17.

    Take the Usability Test »

  • Project Update in April 2021 (via website)

    UNCW Website Redesign Project is Underway!

    UNCW is excited to be partnering with Stamats Marketing, Inc. to redesign the university website! This full-scale redesign project kicked off in October 2020. We update this page routinely, so check back for more information and updates about this exciting project!

    Below you will find the most recent updates for the project, new and exciting website elements, and information for content managers.

    Project Update:

    The website redesign team and Stamats Marketing, Inc. have been busy mapping the information architecture, developing an effective content strategy and establishing a creative direction for the university’s new website.

    This has included:

    • a close review of the university’s entire website,
    • the development of an updated sitemap that better serves our audiences and
    • working on homepage and interior page designs and components.

    Student, faculty and staff input will be important as this process moves along.

    New & Exciting Website Elements!

    A Program Finder

    One new feature of the redesigned website is an academic degree program finder, which will allow prospective students to easily search for and explore their options in an engaging way. It will promote all academic programs consistently while telling each one’s story with an intentional and compelling design.

    myUNCW

    We are pleased to announce that the redesign project has been expanded to include a new section called, “myUNCW.” While the target audiences for the university website are externally focused, myUNCW will be a dedicated section, tailored to meet the needs of current students, faculty and staff. The discovery phase of this project is set to begin soon, and we’ll be sending out communications for you to participate and provide your valuable feedback and input.

    Content Managers

    The redesigned website is intended to make maintaining and updating information easier for content managers.

    • “SuperTemplates” will provide a variety of design elements while allowing content managers to easily customize their pages and keep them consistent with the UNCW style guide.
    • Taxonomy and shared libraries will help distribute content across pages and save content managers time and effort.
    • Content templates will guide content managers as they modify their pages to fit in the new design and structure.
    • New calendar, news and directory modules in Cascade will provide additional flexibility.

    Plus, the web redesign team and Stamats Marketing Inc. will be providing valuable resources to content managers such as training and workshops, in addition to print and video resources.

    How You Can Help!

    While we ask that content managers refrain from making any structural changes to their websites, it would be helpful to review the information on the pages you maintain to ensure it is current and accurate, while making note of any pages that are no longer relevant, for an easier transition to the new site.

    More Info

    Phase 1 (Oct. - Dec.)

    Faculty and staff can review discovery workshop recordings from Phase I of the redesign project by logging into the UNCW Website Redesign SharePoint site.

    What's Next?

    As these phases are completed, the team’s focus will turn to content review, which will include:

    • the creation of new content,
    • revision of existing relevant content and
    • archiving and removing outdated, unnecessary content.
    Questions or Feedback?

    We want to hear from you! If you have thoughts, questions or concerns related to the website redesign project, please contact us at redesign@uncw.edu.

  • Project Update in December 2020 (via website)

    UNCW Website Redesign Project is Underway!

    UNCW is excited to be partnering with Stamats Marketing, Inc. to redesign the university website! This full-scale redesign project kicked off in October 2020, and we are on schedule to launch the university's new and improved website in mid-fall 2021.

    Stay tuned here for more information and updates about this exciting project!

    Project Update:

    With the campus community and stakeholders' support, the team completed an extensive discovery process to gather information about the university and our audiences that will help to ensure our new website is developed with the best design and functionality to serve the university's goals, priorities and communication needs. This discovery phase included review of user data, surveys, focus groups and a series of workshop discussions with members of the UNCW community. Faculty and staff can review recordings, workshop materials by logging into our UNCW Website Redesign SharePoint site.

    Have a Current Website Project or Need?

    In order to focus time and attention on the redesign, the web team in OUR and ITS will be limiting new projects for the current website. However, we want to make sure that university audiences are served and that time-sensitive, web-related needs are addressed. We will review project requests as usual and will consult with you in order to find the best solutions on a case-by-case basis with the redesign project in mind.

    How You Can Help!

    As we work though the website redesign process during the next several months, we ask content managers to refrain from making any structural changes to their web folders, such as moving or deleting pages and/or assets. All ideas for modification should be documented for possible future implementation as the website redesign progresses.

    We encourage content managers to review their sites to make sure all content is current.

    More Info:

    What's Next?

    Check back for updates and FAQs as we move into the next phase of the redesign project, in which we’ll focus on information architecture and content strategy.

    Questions or Feedback?

    We want to hear from you! If you have thoughts, questions or concerns related to the website redesign project, please contact us at redesign@uncw.edu.