New Victoria University corporate website launched
Victoria University’s corporate website enters the 21st
Century today with a clean and crisp new look that offers a
whole host of new services with more to
come.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon said
with advances in computer and internet technology it was now
timely to completely overhaul the corporate website
(www.vuw.ac.nz).
“Victoria has long been a leader in
using the internet as a communication tool. Our website won
an award when it was launched in 1998 and earlier this year,
our student portal was a finalist in the Computerworld
Excellence Awards for providing students with the ability to
access the University’s computer system offsite. As well,
this year, we were the first university in New Zealand to
publish our Annual Report as a searchable online document
with minimal paper copies.
“In developing this new
website we went back to basics and reoriented it with the
needs of users clearly in mind. The website guides users to
the information that meets their needs.”
The new website
provides direct specialist links for prospective, current,
international and Mâori students, as well as alumni and
donors, media, visitors and staff. It includes a specially
designed home site for current students called studentVUW
(www.studentvuw.vuw.ac.nz) that replaces the former student
computing service (SCS) distance portal. This new address is
the new on-campus login for students and can be accessed
offsite through the main Victoria homepage.
Victoria will
also pilot through studentVUW giving a pre-selected group of
several hundred Summer Trimester students access to their
Student Records. They will be able to view their timetable
and fees they’ve paid and update their address, phone, email
and emergency contact numbers.
It was planned to offer
this new service to all students in April next year,
including the ability to check examination results and
grades online and pay fees online.
“StudentVUW will
empower students to take control of many of their personal
records. Updating addresses and phone numbers, which can so
quickly become out-dated and yet are so important, will be
simpler.”
The University was also planning to pilot a
similar system for its academic staff, that will allow them
to view online their teaching schedule and details of class
lists and timetables, general and curriculum information
about students in their courses, including email addresses
and other contact details."
The new website also includes
a searchable Media Guide, allowing the news media to quickly
and easily find University academics and researchers with
specialist knowledge.
The website had been designed by
internet designers Shift – which this month won the TUANZ
2002 Marketing Award for designing Victoria International’s
new website. It is one of several awards Shift has won this
year.
Issued by Victoria University of Wellington Public
Affairs
For further information please contact Public
Affairs Adviser, Antony Paltridge or phone +64-4-463-5873