Bennies and Johnnies may have been surprised last Wednesday when, logging on to check their e-mail accounts, they noticed a new CSB/SJU homepage. The new design has sparked a variety of responses.

“I don’t like that you have to scroll down to get to Outlook,” said first-year Allison Rigelman.

“The pictures are stunning and the design seems so much cleaner. So from a purely aesthetic point of view, I really like it,” philosophy professor Tony Cunningham said in an e-mail.

Senior Maria Stark disagrees. “It’s kind of plain. I like the pictures, but I don’t like the white background,” she said.

The site was last updated in January 2005.

“It was just time to change it,” director of electronic communications Barb Hein said. Three in-house designers in Communication and Marketing Services worked to develop the new layout and coordinated with the firm that did the programming. Because this firm offered to work for free and the designers were already on staff, the new home page did not cost the school anything.

As of Wednesday, CMS had heard feedback from 38 students. Although the new site had originally removed the “Current Students” link from the old page, this link was added again after several requests.

This home page revision will not be the only change made, Hein said. “This is just a step” in an 18-to-24-month process to
revamp the entire CSB/SJU Web site, she said.

St. John’s Institutional Advancement will be the first department to unveil its new portion of the site. The Web page for alums is projected to go live in mid-May. The new site will make it easier for alumni to get information about homecoming and reunions and to connect with each other, said Margaret Arnold, the executive director of marketing and communication.

“We need to work hand-in-hand (with CMS) to make sure their revisions match ours,” she said. “We want to make sure it’s a site where people can accomplish what they want to accomplish.”