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Giving is easy following launch of UALR e-commerce site

UA ��Ƶlogo — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:32:30 +0000

The UALR Department of Digital Strategy on Monday announced the launch of a new site at ualr.edu/giving that makes online donations and supporting scholarships easier than ever before. Dan Shisler, director of Digital Strategy, believes UALR is among the first universities to initiate a familiar e-commerce experience for its donors. “We wanted to provide an easy avenue for alumni and donors to connect or reconnect with the university and provide support for current students wherever needed,” Shisler said. “I hope, as we move forward, the site will provide more than just an easy method to show support, but also evolve into a method of engaging with our alumni and supporters in a meaningful, responsive manner,” he said. Along with the ease of use, the system emulates the shopping experience that is a familiar one for most online shoppers. In addition, giving by department or by category can be promoted in marketing initiatives by URL, allowing for individuals or departments to promote only their campaign. “The new site has created a rich and engaging narrative that will capture interest and sustain our alumni and donors. It will bring the UALR story to life, no matter what platform is used, from desktop to mobile device,” said Associate Vice Chancellor of Alumni and Development Christian O’Neal. A portion of Alumni Association membership dues contributed through the website supports student scholarships, student programs, and unique travel opportunities. The giving site includes a basket system to make multiple donations, as well as a brick builder widget that allows visitors to preview and purchase their commemorative alumni brick for the Alumni Plaza. Some other key features:

Departments have the ability for philanthropic crowdfunding – similar to Kickstarter, a popular global online crowdfunding platform
Items can be marketed categorically by department or by need
The system used to build this is secure and compliant with credit processing standards
The system is an open system, which allows for many customizations in the future
Tangible items such as t-shirts can be sold with shipping and inventory controls

For crowdfunding or fundraising by selling tangible items, contact Derek Boyce at dcboyce@ualr.edu or Dara Goad dkgoad@ualr.edu.

Keep up with what’s happening; Subscribe to UALR Now.

The Fountain, new social media hub for UALR, launches

UA ��Ƶlogo — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 14:55:54 +0000

Want to know more about what is really happening at the University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo? A visit to The Fountain, UALR’s new social media hub, may quench your thirst. The Fountain, which was unveiled today, creates a spot for real-time communication taking place in UALR’s social spheres, displaying the many UALR-focused discussions coming from students, faculty, and departments, according to Director of Digital Strategy Dan Shisler. “Our students are already writing their own blogs, taking great pictures on Instagram, and conversing on back channels such as Twitter. Thanks to the hard work of our developer, Derrick Koon, and our social coordinator, Meaghan Milliorn, The Fountain provides an appropriate and engaging gathering spot for students to see and communicate their experience as a UALR Trojan,” said Shisler. Shisler and his team created The Fountain as a way to engage the campus community and provide a peek into UALR life through the use of curated Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram pictures, YouTube videos, and other social content coming from students, employees, and others mentioning UALR on social media. The hub will also contain blog posts, articles, and quizzes written by UALR employees and students. The blog content will focus on tips and tricks for applying for scholarships, student housing decor, and other useful insights for current students or those who are considering attending. To join the conversation, anyone using the #UALR hashtag can have their post, picture, or video curated and posted to The Fountain’s social wall. Viewers can also comment on the posts and/or share them from their own social accounts, Shisler said. In addition, the current Sights & Sounds blog on the UALR homepage will be replaced by The Fountain. “There are so many awesome and interesting things happening on campus or within our students’ lives, but the majority of people who work or study here will never hear about it. The Fountain is a way to feature those moments,” added UALR social and digital content strategist Meaghan Milliorn. For more information about contributing to The Fountain, contact mkmilliorn@ualr.edu��ǰ� submit your ideas here.

New features rolling out on UALR websites

UA ��Ƶlogo — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 21:25:11 +0000

Changes to the ualr.edu website will enhance the user experience through new features that include an expanded menu and updated primary navigation structure.

Click photo for up-close sneak peek of the new menu.

The upgrades, which will appear on departmental-level UALR sites April 24, are the first phase in a complete redesign of the university’s main digital presence. The new menu is being released in beta mode on those sites to elicit feedback from the campus — students, faculty, staff, and administrators. The new menu features two distinct areas, one for UALR audiences that includes current students and employees, and another for external audiences such as future students, alumni, and members of the community. “We wanted to refocus the entire site network on informing our new visitors, potential students, students, and alumni about UALR while maintaining accessibility to the tools needed by faculty and staff,” said Dan Shisler, director of digital strategy. “We realized that to do that we needed to create new content areas to improve the experience for both our internal and external website users and visitors and make it consistent across all departmental sites. We really want potential students to easily find the information about attending UALR that is most important to them.” The top area, which is for the campus community, can be accessed from the “lines of text” menu icon to the right of the search box. That opens as a drawer to display links to e-mail, Blackboard, BOSS, and the A-Z Index. The area also includes quick links for commonly visited pages and timely messages or events for employees and students. The primary navigation area includes content wells: Admissions, ��Ƶlogo, Campus, Connections, Research, and About. Each well opens to display links, featured content, or coming events relevant to each particular area.

Click photo for up-close sneak peek of the new menu.

In addition to the expanded menu and updated navigation, the menu is adaptive, meaning that it adjusts or reorganizes content to fit the device a person is using, whether it’s a phone, tablet, or desktop computer. The menu is also accessible for those using screen readers. Because this menu is in beta mode, constructive suggestions from the campus community are welcomed. More additions to the menu are in development, including customization of the internal menu by audience type based on login. For instance, a student who logs in will see different links and messages than a faculty member will. The menu is just one part of the larger road map to make UALR’s entire digital presence more cohesive and audience-friendly. That project began with the introduction of a standard template for most ualr.edu sites and will grow to include a redesigned homepage as well as top-level sites. To learn more about UALR’s digital domain, go to the Department of Digital Strategy. Subscribe to E-News to see what’s happening at ‘UALR Now.’

International education association recognizes staff achievements

UA ��Ƶlogo — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 19:00:36 +0000

Several University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo staff recently earned communications awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, an international association of education institutions.

Christian O’Neal, associate vice chancellor for Alumni and Development

In addition, Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni and Development Christian O’Neal was re-elected state director for District IV of CASE. The district represents nearly 3,000 members from more than 250 higher education institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

“CASE is the standard bearer for public support of education, and I’m thrilled to be asked by my Arkansas colleagues to serve in a leadership role for the organization,” O’Neal said.

UALR Vice Chancellor for Advancement Bob Denman earned the CASE Crystal Apple Award for outstanding teaching, a sign that he has “shared his or her expertise generously.” The award is given to those judged to be “stellar speakers” at 10 or more different CASE conferences.

Meaghan Milliorn, UALR social and digital content strategist

UALR campaigns also earned two Silver Awards during the recent CASE District IV Conference in Houston.

The first award was given in the category of Social Media Campaign for the “Discover UALR” initiative, submitted by the Department of Digital Strategy. The second award was given in the Diversity Program category for “10 Years of Research: Annual Racial Attitudes in Pulaski County Conference,” submitted by the Office of Communications.

CASE provides its members resource development, training programs, and marketing services in the areas of alumni relations, communications, and philanthropy. Subscribe to E-News to see what’s happening at ‘UALR Now.’

Commencement: social edition

UA ��Ƶlogo — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 18:48:03 +0000

I love commencement, and one of my favorite things is seeing others’ excitement play out on social media. We asked students to use certain hashtags in their posts on Instagram and Twitter leading up to the big day, and then we put those pictures and posts in a video that played on the big screen before the ceremonies. It was nice seeing grads thank professors or family members for helping them get to this moment. It was also fun to see what grads were doing to get ready for their big day! Thanks to everyone who helped make this video and congratulations to our fall graduates!

UALR launches MyFuture@Work campaign

UA ��Ƶlogo — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:03:33 +0000

The university’s communications campaign for 2013-14 is MyFuture@Work, and it launches this week with stories focused on the wide range of students enrolled at UALR. The multi-media campaign includes newspaper, radio, outdoor, digital, and television advertising, as well as campus signage, web content, and other outlets. The TV spots to include the one below began airing during premiere programs. The strategy drives readers and viewers to the UALR website, which will showcase the student profiles and other content as a way to espouse the variety of students UALR serves–whether online, transfer, or traditional. Judy Williams, UALR executive director of communications, said the goal is to reach potential students through the broad range of stories coming from current students. Because the college decision process is such an individual choice, Williams said prospective students need to base their college choice on what they want from their experience. Some students featured in the campaign address the convenience of online learning; others talk about experiencing life in a major metropolitan area and capital city, while still more tout the advantages of internships available at major corporations, according to Williams. New stories will continue to be added as the campaign runs throughout the year. See and read their stories at the MyFuture@Work site.

Department of Digital Strategy welcomes newest staff member

UA ��Ƶlogo — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:13:55 +0000

The University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo Department of Digital Strategy recently welcomed its newest staff member, Derrick Koon, who will serve as web developer and designer for the university. Koon graduated from UALR with a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication and a minor in information technology. While at UALR, he was the primary tutor for the engineering technology department and twice participated in the university’s annual Undergraduate Research Expo. A founder of the ��Ƶlogo PHP Users Group, Koon received Above Mastery recognition from the UALR Information Technology program. Koon brings several years of programming experience to his role at UALR, including proficiency in XHTML/HTML5, CSS 2.1/3, Responsive Web Design, Java Script, object oriented programming, and XML. He previously worked for the Fleming Companies, where he was the information technology administrator and performed research and development for new business software.

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