Indian Hills Community College

I attended Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) in Ottumwa, Iowa from 1995 to 1997. During my time at IHCC I joined the jazz band, played my trombone for the pep band and signed up for my first email account with Hotmail. It was a phenomenally developmental period in my life. My IHCC academic advisor, Tom Stewart, is still a close mentor and friend. My love of higher education began at IHCC.

As a member of eduStyle, I frequently submit higher education websites for community review. When Indian Hills recently re-designed their website, I immediately submitted the new site design to eduStyle. I was unaware that my IHCC story was one of the featured stories on the homepage. I had submitted answers, over a year ago, to a questionnaire about my IHCC experiences. When the new site design was entered in on eduStyle, the site thumbnail showed a different homepage image. Brad J. Ward notified me via Twitter of my “celebrity” status.

The new design is definitely an improvement compared to the previous iteration:

Indian Hills new design

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Hartnell College – higher ed web rickroll

Hartnell College

I was perusing the recently added sites on eduStyle when I came upon the submission for Hartnell College!!*. As the self-appointed keeper of all things that have to do with Brown University’s homepage design, I couldn’t help but think that the folks at Hartnell actually did Brown a favor by not copying Brown’s “accordion” drop-down navigation verbatim. Instead, Hartnell College opted for a 100 percent width accordion drop down that induces dizziness, nausea and Dramamine purchases.

I’ve decided that Hartnell College’s homepage design is useful for two reasons:

*Hartnell College’s homepage title is “Hartnell College!!” – unfortunately, the edition of the double exclamation point does little to enhance the value of the site…

The eduStyle book

eduStyle Guide to Usable Higher-Ed Homepage Design

I finally got around to reading The eduStyle Guide to Usable Higher-Ed Homepage Design this weekend. I had skimmed the electronic version when it arrived in my inbox in March. The book is full of insights into the ways in which higher education institutions design their websites. I think that it’s the first book that really focuses on web design from a higher education perspective.

Here’s a small sample from the book:

eduStyle Award Winners

2008 eduStyle Award Winners - higher education campus web design

The Winners of the first eduStyle Awards were announced at the eduWEB Conference July 21-23 in Atlantic City, NJ. I was selected as one of this year’s judges. The eduStyle Awards categories that I was responsible for voting on were:

  • Best Home Page
  • Best Redesign
  • Best Use of Photography
  • Best Prospective/Future Students or Admissions
  • Best Online Tour or Maps

I’m not going to post my confidential judge’s comments…However, I’m glad that the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Biola University, University of Notre Dame, Boston University and the frequently borrowed Brown University were among the award winners. Congratulations!

A video of the award ceremony is after the cut.

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eduStyle’s “most awesome user”

Eric Stoller and eduStyle

If Stewart Foss, the proprietor of eduStyle – inspiration for campus web designers, ever purchased monogrammed [ES] eduStyle towels, I could easily borrow them. In lieu of towels, Stewart sent me something that I am even more fond of. A custom, one of a kind, eduStyle t-shirt. The front proudly displays the eduStyle logo while the back outs me as eduStyle’s “most awesome user.” The community at eduStyle continues to grow and I thoroughly enjoy being one of the many users on the site.

eduStyle most awesome user Eric Stoller

eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards

eduStyle Peoples Choice Awards
The eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards People’s Choice voting has begun. People’s Choice voting will end on June 1st. Vote now!

The eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards celebrate the best work in college and university websites. Eighteen categories recognize the most innovative and exciting developments in key areas of higher education web development.

Top-level prizes include best overall website, best redesign and most innovative. There are also awards in areas such as information architecture and video; awards for sub-sites (e.g. a faculty website) and special projects. Awards on blogging in higher-ed will be presented in partnership with CollegeWebEditor.com.

Some of my favorite nominees include: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Oxford University, Biola University, Brown University, and Vassar College. I am surprised that the MIT Admissions blog didn’t get enough nominations for the People’s Choice award. The design and copy are superb! Unsurprisingly, the University of Tennessee website has been nominated in several different categories. What can I say, it’s awesome.