As part of my job, I go through the web sites of all universities in Sydney a few times per year, simply to see that not much has changed, to see whether they are embarking on any new trends that we (UTS) haven’t spotted yet, and also as a normal benchmarking exercise. The last time I got swept off my feet with a new development was when I spotted Macquarie University’s MQTV last year. Today, it happened again, and again it was Macquarie University to achieve that. It is probably helpful for you to know that I am NOT employed by Macquarie but by a competitor 
On 12 September 2007, Macquarie University launched an entire web site for their Vice Chancellor:
Website of Professor Schwartz, Vice Chancellor of Macquarie University
Before I go into detail, I have to say two things: Kudos to a VC who puts himself out there and provides so much interesting material, and Kudos to a web team for another job well done!
The design of the web site is within the normal confines of MQ’s template, but with all the web 2.0 gimmicks installed, it gets a nice light-weight ultra-modern look and feel. The navigation is kept small, and the “quick links” on the right are a cute idea, again giving one the feeling that the creators knew how to draw in a web 2.0 crowd.
If you are now expecting to enter a realm of long and boring reports, you will be VERY surprised: the site boasts plenty of well-produced videos, with very neat Flash navigation, in a section called “Words, pictures, and more“. The technical quality and also the interesting content make them fun and informative to watch. Obviously, MQ used their expertise from their MQtv web site to make this look very consistent.
Users can also listen to streamed audio of very high quality, and download slideshows. The fact that all the resulting pop-up windows are produced in Flash shows that MQ seems to have made the decision to throw off the shackles of constrained web design on university web sites, to deliver a great user experience to its visitors. I am certainly very appreciative of that, hehe!
The site has plenty more to offer, like speeches, press releases, reports and so on (the stuff that everybody would expect). However, the most surprising thing on this whole site is the VC blog! The site is still very young, so it remains to be seen if MQ’s VC has enough time to keep it updated, but the two articles he has posted so far are interesting and entertaining. He speaks to “the world” in normal language, embracing the fact of equality amongst web users. To me, it seems that this is a VC who understands how to use the web to his advantage, certainly more believable than Kevin Rudd or John Howard would ever be able to do it!
In the press release, Schwartz says “The website exists for three main reasons,” Professor Schwartz explains. “Firstly, social media tools like blogs and podcasts are obviously popular and effective ways of communicating. I’ll continue to host regular face-to-face meetings, but there’s no better way for me to reach all 31,000 Macquarie University students and 2,000 staff - and to hear what they have to say - than to do it over the Web. ”
As an envious competitor, I can only say: Very well done!
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