UCSF Unveils Redesigned Website to Advance University's Mission
UCSF has launched an improved website to better showcase UCSF’s excellence in patient care, research and education and to enable people to more easily find news and information they need.
The homepage is organized to highlight the University’s global stature in conducting leading-edge basic and clinical research, providing lifesaving patient care and creating a culture of collaborative, interprofessional health education that is transforming the world of health.
The completely revamped, image-rich website (www.ucsf.edu) is the first major overhaul of the University’s homepage and subsequent pages in about a decade. It represents a strategic communications shift to provide a more targeted content experience reflecting UCSF’s excellence and to report news that has broad appeal and impact for the public, the campus community, and UCSF’s supporters and followers.
In recent years, UCSF has invested more in developing web communications, which is a critical tool for raising awareness and visibility of UCSF and championing its institutional brand in a global marketplace.
“It’s a digital world,” says Barbara J. French, vice chancellor for UCSF Strategic Communications and University Relations. “This new world has changed how we engage with our many audiences and how they learn about the University and its contributions to discovery, health and education.”
Among the highlights of the all-new UCSF website:
- The top news section on the homepage rotates several of the best and latest stories to convey the breadth and depth of the University’s impact and achievements;
- A News Center houses all externally focused news, rather than having separate sites for news releases, Science Café and UCSF Today stories;
- An “Areas of Excellence” section provides an in-depth look at UCSF’s leadership in 10 areas of excellence – cancer, children’s health, diabetes, heart and vascular, immunology and infectious diseases, neurology and neurosurgery, organ transplants, stem calls, translational medicine, and women’s health;
- An expanded “About UCSF” section gives an overview of the mission and vision and the history of the institution, and updated achievements and facts and figures;
- A “UCSF in the Community” section highlights ongoing efforts in strengthening local, regional and global communities; and
- A Faculty/Staff page to serve internal UCSF audiences, inform the community about events and recognize individuals for their hard work in “Spotlight” and awards stories.
In addition, the News Center will offer journalists and others useful information about covering UCSF, including fact sheets and photographs. The News Center will feature a “Media Coverage” section with headlines from mainstream media. With the ability for readers to subscribe to the RSS feed for 24/7 news about UCSF, the email publication called “FYI: UCSF in the News” will retire and be archived.
Reflecting the Digital Age
The launch of the revamped website, led by David Kilby, executive director of web communications and digital marketing in University Relations, is the result of a two-year process that has been informed by campus leadership, focus groups with internal and external audiences, consultants, and meetings with communications professionals and stakeholders from across UCSF.
“In addition to showcasing UCSF’s excellence, one of our goals is to streamline the paths for audiences to take action,” Kilby says. “We want the site to help facilitate key transactions such as patients finding a doctor or donors learning how they can support UCSF."
The content-rich site will require a steady stream of news and information to tell the UCSF story in many ways.
“With the launch of UCSF's new website, we’re changing the way we work by using new tools and technologies for information sharing, and we will be collaborating more with communications colleagues across the University,” says Lisa Cisneros, editor in chief of web communications. “We will increasingly leverage news and information from multiple sources; use data such as Google Analytics to drive decisions about content; and employ new media to build our audiences.”
Websites, by their nature, constantly evolve and change. The University Relations team welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions. Please email comments to: [email protected].