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Content Strategy Brand Standards & Principles Writing & Editing UX Writing Web Usability Best Practices User-Centric Content Search Engine Optimization Project Management Team Leadership & Development Cross-functional Collaboration KPIs


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Email: judi1111@gmail.com
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6/18/13

Samuel Merritt University - Website Updates

In the first six months as Associate Director of Web Communication and Social Media, I developed content on the SMU website to highlight activities, achievements and news related to SMU and the SMU community.

Homepage update
These changes were recently implemented:
    •    Banner photo now rotates along with word pairing highlights
    •    The five photos are swapped out every two weeks
    •    Banner photos now have a translucent banner with copy
    •    Banner photos are now clickable to either a web page or news story

“Newsroom” page - reorganization and content development
This page, linked to the homepage, was reconfigured to focus on news coming out of SMU. Articles have covered such topics as faculty achievements, student achievements, community participation, medical missions and events on campus.

“Media Relations” page - reorganization and content development
We made it easier for members of the media to reach OP. We also added an Online Press Kit, with quick links to the fact sheet, RTC, photos, videos, press releases and SMU in the News archives. This “one stop” area makes it easier for the media, and others interested in SMU, to learn more about our University.

Creation of a “Faculty Awards & Recognition” page

This is a new page that highlights SMU’s faculty. The page has been segmented into sections: Awards, Publication, Elected Positions and Appointments, Grant Recipients, and Presentations. The Academic Affairs office works with the OP office to keep this page updated.

Creation of a “Researcher Profiles” page

This page was created to highlight SMU’s researchers. These pages continue to add publications and presentations. These profiles were created not only to highlight faculty members’ accomplishments, but also presents them as “experts” to the media.

Creation of a “Welcome to Oakland” webpage
Looking at our website, there was nothing on it about our main location—Oakland. I took content from the student Oakland brochure and created a web page. The page communicates more about the city in which we are located, and provides information about restaurants and things to do, around campus and beyond. There are a lot of misconceptions about Oakland, so this page will give prospective students a better idea of what our campus, and surrounding area, is like.

Creation of the "Medical Missions" webpage
For years, SMU faculty and students have been traveling across the globe, providing care and delivering equipment to communities in need—but we hadn't really been telling that story. I created this webpage to present everything we had – photos and articles – so that the story could be told in one place. This is very important for prospective students, as it demonstrates that our students do more than take classes – they make a difference.

SMU President Sharon Diaz's 40th Year
In honor of Sharon Diaz’s 40 years at SMU, we added a Letter from the President page and a 40 Years of Leadership page to the Office of the President webpages. The 40 Years webpage includes links to the eNews story about President Diaz, photos on our Flickr account, Sharon’s biography, and information about the Scholarship dinner.

"Featured Students" page
I worked with Admissions on this new page that spotlights students from various departments. I thought it was important for prospective students to learn more about current SMU students.

Interactive Map
Features include: A zoom-in feature from a greater Oakland map to the campus map; pop-up boxes that will show a photo of the building and clickable links to department and offices in each building; street views; and links to the shuttle schedule.

Samuel Merritt University - Facebook

The Samuel Merritt University had approximately two hundred followers when I started as Associate Director of Web Communications and Social Media in November of 2012. I began by building content, and a few months in, began to run Facebook ads. By the end of May 2013, we had over 1,000 people "liking" us on Facebook. (UPDATE: Jan 2015 - over 2,200 followers)