Over the past year, significant development and infrastructure work has been underway at Brock University in preparation for new website and intranet platforms.

“Websites have evolved over the past several years to be the key branding and recruitment channel for universities and colleges. Research has shown websites are consistently the number one source of information for new students researching potential university choices. This initiative is about focusing the website to communicate to external audiences, and moving internal information onto a faculty and staff intranet,” said Gord Hunchak, executive director of University Marketing and Communications.

This major change shifts the role of the website to be primarily focused on showcasing Brock to prospective students, prospective staff and faculty, and external stakeholders. The new brocku.ca will be designed to enhance student recruitment, build the Brock brand, and tell the Brock story to our varied audiences.

The website will also be more accessible as Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) compliance has been a key focus throughout development.

“It will provide a better overall user experience with a focus on accessibility and a responsive design that adapts to whatever screen size the website is being viewed at – mobile, tablet or desktop,” said website designer Sebastien Marchal.

The website will be easily updated and managed by users. 

Along with the new external website, a SharePoint intranet called OneBrock is also being implemented.

“The two biggest benefits with SharePoint are the ability to manage documents and the ease of collaboration,” said David Cullum, Associate Vice-President of Information and Technology Services. “As we move forward, it will be a replacement for the current intranet platform my.brocku.ca, and also house internal information and documents currently found on the Brock website and other document storage locations.”

Audrey Fehlow, Director of Application Development, said the new intranet will integrate with Office 365, offering Brock staff and faculty more tools to improve workflow. “It’s going to make people’s jobs easier, it’s going to put the right tools in the right people’s hands,” she said.

The initial implementation of the changes will happen over the next several months. The sites will be switched over in phases, not in one big changeover. Major completion is expected over the next 12 months but ongoing development won’t cease.

The goal is to launch the new homepage in March, and key sections of the website in advance of the 2017/18 recruitment cycle this fall.

Extensive market and competitive research was completed in the initial development of the new website, and all faculties and departments will be directly involved in determining the appropriate content for their pages.

Further consultation for both web and intranet platforms continues throughout the winter/spring.