New Brock homepage now live

A significant milestone in Brock University’s transition to a new website took place Wednesday, April 6 when the new homepage at brocku.ca went live.

With the homepage being the entryway to Brock’s website, the University’s most important channel for reaching prospective students, the re-designed page highlights key drivers of student recruitment, showcasing our campuses, student life, experiential learning opportunities and research.

The remainder of the revamped website will go online over the next 12-24 months in a staged approach.

“Research consistently shows websites are the number one source of information for new students researching potential university choices,” said Gord Hunchak, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications. “Starting with the homepage, Brock’s website is being completely overhauled to enhance our student recruitment efforts, to build the Brock brand, and to better tell the Brock story to our varied audiences. We want to ensure the quality of our web experience matches the exceptional quality of our academic programs, our people, and our campuses.”

Highlights of the new homepage include an improved search function powered by Google, along with integrated menus that make navigating brocku.ca more user friendly. Story feeds from The Brock News and the most recent Media Releases are prominently displayed. Brock’s social media activity on Instagram and Twitter can also be viewed on the page, and students have one-click access to all of Brock’s social media sites. A calendar of student-focused events is also conveniently located on the new homepage, powered by Student Life, and the website will be easily updated and managed by users.

“The new design is mobile friendly and fully responsive, providing a seamless experience regardless of device and screen size, without penalizing users of smaller devices,” said website designer Sebastien Marchal, “The new platform also makes it easier to change and update the website on an ongoing basis, allowing us to evolve the site as Brock’s brand evolves, and to always stay current with the latest trends in web and digital communications.”

Along with the new external website, a SharePoint intranet called “OneBrock” is also being implemented for internal communications and document management.

“OneBrock will be released within the next few weeks and be the new home for all faculty and staff operational content,” said David Cullum, of Information Technology Services.

He said the platform complies with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act standards, and content will be viewable on many different platforms including mobile devices. Some content from Human Resources, Information Technology Services, and Marketing and Communications, has already been migrated to OneBrock, and more content will follow throughout the spring and summer, he said.

“Collaborative team sites will be added to OneBrock shortly after the launch,” Cullum said.

If you have any questions or comments about the new homepage, send them to webproject@brocku.ca.

Five things to know about the new brocku.ca home page

Navigation menus have been greatly streamlined for the new home page. Most links can now be found under “Menu.”
Information for prospective students can now be found under “Apply @ Brock.”
Search all Brock websites using Google directly from the Brock homepage.
The new online directory will be available at the same time as the new homepage and will automatically replace the current directory.
All these pages are responsive and mobile friendly, with the same functionality across desktops, tablets and handhelds.