Navigating the Palo Alto College website can be challenging for new and prospective students, as well as for faculty, staff and current students. However, the navigation is about to become easier soon.

The District has purchased a new website content management system that will impact all the Alamo Colleges websites. This new system, the Ektron CMS400.NET, is one of the latest in web technology.

While PAC Multimedia Specialist Duncan Perez does admit that the present website is lacking, he said it has come a long way in the six years he has been at Palo Alto. The website, which started as a disorganized mass of information, evolved into what it is today thanks largely to PAC President Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán who pushed for a more uniform, standardized appearance. Through her efforts, a survey was conducted four years ago, the results of which were used to restructure the site into what you see today.

According to Vincent Bosquez, director of Public Relations for Palo Alto College, every department has a point-of-contact who is responsible for updating and maintaining that department’s page(s) on the website, and they go through him for help with editing.

“The home page and public relations page are my responsibility,” said Bosquez. “I’m responsible for what goes on these pages and edit the information as needed.” He also works with Perez to make sure that the links work properly and that there are no problems with accessing documents that are posted.

Perez manages the website along with his associate, Anita Soliz. He said two additional members, Mario Ramirez and Steve Cortinas, are the tip of the spear in the audio/visual area. With only a team of four, Perez said each member must wear many hats and perform many different tasks, not all of which are related to the website.

“I am very proud to work alongside my associates,” he said. “We’re an office of only four folks, who together produce the same amount of work as do our sister campuses who have a bigger staff.”

With the constant change in technology, however, the website no longer meets the needs of its users.

Some students think the website looks too cluttered and that it could use some “cleaning up,” while others are of the opinion that it shouldn’t be so difficult to find what you’re looking for. They think they are led astray, having to go from link to link and page to page, which too often leads them nowhere.

“The wording used on the website is ambiguous,” said Jordan Mata, a Computer Science major. “You click on what you think is the right link for what you’re looking for, but then you see that it’s not what you thought it was.”

“Feels like you’re in a maze,” said Leah Holmstrom, a sophomore Communications major.

These types of complaints will hopefully become a thing of the past.

According to Perez, the look and content of the PAC website will change drastically. It will have a cleaner, streamlined appearance that will allow for easier navigation for all users.

The new content management system will have many of the features and capabilities that faculty have been asking for, such as polls, blog applications, portals, surveys, smart forms and live RSS feed (real simple syndication). It will also enable people to contribute to online initiatives in the classroom.

Perez is very excited about this new program. “This system will be like one-stop shopping,” he said. “It will service everyone.”

Perez has been attending department chair meetings to inform faculty of the upcoming changes. “My mission is to evangelize this so that faculty and staff are not blindsided,” he said. “I want them to be well aware of what’s coming down the pike.”

The district is currently setting up committees to discuss the look and feel they want for the web pages. It has not been determined yet whether or not the campuses will all have the same appearance.

This project is in its early stages and is currently in the developmental phase. Instructional training for those that will be involved in this phase will begin this month.

Once this has been accomplished, the project will enter the implementation phase in the latter part of June, at which time administrative personnel will be trained, followed by end users. All teaching should be completed by the end of July.

The new system will be introduced in stages with the first module being the public relations and home pages of the website.

If all goes as planned, this project will enter the operational phase by August and will be functional by late fall.

For more information or to make recommendations for the new website, contact Duncan Perez at (210) 486-3032 or dperez114@mail.accd.edu