November 1998
Cara Determan (left) and Allyn Summa	George Mason Website Presentation Receives Recognition By Tami Dimock Two George Mason staff members recently received the WebdevShare/ SallieMae Prestige Award for their presentation of the university's website at WebdevShare98. Held Sept. 14 through 16 at Indiana University, the conference is the only one devoted exclusively to the development of web-based tools to serve the higher education administration community. Cara Determan, University Relations, and Allyn Summa, University Computing and Information Systems (UCIS), presented the George Mason website and explained the process of its recent redesign to hundreds of colleagues representing other universities and the information technology industry. The George Mason presentation was the only one to receive recognition. Determan and Summa were part of a team that provided the technical and creative expertise to redesign the website. Other members included Lara Bushallow, University Libraries; Carrie Gillotte, UCIS; Wally Grotophorst, Library Systems; Ruth Kifer, Johnson Center Library; John Milam, Institutional Research and Reporting; and student David Storey. The team consulted with the MasonLink Steering Committee, a group of more than 20 faculty and staff representatives from across the university who provided input on the design and future development of the site. The Prestige Award, which consists of a commemorative plaque and $1,000 for the university, is given to acknowledge outstanding contributions to the information technology industry while recognizing the recipients' importance as role models and inspiration to others. According to WebdevShare98, recipients are chosen for their "outstanding presentation on the development, delivery, and effective use of web-based administrative applications in higher education." The award was presented to the Mason duo by Mark Olsen of SallieMae, one of the nation's largest financial services companies and a WebdevShare98 corporate partner. The award-winning presentation, "Web Page Redesign Issues," can be accessed online at http://www.gmu.edu/ webdev98. For more information about WebdevShare98, visit the conference's website at http://webdev.indiana.edu/98. *    *    * The subject of Determan and Summa's presentation, the newly redesigned George Mason website, has received many compliments from members of the university community and beyond. Here are just a few. "The new look for the Mason page is very nice--much cleaner and more sophisticated than the former. Good work." --faculty member "I just wanted to compliment you on the new look of the site. It was a pleasant surprise when I logged on!" --staff member, American Society of Association Executives, Washington, D.C. "This web page develops so well. You guys do such a great job. Each time I log on, I anticipate what it will look like. Keep it up!" --undergraduate student "I am writing to congratulate you on a beautiful job. I really like the functionality, I love the form and graphic design, and the feel is very professional and sophisticated." --university administrator
Related Links Web Page Redesign Issues