Best Practices

1. Best Practices Planning websites for recruiting and use by current students

2. Key parts of a grad website • Fit to the needs of the discipline • What prospective and current students need to know • Ordering of information highlights most central needs • Then accessibility and logic become important • How easily can prospective students find their answers? • What answers do current students need?

3. Some important components • Clearly identified areas of strength • Why a student would apply to your program • Then to specific parts… • Transparency…key stats • Placements • Applications/admissions • Time to degree (median) • Attrition…how defined?

4. More key components… • Graduate studies handbook • Up-to-date • Previous versions for continuing students • Community information • Application process • Different places for other universities • Grad School, admissions, departments

5. More components… • Graduate student profiles • Interest areas, email address, photos • Program timeline • Courses & requirements • basic sketch aside from handbook • Faculty research areas • Funding opportunities & funding policy (years, MA vs PhD)

6. Website examples • English: http://www.english.uiowa.edu/graduate/ • Philosophy: http://www.uiowa.edu/~phil/grad.shtml • Physics: http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/graduate/ • Economics: http://tippie.uiowa.edu/economics/phd/ • Geography: http://www.uiowa.edu/~geog/Graduate/graduate_program.shtml

7. More website examples • Political Science: http://www.polisci.uiowa.edu/graduate/index.shtml • Sociology: http://www.uiowa.edu/~soc/graduate/about.html • Biochemistry: http://www.biochem.uiowa.edu/graduate/grad_prog.html

8. Discussion • What works in these sites? • Other sites to see? • What do you wish you could do to your site? • What do you feel is the strength of your site? • Possible areas for improvement?