Lincoln University urgently needed to replace the aged, unsupported content management system (CMS) that was underpinning the back-end of its website. It also had a pressing three-month deadline for the project to be delivered, so potential students could access the information they needed to decide on their university and courses.

Lincoln is New Zealand’s specialist agricultural university. It has a student population of 4,000. The website provides a window into all aspects of the university’s operation, including its academic faculties, enrolments, course information, scholarships and orientation. Students are a web-savvy and well-connected bunch these days and Lincoln’s old CMS platform fell well short when it came to delivering the kind of interactive website experience students have come to expect.

Three months only
Faced with risk of having an unsupported platform in three months, when it needed its website to be available to students, Lincoln needed a new, flexible CMS platform – one that was also capable of being integrated into its future IT plans.

When the university went to the market, its decision criteria were weighted towards a partner that could demonstrate stability and market maturity, as well as CMS success.

Online services manager Dorje McKinnon says the university was looking for the synergy of an excellent product delivered by a partner that had the capability to help push Lincoln’s IT business strategy forward.

“We felt Intergen had all the key ingredients – a local partner with respected delivery capability supplying a mature CMS product. This gave us confidence they had the professional, process-driven approach we needed,” says McKinnon.

“Their experience won them the project, and they lived up to expectations: the project was delivered on time and on budget, largely due to Intergen’s attention to processes and willingness to get involved at all times.”

Whole student lifecycle
As a flexible and well-structured CMS platform, EPiServer delivered immediate benefits. It has also set Lincoln on a path that will allow it to engage with the whole student lifecycle: from prospecting to enrolment; to post-graduate to alumni. Microsoft Search Server, through integration with SharePoint, provides the university’s site search-engine.

SharePoint is also used, in conjunction with EPiServer, to manage the site’s content structure and to share information, such as course details and staff profiles, for example. The latter can appear in several places on the site and can now be updated in a single action.

The result is a website that has allowed stakeholders and faculty staff to both own and drive content. As a result, the university has moved to a much more distributed ‘editor model’, with far more contributors.

“The difference is about making the website about the individuals who are using it. Students are now viewing information that is current, relevant and easily accessible,” says McKinnon.

“We also see potential, using EPiServer features, to deliver end-to-end task-specific activities, to assist students on an individual basis. For example, there are editor-friendly form creation tools which will allow us explore smart registration and smart applications.”

‘The hook’
For many students, the website is the first ‘hook’ in selecting a university. Lincoln is confident it now presents a professional window to prospective students, through content that is both well-structured and timely.

ENGINE ROOM
>> EPiServer 5 R2
>> SharePoint
>> SharePoint Search Server





> Intergen
Wayne Forgesson | Director of Marketing
P: 04 472 2021
E: wayne.forgesson@intergen.co.nz
W: www.intergen.co.nz






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