If you have logged back into your Washburn account, you might have noticed a few changes. During the summer months the Washburn Information Technology Services department has implemented many changes to make the Washburn website friendlier for mobile devices. Patrick Early, director of public relations, explains that updating Washburn’s website to a more modern design was the goal for the ITS department.

“One of the biggest things we did was to start out with a real strong focus as to what we were trying to do. Our focus with the website was primarily towards perspective students to help them find in the university what they’re interested in, and find the courses to study and the aspects of student life in Washburn that would make this an attractive choice,” Early said. 

Washburn’s website has been updated in such a way that it makes searching for your major and what majors will entail simpler than in the previous installment. 

“I think one of the things we’re most proud of besides just the general look is the areas of study, it’s a great way to explore that you’re looking for what you’re interested in. It’s a great way to explore things to know if you’re interested in two or three things what might combine those things that interest you,” Early said.

Early also explained that the new ITS website format goes beyond showing Washburn’s academic options, but it also does its best to help students understand some of the terminology of the fields they’re going into. 

 “For instance, if you’re interested in maybe park and recreations running programs, you wouldn’t necessarily as a student think ‘oh yeah kinesiology’ that’s just not a term that they’re use to,” Early said.

In addition to the improvements made to the Washburn University website, Washburn’s website security protocols have also received a significant upgrade. Web administrator for ITS, Chad Beatty, oversees the website and general web maintenance. Beatty explained that there are different security measures that prevent specific kinds of hacking, which has made Washburn’s website more secure. While Washburn’s website didn’t have any major security problems in the past, the improvements made by ITS have made Washburn’s website more secure. 

Future improvements to the website will also continue, Beatty explained, due to ITS excellent group cohesion.

“The coolest thing for me about this website is working with the web oversite committee. We all were kind of on the same page with where we wanted to go with it and we wanted it to be more interesting to look at,” Beatty said. “We wanted it to be more engaging for students… We were all just on the same page about what everything kind of needed to have a tendency to look like.”

Both Early and Beatty agree that the Washburn website will continue to be improved and stay up-to-date for Washburn’s modern students.