A new face is appearing around NEIU campuses and it’s not a picture of the new El Centro building.

NEIU.edu recently received a much-anticipated face-lift.

“It’s really been a long time coming,” said Dana Navarro, NEIU [Acting] Chief Communications Officer/Director of University Outreach.

The reign of the long time used, albeit antiquated, website of URL’s past is now over and gone. Navarro, a member of the Website Steering Committee, expressed that plans to change the website was a two year project.

The former website inadvertently gave more attention to alumnus, employees and students who were currently attending; it was not user-friendly to the NEIU-novice.

The undertaking of such a transition from one online visage to the other required all departments-from academics to administrative to technical – to assist in the completion of the project.

“When [you] look at a website, it really represents the dynamics of a university,” said Mark LaCien, NEIU Director of Marketing & Web Communications.

There are many reasons as to why a university would give its site a makeover; NEIU’s number one targeted audience is a demographic consisting of the prospective student.

“Having a vibrant and dynamic website really gives out an energy to the potential student that this university is a potential choice,” said LaCien.

The portrayal of NEIU with a fresh new online look is a factor to be measured against competing schools that seek out the favor of future college and university students.

Such a spectacle can be seen by visiting the new homepage where slides can be clicked on, which emphasize the attributes of NEIU that will help students succeed in not only their studies, but other endeavors they may take on. The first slide exhibits the word Learn, while the last slide the word Lead.

This wordplay ties directly to NEIU’s tagline: “Learn in the city, Lead in the world.”

Unveiling the new site took place on July 1st, just in time for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year.

“It really is the front door,” said Navarro, “We needed to have a front door that was appealing to prospective students.”

The future of the school’s new dot e-d-u is optimistic. “The structure of the site will remain in place for a while,” said Navarro.

Considering that the prior site was up for quite some time, that alone begs the question as to the longevity of this new site’s lifespan.

“It will evolve,” said LaCien. It gives us the opportunity as a content management system to continually improve [it].”

Alumnus, current students, and employees of NEIU needn’t fret in deciding what portal to look upon for information. There is a link on the home page for Alumni. Employees can still search for information via Neiuport and current students can look to both platforms for information.

Though the venture of a shiny new site is not without its bugs or kinks, any tips for a broken link or page-not-found can be referred to [email protected] with specific details and screen shots so that steps are taken to address and rectify the problem.