Faculty Website Redesign: A Survival Guide

The Faculty Website Challenge

Faculty websites occupy a peculiar space. They represent individual academics with international reputations and strong personal brands, but they also represent the university and must meet institutional standards. Faculty are experts in their fields but rarely in web design. They want control but often won't invest time in maintenance.

Redesigning faculty websites means navigating these tensions. Done well, you create profiles that serve both faculty goals and student needs. Done poorly, you create frustrated academics and abandoned web pages.

Understanding Faculty Priorities

Faculty care about different things than marketing departments.

What Faculty Want

• Research visibility: Publications, grants, and recognition
• Academic reputation: How they appear to peers
• Student recruitment: Attracting graduate students
• Time efficiency: Minimal effort to maintain
• Academic freedom: Control over their presentation

What Faculty Often Overlook

• Undergraduate student needs
• Accessibility requirements
• Mobile experience
• University brand consistency
• Outdated content cleanup

Faculty Segments

Not all faculty have the same needs:

Design Approach

Template-Based Flexibility

Create templates that offer meaningful choices:

• Layout options (emphasis on research vs. teaching)
• Content sections that can be shown or hidden
• Profile photo options (formal vs. candid)
• Customizable secondary content areas

Required vs. Optional Sections

• Required: Name, title, department, contact info, photo
• Recommended: Bio, education, research interests
• Optional: Publications, courses, awards, media, personal statement

Publications Integration

Publications matter most to faculty. Make this section excellent:

• Import from ORCID, Google Scholar, or institutional repository
• Proper citation formatting
• Links to PDFs where possible (respecting copyright)
• Easy manual additions for recent work

Working With Faculty

Initial Outreach

1. Work through department coordinators

   Coordinators know faculty schedules and preferences. They can facilitate introductions and follow-up.

2. Frame the benefit clearly

   Lead with what faculty gain: better visibility, student recruitment, reduced maintenance.

3. Offer multiple engagement options

   Some want hands-on involvement; others want to submit content and be done.

4. Set clear timelines

   Academic schedules are predictable. Plan around teaching loads and sabbaticals.

Communication Strategies

• Keep emails brief and specific
• Respect that faculty email volume is enormous
• Provide clear deadlines with consequences
• Follow up through multiple channels if needed
• Use department meetings for announcements

Handling Resistance

• "I don't have time": Offer to build profile from existing materials
• "I like my old site": Explain accessibility/mobile requirements, offer migration help
• "I want it to look different": Explore options within templates, explain brand standards
• "Why do I need this?": Share data on student use, peer institution examples

Content Collection

Making It Easy

• Provide forms with clear fields
• Accept content in any format (Word, PDF, plain text)
• Offer to interview faculty and write their bio
• Pull from existing materials (CVs, department directories)

Photo Requirements

Faculty photos are surprisingly contentious:

• Offer professional photo sessions (scheduled at their convenience)
• Provide clear specifications if they supply their own
• Allow some variety (lab settings, outdoor shots) within guidelines
• Have a graceful fallback if they refuse photos

Bio Writing

Faculty bios vary wildly in quality. Options:

• Provide a template structure
• Offer professional writing assistance
• Show examples of effective bios
• Review and edit submitted content

Technical Considerations

Editing Interface

Faculty technical skills vary enormously:

• Some are comfortable with code; most aren't
• Simple, intuitive editing interfaces are essential
• Preview functionality reduces errors
• Clear save/publish workflow

Mobile Considerations

• Faculty rarely check their own sites on mobile
• Students absolutely do
• Responsive templates are non-negotiable
• Test with common student devices

Accessibility

• University legal obligation regardless of faculty preference
• Build accessibility into templates
• Provide guidance on accessible content (alt text, document formatting)
• Audit for common issues

Ongoing Maintenance

Reducing Maintenance Burden

• Automate where possible (publication feeds, course schedules)
• Minimize required updates
• Make updates quick and easy
• Send targeted reminders (new publications, start of semester)

Support Structure

• Clear documentation and help resources
• Department-level support (trained coordinators)
• Central web team for complex issues
• Regular office hours or workshops

Governance

• Define what happens when faculty leave
• Establish content review schedules
• Create process for handling outdated profiles
• Balance faculty autonomy with institutional needs

Successful Faculty Websites

Faculty websites succeed when they serve faculty goals while meeting institutional requirements. That balance requires understanding what faculty actually care about, making participation easy, and providing meaningful flexibility within necessary constraints.

The web team's role is to be a partner, not an enforcer. Help faculty present their work effectively. Make the process as painless as possible. Build systems that don't require constant faculty attention. When you do that, everyone wins.