Utah State Administrators Go Virtual: Meet the Deans in Cyberspace

A new feature on Utah State's web site is part of a greater effort to personalize the accomplishments and strengths of the university, in this case through the eyes — and voices — of all the deans.


The "Meet the Deans" web page allows people to hear and see two- to three-minute video clips from each of the college deans. The deans open the doors to their colleges' highlights in the classroom, in the research lab and in the world. You can catch their vision and the vision of their colleges by clicking their pictures, displayed on the page, and watching a short video of them.

"The project is part of a larger plan to put a face and a voice on Utah State's many highlight areas," said Renee Payne, director of University Marketing. "We wanted to personalize the colleges for people, to swing open the doors so people could see inside."

She said the "Meet the Deans" videos are part of an ongoing campaign to put a face on all of the faculty, starting with the leadership but continuing on through the ranks to highlight the major accomplishments in teaching, research and community service in each of the colleges.

Charles Thompson, university webmaster and a coordinator of the project, said that one of the initial objectives of the "Meet the Deans" page was to help both prospective students and current students understand the personality and vision of each college from the dean's perspective. With student recruitment in mind, Thompson tried to spice up the page design to appeal to younger, internet-savvy users.

"But after completing the project, we found that we had a great way to feature the colleges not just to students, but to alumni, our faculty and staff, and the community as well," he said. "The deans gave us a lively look at the personalities of their colleges, and I think the videos do a great job of telling people how many great things we have going on at Utah State."

Payne and Thompson said most of the work on the project was completed as part of an internship project by undergraduate students from the Department of Journalism and Communication, and University Media Productions staff oversaw the technical components of the project.

To go ahead and meet the deans, simply visit their page at http://www.usu.edu/deans/ and click around a bit. Their college perspectives and vision are all there in real time.