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| Adrian Cooke, Web
administrator for University Relations, is working on content for WesNet,
the alumni Electronic Portfolio. |
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| Posted 02.16.07 |
University Relations Web Administrator Creates Sites that Clearly
Communicate
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The first time
Adrian Cooke built a Web site, he used it to share photographs with his
family.
As University Relation’s new Web administrator, Cooke now builds Web sites
used by thousands of Wesleyan alumni. He oversees all nodes under
http://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/,
pages for the Wesleyan Fund, and works with other departments such as ITS
and the Office of Public Affairs’ New Media Services on special event pages
for Reunion & Commencement and Homecoming/Family Weekend. WesNet, a site
designed to facilitate communication among alumni, is also monitored by
Cooke.
Cooke’s on-going goal is to improve these online services from a user’s
perspective. To help him with that endeavor, University Relations’ Career
Resource Center recently conducted a study to see how alumni are using the
Web at Wesleyan.
“Right now we are standing back and saying, ‘how could we make this better
for our constituency?” Cooke says. “Where are we getting it right and where
do we need to stop and listen?’ We know that we have our work cut out for us
but we are running with the ball and we're determined to get it right. From
a project planning point of view, Wesleyan is swift and nimble. It is a
great place to make things happen.”
Cooke, a native of Brisbane, Australia, came to the United States in 2002 to
pursue an interest in sociology. Three years later, he graduated with a
master's degree from Yale University, where he researched indigenous
Australian and Native American politics and cultural issues. During and
after obtaining his degree, he worked for the Yale Sociology Department,
designing the department’s homepage,
http://www.yale.edu/sociology;
the Center for Cultural Sociology's site,
http://research.yale.edu/ccs;
the Sociology Graduate Student site,
http://www.yale.edu/sgs, and
co-designed a symposium page,
http://www.yale.edu/iiss.
Cooke found ways to tie his interests in sociology and Web technologies
together. He learned methods to present online content more clearly and
systematically, and how to make sites more appealing to different kinds of
visitors.
“It turned out that a background in social sciences was helpful in thinking
about the way a user interacts with a Web site because as a student I was
exposed to a lot of critical thinking about how to present information,” he
says. “The social possibilities of the Web always grabbed my attention.”
He brought these interests to Wesleyan in September 2006, where he worked as
an assistant for Allynn Wilkinson in Digitization Services. In November and
December 2006, he also stood in as a desktop software trainer for
Information Technology Services. Just two months ago, he transferred into
U.R., reporting to Mark Bailey, director of Development Communications.
“Adrian brings new energy to University Relations,” Bailey says. “His
generosity, skills, judgment, and irrepressible good humor are making a real
difference in the pace and quality of our Web work. His influence is already
manifest in a variety of ideas for alumni content on WesNet, the alumni
Electronic Portfolio.”
Cooke says the biggest challenge of his job thus far is learning Wesleyan’s
in-house systems. Although he’s very familiar with coding sites, Wesleyan
has engineered ways to allow users with little or no knowledge of
programming to build Web sites.
“Wesleyan has built a lot of its technology services from the ground up and
they are amazingly flexible,” he says. “But although you might know how to
build a Web page you can't just waltz in here and start fiddling with code.
Here we have a community of technologists and designers who have evolved their services
over many years, adapting to the needs of departments. And that's doing your
job: making it easy for other people to do theirs.”
As the entire Alumni Web Portfolio is being reexamined, Cooke and his
colleagues will include new Web tools in these alumni sites. For example,
they may implement Webcasts of campus and club events to boost social
networking among alumni. In conjunction with ITS they’re also reappraising
WesNet’s user interface and evaluating the alumni e-mail service.
Cooke encourages alumni and the wider Wesleyan community to offer their
input on alumni Web resources.
“The hardest thing in this job is knowing if you're accurately responding to
people's needs, or if you're hitting the mark,” Cooke says. “We are looking
at everything with a magnifying glass, and we'll be selecting features that
really improve our offerings to alumni. We want people to say either, ‘Yes,
that's what we've been asking for,’ or ‘Wow, I never knew I needed that!’”
Cooke lives in New Haven with his wife, Elena, and a “cranky” ginger tabby
named Harvey. He and Elena have worked on several Web sites together,
including her personal portfolio site,
http://www.convealer.com.
Together, they are planning to create a portfolio community site for visual
artists.
In addition to the Web, Cooke enjoys writing, photography and movies.
“I'm trying to find out who the Big Lebowski fans are around campus. I've
discovered two so far,” he says, smiling.
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| By
Olivia Bartlett, The Wesleyan Connection
editor |
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