Temple University's General Education Department To Get New Website
General Work Stuff CMS / GenEd / Temple / web development / WordPress

I've never mentioned it here before, but for the last 2-ish years, I've been the webmaster of Temple University's GenEd website.  The site was originally developed by Temple University's Computer Services group.  I took over the maintenance and have only done small things with it -- add new videos, replace some files, change text here and there, etc.  Nothing too exciting.  Back when I first started, the (then) director of General Education, Terry Halbert, shared her vision of the website with me.  She envisioned a place where students, faculty, and the community could all interact.  She imagined a place to support and eventually become the Philadelphia Experience (PEX) Passport (the Passport is a booklet of discount or free admission tickets to several Philadelphia museums, venues, and historic sites).  She wanted a place that would showcase the wonderful things that were happening in General Education courses and to promote the Philadelphia Experience.  At the time, I suggested moving to a CMS of some sort, like Drupal or Joomla.

That day has come.  GenEd recently received a grant to redesign their website.  As per the recommendation from a few people from the MIS Department, which hails from Temple's Fox School of Business, we will be building a WordPress website over the summer months.  The MIS department's website runs WordPress, so they've given it a very positive recommendation and offered to help with the implementation.  At the moment, we're still nailing down the specs, but we're hoping to have this completed in time for the incoming class to see.

I can't say much more other than, "I'm excited!"  This will be a big feather in my cap.

About GenEd:
At Temple University, we don't have a "core" -- we have GenEd.  They define and develop the classes that students have to take to satisfy various general education requirements.  As a result, this department in one way or another touches virtually every single student that comes through our University.  In addition to the courses that it develops, GenEd is also responsible developing the Philadelphia Experience -- a set of courses and resources to help students take advantage of and learn from the City of Brotherly Love.  They've also developed the PEX Passport, a collection of free or discounted tickets that allow students to explore the city for little or no money.  This Passport has also been integrated into some of the classes offered at Temple and is used to take students outside of the classroom and right into the environment.

- bstempi

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