Chancellor and stakeholders gather to align on a student-centric digital future
On Wednesday, December 3, Austin Community College District (ACC) leaders, faculty, and staff gathered at the Highland Campus for a pivotal Web Redesign Visioning Session. Hosted by Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart and the College’s Web Advisory Committee, the event kicks off the discovery phase of the comprehensive effort to transform ACC’s online presence into a student-ready, future-focused asset.
The session was a deep dive into functionality, accessibility, and the student journey. The objective of the redesign is ambitious but clear—to design the best website in higher education.
The Challenge: Removing Friction
Attendees were presented with a snapshot of the current digital landscape: The ACC ecosystem currently houses more than 270,000 pages. It’s created redundancies, outdated information, and inconsistencies.
During a visioning exercise, stakeholders identified the emotions a new student likely feels when visiting the current site. While some feel “excited,” the prevailing sentiments were “lost,” “confused,” and “nervous.”
The consensus of the room was summarized by a powerful insight shared during the session: “Every point of friction prevents a strong start and can leave a student questioning whether they’re in the right place.”
The Strategy: A Phased Approach
To address these challenges, the redesign will focus on improving workflow, user experience (UX), security, and accessibility. The rollout is projected to unfold in five distinct phases:
- Public-facing pages: Promotional content for future students and the community
- Student-centric pages: Resources focused on current students
- A Student Portal
- An Employee Intranet
- Web Services and Governance
A Cultural Shift: Student Clarity First
A cultural shift will be required to build a truly student-centered website. Success may require:
- Shared ownership of content that spans multiple offices
- Willingness to subordinate departmental branding to student clarity
- Cross-functional teams that own student journeys, not pages
- Trust that ‘my content’ being integrated into a flow isn’t the same as ‘my work being diminished’
- Hard decisions about what NOT to include on the public website
It does NOT mean:
- Erasing anyone’s expertise or contribution
- One department ‘winning’ over another
- Less work for anyone (probably more, at least initially)
Looking Ahead
The session concluded with a commitment to view the online experience through the eyes of prospective students—feeling their frustrations and imagining better outcomes.
As the redesign progresses, the College will continue to gather insights through focus groups with external and internal communities.
Missed the session? Employees are invited to follow the progress and watch a recording of the livestream at austincc.edu/redesign.