University of Michigan Supports 130 Websites and 400 Content Authors with Adobe Experience Manager

The College of Literature, Science, and Art (LSA) at the University of Michigan is the biggest school at the one of biggest universities in its state. Its students understand the value of a liberal arts education — challenging convention, testing hypotheses, and searching for truth — and the importance of communicating ideas through different media to move education forward. They also understand that not being able to get to information or getting inconsistent information creates frustration, confusion, and discord.

To support better communication across the college’s digital properties — including 130 department and program websites making up more than 100,000 pages of content, as well as 500 smaller websites for classes and research projects — LSA chose to standardize its digital platform. Over 70,000 assets — including templates, components, images, and more — are centrally stored within Adobe Experience Manager Assets, enabling professors, administrators, and other content authors to deliver consistent experiences.

Over 400 users at the college can now deliver unique site experiences — using assets dedicated to their profile according to their role and school — using drag and drop functionality. Information and ideas now flow freely between administrators, professors, researchers, and students.

Authors can create and update websites more quickly and with less training. Students can find course information more easily and reliably, even during registration when site traffic is high. Alumni and friends of the university are also getting better information about program progress and achievements, driving donations.

“The LSA websites present huge opportunities to clearly communicate all of the accomplishments of our faculty and students,” says Patrick Belden, Director of Web Services, College of Literature, Science and Art at the University of Michigan. “We can improve our donations by using websites to show potential donors how departments are using money to provide scholarships, better learning experiences, or enriching events for students.”

Because the school is updating information and pages more regularly, digital experiences are always improving. And as its digital capabilities expand, LSA requires fewer resources to make updates. This enables the college to focus more on its main goal — educating a generation of thinkers.

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