ETSU.edu Web Strategy

2026-29 Replatforming and Redesign

Graphic of the web team looking at blueprints of the website as buildings.

We’re building a new ETSU.edu from the ground up. Here’s why.

It’s a good problem to have. Because of the innovation and growth occurring at ETSU, we have outgrown our current website.

ETSU deserves a website that:

  • More effectively reaches and resonates with prospective students, driving enrollment
  • Delivers our core messages more clearly and compellingly
  • Provides campus communicators with a better content management experience
  • Is built to grow with advances in digital communications technology — especially AI

What You Need to Know About the New ETSU.edu

This is nothing short of a complete overhaul. We are redesigning the site from the ground up on Drupal, a widely used and flexible Content Management System (CMS).

These are significant changes, and they will take time to implement correctly.

To support this effort, the Office of University Marketing and Communications (UMC) has engaged a wide variety of stakeholders from across campus, hired additional personnel for the duration of the project, and engaged an external consulting company through a competitive national RFP process.

Vector of a person looking at blueprints in front of a giant screen with a webpage on it.

Building a New Home for ETSU’s Web Presence: How the Redesign Will Work

We estimate that the project will take three years, spanning from spring 2026 through spring 2029. 

At a high level, we think of this project as building a new home for ETSU’s web presence: 

Graphic of a bluprint for a home.

In the spring and summer of 2026, we developed blueprints and building plans and laid foundations. We selected vendors, developed an information architecture, and began configuring Drupal in preparation to launch new webpages.

Graphic of a set of front doors.

In the fall of 2026, we will focus on building front doors. We will design and launch a new home page and other high-visibility landing pages for each major section of the site.

Graphic of stairs leading up to a door.

In 2027, we will build out entryways — areas of the site devoted to welcoming prospective students into our community, including the admissions site, a new program finder, program landing pages, and other priority sites.

Graphic of a home's interior.

In 2028 and beyond, we will pivot to building out interior rooms — sites and pages for academic and administrative units.

Project Roadmap: 2026-27

The table below gives a detailed view of UMC’s roadmap for the first year of the project. These dates are subject to change, and any substantive changes will be published here and detailed in our project communications.

What to Expect During the Project, and What’s Changing

As with any major transition, the website redesign is a good opportunity to revisit and reimagine how the website itself and UMC’s strategy for managing it serve our audience and our stakeholders. 

Here are some of the changes that will come about during this project:

  • Your Unit’s Content in its New Home

    Think of the new ETSU.edu as a thoughtfully designed new home for your unit’s web presence, and think of the existing content on your current pages — text, images, embedded elements — as furniture.

    A person walks into the front door of a webpage with a mouse clicking on the door.

    Graphic of table and chairs.

    In moving to a new house, you’ll likely keep a good portion of your furniture, but it will be configured differently based on the new house’s floor plan. And some of your furniture may be outdated or unnecessary in the new house.

    The same goes for your unit’s web presence. You’ll likely need to do some shifting, reorganizing, and recycling of content to fit it into its new home.

    But remember, this new home is an upgrade. We are developing templates, content types, and components to help you get your message to your audience more effectively — and with less effort.

    File boxes graphic

    A person is holding blueprints graphic.

    Some content types, like faculty and staff directories and program landing pages, will be developed and managed globally by UMC in consultation with campus partners. And some pages, like department homepages, will be templated, so that our partners don’t have to start with a blank slate.

     

  • A New Governance Structure and Unit Web Leads

    To effectively partner with your team, university leadership has appointed Unit Web Leads across campus to be our main points of contact for the migration. We will be in close communication with these individuals both during and after the migration.Everyone joins hands and a celebrate emojii above.

    Unit Web Leads will also serve as editors for your site’s content, meaning that they will be responsible for either making or approving all additions and changes to content. 

    This is a shift from our previous governance structure, where any faculty or staff member with leadership approval was granted editing access. 

    After migration, some units may need to appoint additional content authors. But, because leadership has assigned Unit Web Leads to work closely with UMC, not all current content editors in Modern Campus will need access to edit the new site.  

  • Dedicated, Proactive, and Continued Support from the UMC Web Team

    Academic and administrative units will be assigned a dedicated member of the UMC Web Team who will work with your unit’s web lead and other key stakeholders to review your existing content and determine how best to migrate and arrange it on the new site.

    We will onboard departments ahead of their planned launch dates, which will be published on our master roadmap.

Stay Tuned for Updates from UMC

The UMC Web Team will remain in constant communication with university leadership, Unit Web Leads, and the campus community at large. Be on the lookout for email updates, and check this page often for the latest.