In the spring of 2020, a COVID-19 research project from one of OIST’s professors was published online; soon after, scientists from around the world were flocking to the OIST website. With Pantheon’s Global CDN, the majority of the massive traffic spike was directed to cached content instead of OIST’s servers. “We didn’t even notice that we had a nearly 650% increase in traffic.
Wheaton’s Marketing and Communications Division grows the institution’s reach and reputation through digital-first marketing campaigns that drive to the college’s online footprint. The main public-facing website is the division’s primary marketing tool, and its lean web and digital team is in charge of the site’s software, infrastructure, and hosting platform.
The first Faculty of Medicine sites were hosted on the school’s internal servers, which were restricted to the extent that Brown and the Office of Communication had little ability to update sites. After shifting to Pantheon, Brown could quickly launch new sites and manage support tickets. “With the move to Pantheon, I’m completely independent,” says Brown. “I don’t have to wait for anyone. I don’t have to be in the office or be on a VPN to get to the server.
Rensselaer Polytechnic University (RPI) in Troy, New York, has long been renowned as a pioneer in educating future engineering and science leaders. It hosts one of the most powerful university-based supercomputers in the world and spends over $100 million annually to support undergraduate and graduate research that benefits both the private and public sectors.
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago. The Lab welcomes researchers from early-career scientists and Nobel Laureates to high-school students to postdoctoral fellows.
The Community College of Philadelphia’s website, ccp.edu, is a vital resource for students, faculty and parents. According to Website Manager and Information Architect Jason Stein, ccp.edu is “...our communication medium; it’s our heartbeat.”
The University of Texas Alumni Association, or the “Texas Exes,” was founded in the 80s. But don’t imagine New Wave music and Rubix Cubes: we’re talking about the 1880s. For over 100 years, the association has been a uniting force for UT graduates, and a vital resource for the university.
Until recently, most of UNLV’s site (UNLV.edu) was hosted locally on campus. It wasn’t a perfectly reliable hosting setup, and it kept UNLV’s team on the hook for infrastructure and support, but they soldiered along.
When a complex problem meets a brilliant design team with a sophisticated hosting platform, remarkable things can happen.
Higher education websites face a unique set of challenges. Not only do they need to accommodate a high volume of traffic, but they also need to house content for multiple audiences, from students and parents to faculty and staff.
Meeting the needs of each of these audiences is a shared challenge across IT and communications departments. Multiple stakeholders need to work together to make sure everyone’s needs are met by a reliable, robust, and responsive website.