Youngstown State University

“There's a tradition at YSU of student-centered focus, where we provide advice and help along the way, tremendous facilities, internship and research opportunities, and costs that won't drag you down after you graduate, Whatever your ambitions and dreams, we are here to help you reach farther than you may have ever thought possible.”

Profile
Youngstown State University—an urban research university—emphasizes a creative, integrated approach to education, scholarship, and service. The University places students at its center; leads in the discovery, dissemination, and application of knowledge; advances civic, scientific, and technological development; and fosters collaboration to enrich the region and the world.

The University: 

• Creates diverse educational experiences that develop ethical, intellectually curious students who are invested in their communities;
• Provides access to a broad range of undergraduate programs;
• Offers graduate programs in selected areas of excellence, including those that meet the needs of the region;
• Supports economic development through applied learning and research;
• Integrates teaching and learning, scholarship, and civic engagement; 
• Fosters understanding of diversity, sustainability, and global perspectives; and 
• Advances the intellectual and cultural life of the city, region, and world.

Client Requirements
After an initial failed attempt with implementing a CMS that was simply not a good fit, YSU had some serious requirements the second time around. The design for the site needed to be parallel across the university, updates had to be able to be made without recreating a page, training needed to be minimal or unnecessary, and user experience needed to be not only easy, but enjoyable. They were eager to redesign their site and after being setback by their initial choice in a CMS, they needed something to get them back on track.

ContentM
“I will be the first to tell you the experience has exceeded my expectations. The team at AllofE Solutions has taken recommendations of mine and turned them into system settings. It is not just a Content Management System for me; it is MY Content Management System. I am in love, not only with the CMS, but the idea that I can now get back to what is fun about design. I have fallen back into care free mode when it comes to coding because I don't have to do it. I have more control over the look and creating a great user experience rooted with rich media.”

- Ross Morrone, YSU programmer

Implementation

• ContentM is entirely Web based and is supported by all major browsers. No client computer software installation is required.
• ContentM is naturally a cross platform system, supported by Linux, Windows, and Macintosh.
• Importing your already existing pages is simple and fast, all you have to do is copy and paste the HTML source for your existing pages into the CMS, and ContentM will automatically format them and make them available for editing.
• ContentM has a complex security structure that only shows users the information that pertains to them; the sites, modules, and pages that they are in charge of.
• No technical skill is required by the end-user. If you know how to use a file system and a word processor, you can easily learn how to use ContentM. Furthermore, ContentM does most of the organizing for you.
• The time frame for full implementation is less than six weeks from the start of the project.
• Because ContentM is so simple and intuitive, there is little involved in the learning of the system.
• Your version of ContentM is developed on AllofE servers before being migrated to your server so that you maintain complete control over YOUR system.

Effects
ContentM 8.0 brought excitement back into web design for the YSU staff. Instead of worrying about HTML formatting and codes, they now could focus on the design aspect and begin playing with state-of-the-art technology that truly makes a site stand out. Our software was implemented not only in the main site, but all of the separate professional schools as well. Because we got the opportunity to take on so many of the individual sites, it was important to YSU that a cohesive look and feel remained throughout each one, which was no complex task for ContentM 8.0. The new site was launched in February of 2010 and everyone seems to be thrilled with the results. Finally, the system they had been searching so hard for all those years had arrived just in the nick of time.