In alignment with the site’s welcoming and friendly aesthetic, videos are prominently displayed introducing guests to the Center’s teams and varied programs. Visitors to the homepage are treated to a captivating bird’s eye view of the Poorvu Center’s exterior – Yale’s iconic Sterling Memorial Library – before passing through the doors into the space where teaching and learning thrive at Yale.
Poorvu Center Launches New Website
Marking the culmination of its celebratory 10th anniversary year, the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning launched an engaging new website this summer, uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the various communities it supports. Site navigation is action-based to help visitors quickly connect to the information they need. Whether you’re an undergraduate student looking for extra course support or an instructor new to teaching at Yale, the Poorvu Center’s resources are just a click away.
A Library of Resources at Your Fingertips
In addition to supporting faculty in their teaching, the Poorvu Center’s integrated and wide-ranging programs – including student-facing initiatives, technology and media support, and online course offerings – distinguish it from other centers for teaching and learning. User-centered by design, the new site allows visitors to easily navigate these extensive offerings, including resources for learners and educators alike. Interested in exploring academic integrity in the age of AI? Or best practices for designing assessment questions? The site’s comprehensive resource library contains a curated selection of these and other sought-after topics. Perhaps you’re a postdoctoral scholar interested in the programs most relevant to you. The new site features audience-specific pages tailored to undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, experienced faculty, instructors new to teaching at Yale, lifelong learners, and staff.
“We want everyone at Yale to feel welcome at the Poorvu Center,” said Lucas Swineford, Executive Director of Digital Education at the Poorvu Center. “Our dream for the new site was to be an inviting first impression that inspires students and faculty to connect with us and explore the many ways we can partner together.”
As a leader in educational excellence, the Poorvu Center’s reach extends beyond Yale. As such, the information and resources on the site are accessible for teachers and learners across the country. “The Poorvu Center is continually inspired by the outstanding professionals working in the higher education teaching and learning community,” explains Jenny Frederick, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives and Executive Director of the Poorvu Center. “A goal of our new site is to contribute our expertise to serve as a resource for other leaders, centers, and faculty dedicated to teaching and learning nationwide.”
Upgraded Features To Enhance the User Experience
Poorvu Center Staff
In collaboration with external vendor iFactory, the Poorvu Center worked alongside Yale’s Information Technology Services and YaleSites team to reimagine the host platform’s existing functionality and design new features to improve the user experience. From an updated view block with filtering options allowing visitors to easily navigate the resource library, to a custom chatbot available 24/7 to answer site-related questions, connecting with the Poorvu Center is easier than ever. The site’s integration with YaleConnect, an event scheduling platform within the Yale community, also allows visitors to stay current on center-wide programs and events. And for lifelong learners interested in taking one of the many online courses the Poorvu Center offers, users may dive into the Yale Online catalog to discover their next academic endeavor. This new functionality featured on the Poorvu Center’s website is now available to YaleSites users across the Yale community.
“The Poorvu Center is continually inspired by the outstanding professionals working in the higher education teaching and learning community. A goal of our new site is to contribute our expertise to serve as a resource for other leaders, centers, and faculty dedicated to teaching and learning nationwide.”
Jenny Frederick, Executive Director and Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives
“We enjoyed the partnership with the Poorvu Center and felt like this website project was a great way to pull the team together to think about how the Center thinks internally – AND how they position themselves for the world,” explains Beth Carron, Director of Higher Education Services and Vice President of Operations at iFactory. “With such depth of services and rich resources, trying to architect a site that both felt good for internal users and was easily accessible, searchable, and browsable by others was an exciting challenge. The Poorvu Center team diligently created content and imagery that ensured they presented a cohesive and clear vision. We couldn’t be prouder to have played a part in this project.”
The collaboration between the Poorvu Center, Yale ITS, and iFactory marked the first time vendor-contributed work was added to the YaleSites platform, providing a benefit to other units at Yale beyond the Center.
“Thanks to the collective expertise, talent, and creativity of our partners at iFactory and the YaleSites team, our new Poorvu Center website is beyond anything that we could have imagined,” Swineford said. “Our primary goal for the site was to create a user-friendly experience for visitors on campus and beyond – and the teams delivered.”