Review the most recent Acorn:

Imagine Drew has decided to send a weekly email to admitted students as one means of encouraging them to attend Drew. Such messages will summarize a week's Drew news items of interest. Craft a message of this kind for this week. The subject, layout of the email and content of each summary should be designed to appeal to admitted students. Your email should adhere to the guidelines in David Silverman's tips for writing better email. It should also draw on Denise Wilton's experience with crafting emails to customers as she describes in her talk "Writing for Relationships (and applications)" (time index 24:29).

Please read the following posts by David Silverman at Harvard Business. David is a Drew alum, btw.

For this assignment you may work with one (and only one) other student if you so desire. Please specify the names of both people on your homework submission. 

Due Wednesday, 31 March at noon as hardcopy enclosed in a single envelope (8.5x11" or larger). Students not following these instructions will receive a substantially reduced grade. I will place a box outside my office into which you can place your completed assignment.  Be prepared to discuss your work in class.

You may include in your envelope as many sheets of paper as you need. Your work may be hand drawn or generated using an Adobe product, PowerPoint, or some other software application. Please include cover pages that specify the names of your team members and describes your work including design elements you feel are particularly important. Your description should also specify how you met each of the requirements for the assignment described below. Do not make me hunt for how you completed the requirements.  

Building on homework 7, design a web site for your program of study. You need not actually construct a functioning web site. Instead, create a layout and completed example for each of the 20 components of a program web site you considered in homework 7. 1) Your site should include at least one complete design for each of the 20 components. 2) You should employ all seven principles of persuasive technology with at least the following number of unique uses (type of information suggested) for each:

• Reduction (5)
• Tunneling (5) 
• Tailoring (3)
• Suggestion (10)
• Self-monitoring (1)
• Surveillance (1)
• Conditioning (1)

3) In addition, every page should include at least one example of the suggestion principle (you may use the same type of suggestion on more than one page). 4) Finally, you must include complete, sensible, and consistent navigation components throughout your pages. Use the navigation and other conventions we discuss in class and presented in these slides.

For this assignment you may work with one (and only one) other student if you so desire. Please specify the names of both people on your homework submission. 

Due Friday, 5 March at noon as a Word document attached to email. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. 

In this assignment, you will begin the process of designing a persuasive web site for your major (current or planned). The primary audience to consider are prospective students and their parents. A secondary audience is anyone else who may be considering your program based solely on the experience its web site provides. People in this group include faculty considering applying for a job at Drew, U.S. News and World Report, granting agencies, etc. For purposes of this assignment we will define a program to be an academic unit with a single major. Contrast this with a department which may have many majors. For example, within the Biology Department at Drew there are the Biology, Neuroscience, and Biochemistry majors. Each of these three are a program by our definition. 

Consider these components of a program web site and complete the following tasks.

1. Identify one example of each program web site component using the sites linked in this partial list of Drew departments and programs. Make sure each web site linked here is represented by at least one example. If for any component you are unable to find an example, instead, please provide a description of the content you would expect to find for that component on your program's web site. For each example you need provide only a link.

2. For each of the principles of computers as persuasive tools, imagine and describe tools your program's web site might include in order to employ that principle. Describe each tool and specify why it would appeal to prospective students. Your descriptions may be brief if they are clear. You need create no drawings or other visual designs for this task. For each principle, you are asked to describe the following number of tools:

• Reduction (5)
• Tunneling (5) 
• Tailoring (3)
• Suggestion (10)
• Self-monitoring (1)
• Surveillance (1)
• Conditioning (1)

Sets the stage for the rest of the site and provides appropriate navigational aids to enable visitors to find the information they need. This page should also advertise to visitors, making prominent those features of the program that are distinguishing or likely to appeal to visitors. It is for this reason that news is commonly featured on the homepage.

Summarizes the important elements of the program with special emphasis on any facets that set the program apart from similar programs at other institutions

Describes the requirements for completing a major in the program

Describes the requirements for completing a minor in the program

Lists the courses offered by the program including at least the course number, title, and brief description

Describes in detail the content of a course. This type of page may include example syllabi, previous student projects, example homework assignments, videos of lectures, etc.

Lists the faculty who teach in the program including at least their name, title, degree, and a brief biography.

This page is, in effect, a homepage for a faculty member. It should include essential information about the faculty member and the content for or links to information on faculty member research and professional activity; teaching interests, style, and philosophy; and recreational and other interests.

Should include a description of research interests, a list of publications, a summary of current and past research projects, and a summary of consulting work or other professional work or service (e.g., journal editor, conference chair, etc.)

A summary of a faculty member's teaching interests, style, and philosophy

A summary of hobbies and other extracurricular activies enjoyed by a faculty member

Lists the current (and possibly former) students in the program including at least their name and a brief biography.

This page is, in effect, a homepage for a student. It should include essential information about the student including past and ongoing research projects, ongoing and completed internships, and recreational and other interests.

This page includes at least the name, biography, current employment of an alum.

For some programs the facilities matter. For example, in the sciences and some social sciences laboratory facilities are important to prospective students and faculty. In the arts, studios and other facilities are important. A physical space overview describes the essential facilities maintained by the program.

Some programs may wish to highlight a single specific space such as a lab or studio. 

It is frequently important to provide an overview for an ongoing research project, especially if that project has funding. Going into detail on a research project is a good way to attract interested students and, in general, advertise the work of the program.

A listing of current and previous news items pertaining to the program. The summary content should include at least a date, title, and brief summary of recent news item.

The complete content of a piece of program-related news, including at least the date, title, author, and full story.

A blog on subjects of importance to the program, published by the students, faculty, and staff associated with the program. The blog should permits comments by the public.