The UA’s renovated admissions website aims to be easier for prospective students to use.

The renovation, driven by combined efforts from the Office of Admissions, Student Affairs Systems Group and Student Affairs Marketing, includes “Who’s My Recruiter” links, a new media room and features about the UA experience. In addition, it has student specific links for prospective incoming freshmen, transfer students, international students, re-admits, non-degree seeking students and parents and alumni working with students.

Kasey Urquidez, the dean of admissions, said the reason for the revamp is for students to get the information they needed in fewer clicks.

“We’d had the old site for a couple of years, and students were looking online at all hours of the night to get information on their own,” she said. “It (the website) goes directly to certain pages, makes more sense and we’ve gotten good feedback.”

The “Who’s My Recruiter” link is “more streamlined,” according to Urquidez, and includes an interactive map to help students find their recruiter by state and school.

Urquidez said that meeting with a recruiter personalizes the UA application experience, and gives prospective students all over the country a “real connection” to answers regarding the university.

The website renovation took about a year from the idea to the execution, according to Robin Meeks, the project manager to revamp the site at Student Affairs Marketing. The hardest part about changing the website, she said, was “managing the stakeholders” — the admissions team, the Honors College, the Office of External Relations and the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid — to ensure everyone could have their voices heard.

Meeks said prospective students will benefit from the site from a “usage standpoint”.

“As a freshman, now, everything I see is about being a freshman on the freshman page,” she explained. “It won’t take as long to find respective information.”

The page also includes “feature stories,” which Meeks said is the best new part of the website. The incoming freshman, transfer and international prospective student population page includes four related stories about students in those populations.

Google Analytics showed the new website’s improved application rates, Meeks said.

“I believe it is a beautiful site,” she said. “It encourages future students to visit the university.”