Southampton City College’s website has been developed over the past three years or more. The site was originally constructed by JK Internet Ltd in Newbury, now a fully owned subsidiary of IRUN Solutions Ltd. The website was constructed using a CMS (content management system), which allows the college staff to control and update the content.

Like any business, the college’s services have grown and evolved over this time. The website consists of a ‘global’ home page, linking to 4 sub-sites, each covering one of college’s main activities:

• School leavers
• Adult education
• Business training
• International students

One of the biggest challenges in the site’s development was to integrate the CMS with the college’s existing databases. These store all the course information. This information changes frequently as the course details and availability are updated.

Marketing Manager Julian Willans works closely with Frank Marsh of IRUN Bournemouth in developing the college’s website. Frank takes an active role in managing the Southampton City College account. He and Julian Willans meet, normally every 6 weeks, and speak regularly on the phone. Julian described Frank as ‘a diligent, energetic account manager who understands marketing’.

As the college makes its own updates to the site content, learning to use the CMS has required staff training. Julian Willans said he had used easier products in the past, but they lacked flexibility. The college staff have undergone training from IRUN in the use of the CMS, and normally half a day was enough for the trainee to become conversant with its operation. If new staff are involved in updating the content, the college is now able to carry out its own training.

As Southampton City College’s needs change, so must the website. Plans to recruit an in-house web developer / programmer are underway. With a suitably skilled person on the college staff, the look and feel of the website can be adapted and changed to meet the college’s ever-changing needs.

Plans for 2009 include an online booking and payment facility for business clients. At present students can apply online and download course information, but because acceptance depends on many factors, it requires ‘human intervention’. It may be possible, in time, to roll out the online booking to include International students, but that is a project for future development.