After system administrators observed that a high level of web traffic each month — 30,000 unique visitors — was translating to 150 applicants, they decided the UNC Online website needed an update.
“The site is designed to work better for candidates,” said Matthew Rascoff, the UNC-system vice president for technology-based learning and innovation. “But it’s also designed to work better for campuses.”
Rascoff said the new website seeks to treat online students the same as traditional, residential students.
“When online candidates visit our site, they should feel like they’re entering the gates of the university,” Rascoff said.
To make the website easier for students to navigate, UNC Online enlisted the help of Seattle-based software company Ranku, which runs a website to search for online degree and certificate programs.
Ranku’s website focuses on programs at private and public universities that face heavy competition from for-profit online programs such as DeVry University and the University of Phoenix . The UNC Online degree search engine now uses the same software as Ranku.
“Instead of having a list of programs to choose from, we ask the user what they want and can present the most relevant program based on their query,” said Kim Taylor, Ranku co-founder and CEO, in an email.
Taylor said the average person seeking an online degree is a 35-year-old working adult or military service member, and Ranku plans to update UNC Online in the next few months to specifically cater to military students.
