The Home Page Redesign Committee has developed a new Flash movie featuring the new marketing theme of "Community, Opportunity and Justice" for the Brandeis Web site's home page that will potentially be put up on the site before winter break, according to Assistant Vice President of Communications Ken Gornstein.The committee, which is composed of faculty, staff and students, met throughout the fall to find a way to implement the marketing themes suggested by the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee's Subcommittee on Admissions and Marketing last year.

According to the CARS report, "A major dimension of the new communication/recruitment strategy is a complete redesign of the Office of Admissions Web presence, which was doing a poor job of communicating who we are, what we do, and why students should come here." The themes of "Community, Opportunity and Justice" are meant to address values and outcomes that result from the Brandeis experience.

The Flash movie on the Web site in 2008 featured Smart Balance spread, a butter alternative created by Brandeis researchers. The movie went on to call Brandeis the "smart choice" for prospective students.

Faculty concerns about the home page also led to the changes. In the March 10 issue of the Justice, Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) said, "The issue with Smart Balance was it seemed silly to many faculty to be represented by a margarine-even if it is a healthy one that we created on campus."

Jamie Fleishman '11, who served on both the CARS Subcommittee on Admissions and Marketing and the Home Page Redesign Committee, said that the former Web site "did not really . portray what Brandeis was about. . Overall, I think that the home page [without the changes] does not do the best job of portraying Brandeis to prospective students . or to the community here."

Fleishman said that "if Brandeis wants to think of itself as a top school, we need a Web site that reflects that, and I can't stress that enough." He went on to say that he and the other students on the committee, Benjamin Gorelick '11 and Yale Spector '11, looked at the Web sites of over 40 different schools to determine changes that Brandeis might want to make to its site.

Spector said, "Generally speaking, I believe that the home page is sort of like the entryway into Brandeis University from an outside perspective. . The brilliance of the school should come through on the home page."

The new site features Flash videos that go along with the marketing theme of "Community, Opportunity and Justice." According to Gornstein, "This is an organic, always-evolving process, and so the Web site will never stay the same for very long. We're always looking at ways we can improve it and ways that we can take advantage of new technologies as they come along. For instance, these videos in short order will probably have more than one video to look at."

Audrey Griffin, the director for integrated marketing who is on the committee, stressed, "It was a collaborative effort of students and faculty. . There was a lot of hard work between the committee members."

Fleishman discussed the role that he and other students played on the committee, saying, "I think that the student input was very important. Students were heard loud and clear on the committee."

According to Spector, the students on the committee did not come up with new ideas but instead shared their feedback on proposed changes from the Office of Communications.

Spector said that while he would like to participate in a complete overhaul of the Web site, "I think that it's a pretty great step forward, because now you have real student stories from Brandeis students and real experiences coming through, and it feels more honest. I think it's a very positive change, and while it's not perfect, it's a great first step."

Gornstein said that he hopes that the new site will be active before winter break. He said, "We have to get through the final approval process. . We have sent it out to faculty, students and senior administration for feedback. Then we will regroup the home page committee that we had. We will take account of all the feedback and then make the final tweaks."

The next aspect of the home page that may be redesigned is the bottom of the page, according to Gornstein. He said, "It would surprise me if nothing changed on the bottom, so I would say stay tuned.