Rowan-Cabarrus Community College received 2013 eduStyle’s Best Annual or Community Report for its 2012 annual report website.
Unveiled in February 2013, the 2012 annual report, titled “A Year of Development,” focuses on how the college spent 2012 developing resources, facilities and academic excellence.
A unique feature of the 2012 report was the web version of the annual report. Instead of using a traditional PDF as the online version of the annual report, the college developed an interactive design using responsive web design. Responsive web design is intended to provide an optimal viewing experience — easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning and scrolling — across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones).
EduStyle is the definitive resource for web design in higher education in North America. The eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards celebrate the best work in college and university websites. This year, 18 categories recognize the most innovative and exciting developments in key areas of higher education web development.
“We are thrilled to have received this award,” said Dr. Carol S. Spalding, president of Rowan-Cabarrus. “At the center of our 2012 annual report was the desire to showcase the amazing things that students, faculty and staff are doing at Rowan-Cabarrus.”
The report highlights student and faculty successes on topics such as online learning, academic excellence, small business entrepreneurship, leadership and scholarships.
Rowan-Cabarrus, the only web design nominated in any category by a community college, competed against Michigan State University, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University and Memorial University.
“An award like this is significant because it brings us great national recognition among higher education audiences,” said Spalding. “EduStyle is an organization that focuses exclusively on the higher education Web environment, and they are tough to impress.”
Each award is given as both a People’s Choice and Judged Award. The college ultimately won the Judged award in the Best Annual or Community Report category. The interactive version can be found at www.rccc.edu/president/annual-report-2012/.
The design of the annual report was developed internally by Allison Robinson, director of graphics, and Angela VandenBroek, web designer.
“I believe this award is a testament to the creativity that is alive and well at Rowan-Cabarrus and how well our college relations and information technology teams work together at Rowan-Cabarrus to shape the college’s online presence.”
The annual report features the new college brand released earlier this year in honor of the college’s 50th anniversary. The new logo includes a compass which is an original image developed by an in-house design team at the college. A unique element of the design is that the compass needle is fixed at the angle between the college’s North and South campuses.
In addition to the college’s traditional blue and white colors, Rowan-Cabarrus added a vibrant gold. The new logo is accompanied by the new tagline, “Navigate Forward.”
To see the list of awards, winners and nominees visit the eduStyle awards page at http://www.edustyle.net/awards/2013/winners.php.