Top Community College Web Pages-CGS 1555

A's by Elizabeth Boeger

Here is my corrected report on the "A" community colleges.

There were 41 community colleges listed at the www.utexas.edu/world/univ/ site I found. I reviewed 20 of these sites using the following rating matrix, and I then ordered my 5 favorites based on their rankings. Under each link are the details about the site which gave it high marks. Have fun!

Score 1 or 2 pts for each feature found on the site. I based my judgements on ease of access. If the site had the feature, but I had to dig through layers of links or text to find the information, I gave no points. I do not have the time to waste looking for info that could have been found with one or two clicks on a more organized site.

Features:

• Uncluttered Appearance--(homepage and links within site)
  
  
• Color--interesting, welcoming color used throughout
  (I am so tired of the white background w/ red/maroon accents bit.)



• Graphics--showed mostly students/campus life/facilities vs administrators or abstract images.
  I also liked the minimal collage instead of rotating photos or a ticker effect, because I could see all pics with one glance.



• Horizontal/Vertical Links--I noted whether links were listed in horizontal rows (we read left to right for quicker scanning) or if in a column format which is difficult for me to take in if the list is longer than the screen length (like on the HCC homepage). Some sites had both formats using the same info links. This was okay.



• Catalog--an important feature--highlights without download was best



• Academic/Continuing Ed Programs--were these prominent?



• Tuition$--was it easy to find the costs including estimates for books or room and board, if applicable? What about financial aide?



• FUN--campus life activities featured? Student Services featured?



• Transfer Credits--was there comprehensive info about transferring to/from this institution or an email link to the correct person to answer my questions?



• Faculty Listing--web pages/email contacts/background info on profs?



• Distance Education--online/tele courses/email classes,etc.?



• Email Contacts--easy references to who/why/how at the school.



• Online application/helps/forms--was this available?



• Recency of website updates--if not current-- 0 points. Calendars too.



• Search/Index within site--this is a good thing.



• News page--were articles recent? layout or plain text?



• Other--any unique/beneficial features found got credit here. Some sites had drop down menus of links embedded in the page--a good feature.


And the winners are:

#1 with 15 points= Alexandria Technical College
http://www.atc.tec.mn.us/


This site is really comprehensive. It is easy to navigate and has pleasing graphics. It met every feature except for 3. Catalog needs a download, news page is not current, and there is no search link. There is a quick link which is helpful though. Academic Programs and faculty links are great. There is even an art gallery for those interested.

ANNE ARUNDEL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
site: http://www.aacc.cc.md.us/


The above completes my list as the only addition. I would rate this as being as good as my current top pick

#2 with 13 points= Aiken Technical College
http://www.aik.tec.sc.us/


The graphics and news page were nice on this site and the Pres's message is not the obvious center of attention.

#3 with 12 points=Allegany Community College
http://www.ac.cc.md.us/


The homepage here is nothing spectacular, but the site is efficient and easy to access. Tuition, fun, transfer ?, and programs are right out there to get to. Online help is available and there is a search window for the site.

#4 with 12 points=Amarillo College
http://www.actx.edu/


The homepage was a wealth of links and info displayed in nonstandard format. I liked the prominent quicklink and link to student activities web page.

#5 with 11 points=Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute
http://www.tvi.cc.nm.us/ T

his site would have ranked higher if campus activities and faculty info were available. It also needed recency of information and school news, but otherwise did well in all other features.

Points ranged from 3 to 15 with 18 maximum score.

Liz's First list-discard:
1. Albequrque Technical Vocational Institute
   http://www.tvi.cc.nm.us
2. Austin Community College
   http://www.austin.cc.tx.us
3. Anoka Ramsey Community College
   http://www.an.cc.mn.us
4. Allegany College of Maryland
   http://www.ac.cc.md.us
5. Athens Technical College
   http://admin1.athens.tec.ga.us

B's by Jon Bramlett

The best web sites that started with "b" are:

1. Briarcliffe College
   http://www.bcl.org
2. Bevill State Community College
   http://www.bevillst.cc.al.us
3. Beaufort Community College
   http://www.beaufort.cc.nc.us
4. Blinn College
   http://www.blinncol.edu
5. Baton Rouge Community College
   http://www.brcc.la.us

There were sixty two community colleges that began with the letter "b". I found alot of the sites to be very difficult and confusing. I chose my favorite five because they were simple and relaxing. I could access class schedules, faculty and staff, register online, and if there were different campuses access all campuses. I also chose these sites because they had a few pictures of the school and of students taking part in activities such as sports, studying in the library, and other activities. On a few of these sites summer schedule is already available, and one may register. All in all there is nothing about these sites that is so much greater than our own site at HCC.

C's by Mike Feldman

Five Best Colleges Starting With The Letter "C".By far the best community college website I saw would have to be Cape Fear Community College. It was very navigable and not so complicated in trying to find everything.

1. Welcome to Cape Cod Community College
http://www.capecod.mass.edu/

2. Cape Fear Community College
http://cfcc.net/

3. Carroll Community College 4. Carteret Community College Web Page
http://gofish.carteret.cc.nc.us/

5. Welcome to Cascadia Community College - The Learning College for the 21st Century!
http://www.cascadia.ctc.edu/

D's by Robert Faerber Jr.

Here are the 5 colleges for the letter D, each has its own uniqueness to them.

Davidson County Community College
Dawson Community College Glendive, Montana
Delaware Technical & Community College
Des Moines Area Community College
Dutchess Community College Poughkeepsie, NY 12601


E's by Kris Gaffney

These are ranked in order of best to worst:
1. Edison Community College:
   http://www.edison.edu/
2. Elgin Community College:
   http://elgin.cc.il.us/
3. Eastern Iowa Community College:
   http://www.eiccd.cc.ia.us/
4. Elizabethtown Community College:
   
http://www.elizabethtowncc.com/
5. Enterprise State Junior Collge:
   http://www.esjc.cc.al.us/

Edison Community College's site was certainly the best, the links were easy to navigate and the graphics are great. Elgin Community College is number two because it looks better than the rest of them. The Elizabethtown Community College and Enterprise State Junior College are too basic, and boring for that matter.

F's by James Holland

here are the 5 colleges I have chosen after searching the web:

http://www.fccj.cc.fl.us - Florida Community College 
- not too eyecatching but informative, brief and to the point

http://www.foxvalley.tec.wi.us Fox valley Technical College
- eye catching, plenty of links simple to read, simple to follow colorful

www.faytech.cc.nc.us - Fayetteville Technical Community College
-simple to follow - not very attractive

www.full.coll.edu Fullerton College
easy to read, good looking, lots of information, easy to follow

http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us fond du lac tribal community
- lots of information to be updated as I locate more!



G's by Jennifer Hollis

While searching at the CC web site, there were 42 community colleges that started with the letter G.My top five pick are:

1. http://www.gc.peachnet.edu
Gainesville College


While surfing this site, I was really impressed. On the front page there is a girl with a graduation hat, so there is hope. The web page also included the temperature, and current time in the city of Gainesville, GA. The web page felt like it was down to earth.

2. http://www.gccc.cc.ks.us
Garden City Community College


Immediately turning to this home page, I was able to see that this college consisted of many activities for the students. There is a collage of pictures.

3. http://www.sunygenesse.cc.ny.us
Genesse Community College


This site looked awesome. There are 30 academic programs, job oppurtunities, and from what I could tell there is one on one help from the faculty.

4. http://www.globeinstitute.org
Globe Institute of Technology


This site is very informative and appealing. Some of the courses that this site offers are course which I am currently interested in taking, such as web development.

5. http://www.technet.gtcc.cc.nc.us
Guilford Technical Community College


This site had some neat pictures. They are related to the science fields. For example, one of the is a doctor performing surgery.




H's by Issa (MIKE) Habib

My favorite was
http://www.hacc.edu



The reason was well first of all it was very easy to get around and second of all it had little gadgets that attracted the eye such as a icon that told you their weather but yet very neat and short and the same time. It was a well put together website nothing to complicated.

1. http://www.herzing.edu/atlanta/


2. http://www.hencc.uky.edu/


3. http://www.hor.tec.sc.us/


4. http://www.highland.cc.il.us/

I's by Pasit Khounvixay

Finally...for your viewing PLEASURE...

1. Illinois Community College System -www.iccb.state.il.us

-straight forward,allows access to most IL comm colleges,all links work

2. Illinois Eastern Community College -www.iecc.il.us/

-decent pics, neat lil' current events thing

3. Indian River Community College -www.ircc.cc.fl.us

-all links work, cool virtual campus thing

4. Iowa Lakes Community College -www.ilcc.cc.ic.us

-cool page turning graphic

5. Itawamba Community College -www.icc.cc.ms.us

-cool scrolling current events bar

I's by Eric Tatliak

What I looked for when I judged these sites:

1. Main Page Design
2. Student Information (easy to locate)
3. Schedule listings (easy to locate)
4. If site had it's own search option
5. Load speed


"I" had 24 schools listed so here are the top 5. In order from best to least

1. Illinois Central College [East Peoria, Illinois, USA]

This site had all the characteristics that I was looking for. This site was very professional looking and very user friendly. This site won my approval by far.

2. Iowa Central Community College [Fort Dodge, Iowa, USA]

This site was very nice and professional looking. Met all the criteria I was looking for. Easy access to everything. Two thumbs up.

3. Irvine Valley College [Irvine, California, USA]

This site had everything I was looking for except a search engine but the new age look of the web site that attracts you people ranked this one at third.

4. Ivy Tech State College [Indiana, USA]

This is also another great site. Choosing 1st – 5th place is kind of hard since all of these sites are very well put together. This site contained every thing I was looking for and had great load speed.

5. Illinois Valley Community College [Oglesby, Illinois, USA]

This site was easy to find everything I was looking for but lacked a search engine and was actually slow in loading the main page.

J's by Roxanne Listro

These are the best 5 community colleges I found starting with JSCC. They are ranked from the best to least starting with:

1.James Sprunt Community College:
http://www.duplinnet.com/jscc/jscc.htm

2. Jackson State Community College:
http://erc.jscc.cc.tn.us/jscc.html

3.Jefferson Community College:
http://www.sunyjefferson.edu/

4. John A. Gupton College:
http://www.guptoncollege.com/

5. Jamestown Community College:
http://www.sunyjcc.edu/



K's by Roselynn Martinez

Keene State College(MI) or www.kzoo.edu
and King College(TN) or www.king.edu
have great graphics, and it was an instant feeling of being welcomed. It contains quick facts and reference.

Kentucky Wesleyan College(KY) or www.kwc.edu,
Kenyon College(OH) or www.kenyon.edu,
Keystone College(PA) or www.keystone.edu
have a similar style as HCC quick references and pictures of college life.

The rest of the colleges are simple and nothing extraordinary.

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L's by Eric Tatliak

Here is the letter "L" directory since this one has not been assigned I figured I would do this one as well.

------------------------------------------------------------

What I looked for when I judged these sites:

1. Main Page Design
2. Student Information (easy to locate)
3. Schedule listings (easy to locate)
4. If site had it's own search option
5. Load speed


"L" had 65 schools listed so here are the top 6. In order from best to least

1. Lane Community College [Eugene, Oregon, USA]

This site contained all five characteristics that I was looking for but the online catalog of classes is by far the be set up I have seen in any of the schools that I have looked at so far.

2. Lakeland Community College [Kirtland, Ohio, USA]

This site caught my attention because of it’s business like appears to the web site that makes things seem very professional. This site also had all five things I looked for when judging.

3. Longview Community College [Lees Summit, Missouri, USA]

The main thing about this site I found interesting was it listing is career opportunity with the school. It listed Administrative positions, part-time flexible, and full-time positions. This site too had all five things needed to meet expectations of a good site.

4. LaGuardia Community College [Long Island City, New York, USA]

This sites main feature to me was it main page set up and that it did not lack of any information that I would be looking for as a student wanting to attend this school. As a matter of fact this site seemed to be overflowing with information. Met the five qualifications.

5. Lake Tahoe Community College [South Lake Tahoe, California, USA]

Not much to discuss about this site. Met all of the things I was looking for and passed inspection. Had some great pictures of Mountains and Lakes too.

6. Lakeshore Technical College [Cleveland, Wisconsin, USA]

This site was not too flashy but definitly deserved to be noticed. Great information and easy to find. Even though it states check back soon the link for High School Students is a great idea.

M's by Ahmid Rasheid

Where are your selections?



N's by Raf Santiago

Here are the five college sites that start with the letter "N":
1. Northeast Community College
   http://alpha.necc.cc.ne.us

Northeastern College is a School in Norfolk, Nebraska FYI. For the most part this site is pretty bland. From What I saw there was only one picture on the Main page.

2. Navarro College
   http://www.nav.cc.tx.us

Navarro College’s web page is a little more interesting. A little more Colorfull. Pretty good after all.

3. North Country Community College
   http://www.nccc.edu

This one is cool because of gives you the Temperature and time of that area. The college is located in Saranac Lake, NY

4. Nassau Community College
   http://www.sunynassau.edu

This site has a bunch of Colorful pages. It is not as bland as Northeast Community College in Nebraska. From what I saw it has at least one picture on each page.

5. North Idaho College
   
http://www.nidc.edu

I think that probably the best page out of this whole list is the North Idaho one. They have the best looking page. Nothing too fancy but it does the trick. I also think that the North Country Community College one is pretty cool only because it has the current time and temperature in that part of that country on that page. But overall I think that the North Idaho Web Page is the best one.

O's by Matt Shiver

1. oakland community college
   www.occ.cc.mi.us
2. oakton community college
   www.oakton.edu
3. ocean community colege
   ww.ocean.cc.nj.us
4. odessa community college
   www.odessa.edu
5. ogeechee commnuity college
   www.ogeechee.tec.ga.us

P's by Steven Suggs

http://www.pamlico.cc.nc.us/ (Grantsboro, North Carolina)


Very well put together. Has a lot of images with a lot of information about the colleges and the student life. Easily would be one of colleges I consider going to if I was a new student enrolling into college.

http://www.palomar.edu/ (San Marcos, California)


The banner and many pictures are the first things that capture the viewers attention. Also lists the programs available to the international students applying. Each area of the school is put into categories and broken down accordingly. Very well organized and put together.

http://www.pcc.cccoes.edu/ (Pueblo, Colorado)


OPens up with a nice picture of the snowy campus. After going in and looking around, very informative site. Lists the jobs available on the campus and tells what football games will be shown on the campus TV show. Has a neat thing about being a substitute teacher at the Kids College on campus.

http://www.uky.edu/CommunityColleges/Pre/ (Prestonburg, Kentucky)


The main page is kind of boring when first looked at, but after looking further ahead on the page, there are many pictures and links to other related sites. The athletics page of course links to the main UK athletics page, but then shows many pictures and gives details about the events and athletics at the community college. Font can be bigger, but overall, good site to visit.

http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/pvhome.html ( Kansas City, Missouri)


This is a very colorful site. There are many pictures of the college and information to incoming students. There are not a lot of links to different areas of the page. The font could and should be a little bigger, but overall, site is veryinformative. Maybe just a little too much, but very good though.

These are my 5 picks. They each vary in how good they are, but they obviously got my attention, so it couldn't be that bad. Each site has its advantages and disadvantages, but these were better than some of the other ones I saw.

Q's by Eric Tatlick

What I looked for when I judged these sites:
1. Main Page Design
2. Student Information (easy to locate)
3. Schedule listings (easy to locate)
4. If site had it's own search option
5. Load speed


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"Q" only had 5 school listed so here are the 3 I thought should be noticed. The others are not worth looking at. In order from best to least.

1. Queensborough Community College [Bayside, New York, USA].
This site had all the characteristics that I was looking for except search option but I very professional looking.


---

2. Quinebaug Valley Community-Technical College [Hartford, Connecticut, USA]

3. Quinsigamond Community College [Worcester, Massachusetts, USA]
These two sites also had everything I was looking for except the search engine but lacked the professionalism as the first site.


---

R's by Eric Tatlick

"R" had 40 schools listed so here are the top 5. In order from best to least:
1. Rainy River Community College [International Falls, Minnesota, USA]
This site had all the characteristics that I was looking for except search option but I very professional looking. This site won my approval due to the basic yet eye catching Flash Intro.

2. Red Rocks Community College [Lakewood, Colorado, USA]
This site had everything I was looking for and was very professional looking and easy access info.

3. Raritan Valley Community College [Raritan, New Jersey, USA]
This site had everything I was looking for but the load speed was not as fast as others.

4. Rio Salado Community College [Tempe, Arizona, USA]
This site had everything I was looking for but the load speed was not as fast as others.

5. Rogue Community College [Grants Pass, Oregon, USA]
This site had everything I was looking for but the load speed was not as fast as others.



S's by Amy Citrino

the 5 college websites that i picked that began with the letter "S" were:

1.St. Petersburg Junior College
http://www.spjc.cc.fl.us/

2.Santa Fe Community College
http://www.santafe.cc.fl.us/

3.Seminole Community College
http://www.seminole.cc.fl.us/

4.South Florida Community College
http://www.sfcc.cc.fl.us/

5.Southwestern Oregon Community College
http://www.southwestern.cc.or.us/



the first four that i picked out are Florida community colleges. i picked these to show what our school site could be. my personal opinion of the HCC site is that it looks like a 1st grader created it. but anyway the reason why i liked these sites were because they had nice graphics, they were user friendly, and had useful information about the schools that students and visitors of the site could use.

T's by Marisol Alvarez

Here are my top 5 colleges that start with the letter "T":



1- Trinity Valley Community College

www.tvcc.cc.tx.us/



-alot of movement that I like and very eye catching with all the different colors.

2- Three Rivers Community College

www.trctc.commnet.edu/


-The movement in the words and in the pictures are very interesting.

3- Terra Community College

www.terra.cc.oh.us/terra.html

- I like the simple blue colors and the moving of the mail box.

4- Turtle Mountain Community College

www.turtle-mountain.cc.nd.us/

- Very neat and different.

5- Tompkins Cortland Community College

www.sunytccc.edu/

- Very simple but cool at the same time.

U

no one assigned!



V's by Eric Tatliak

What I looked for when I judged these sites:

1. Main Page Design
2. Student Information (easy to locate)
3. Schedule listings (easy to locate)
4. If site had it's own search option
5. Load speed


"V" had 15 schools listed so here are the top 4. There were not enough good sites to mentions as contenders for nations presence. In order from best to least

1. Valencia Community College [Orlando, Florida, USA]

   This was by far a site to be noticed. This was a site that definitely had a great main page design. This also happens to be a local college here in Florida. One of its locations is on I-4 right next to Islands of Adventure. I have actually visited that campus and I’d have to say I really enjoyed the surroundings.

2. Virginia Western Community College [Roanoke, Virginia, USA]

   This site met all of my requirements except that it did not have its own search and the load speed could have been a little quicker.

3. Vancouver Community College [Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada]

   Overall great design but took to long to load to be a top quality site. This site did meet all expectations except the load speed.

4. Virginia Highlands Community College [Abingdon, Virginia, USA]

   This site actually had kind of an ugly main page but did meet other qualifications I was looking for and did enjoy this site. Only having 15 sites to choose from.

W's by Eric Zink

Here are my five for the W's

1.Waldorf Community College
http://www.waldorf.edu
It had good color usage and it was easy to navigate.

2. Washington State Community College
http://www.wscc.edu
It was plain but very easy to use

3. West Hills Community College
http://www.westhills.cc.ca.us
It was a fun site with good colors and it was easy to navigate.

4. West Shore Community College
http://www.westshore.cc.mi.us
I picked this one because it is in Michigan close to where I was born.

5. Western Nebraska Community College
http://hannibal.wncc.cc.ne.us
I picked this one because of it's easy navigation:



X

There are no community colleges beginning with the letter X.



Y's by Eric Tatliak

What I looked for when I judged these sites:

1. Main Page Design
2. Student Information (easy to locate)
3. Schedule listings (easy to locate)
4. If site had it's own search option
5. Load speed


"Y" had 8 schools listed so here are the ones that deserved to be noticed. In order from best to least

1. York County Technical College [Wells, Maine, USA]

The way this page was set up was great. It had a scroll bar shared border on the right with detailed links on where to find anything you needed yet still used the right side of the page for design and more in depth links for special programs offered.

2. Yakima Valley Community College [Yakima, Washington, USA]

This site met all of my requirements. It was kind of weak with the main page design. I think whoever designed this page could definitely do a better job with the design but other than that everything was great.

3. York Technical College [Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA]

This site was also great but the load speed was ridiculously slow. If it was not for such slow load speed this site may have got a better ranking out of these three colleges.

Z

There are no community colleges beginning with the letter X.



Hey Gang:
Yahoo Magazine rates colleges annually..last July's issue had the 100 best wired schools. They have the top 100 community colleges and their rating agree with some of your picks. Visit: http://www.zdnet.com/yil/content/college/college2000/rank_twoyears_1.html

You can view back issues of the magazine by visiting:
http://www.zdnet.com/yil/filters/toc/masterlist.html

Interesting: FCCJ is rated #3, Miami Dade #47, Okaloosa-Walton #51 by Yahoo Magazine. Only three of Florida's 28 made the list.
What do you think?
Taylor