popular web resource CampusTours
KINGSTON, R.I. — December 26, 2001 — The University of Rhode Island’s Virtual Tour has made a splash with websurfers since its unveiling last summer. Recently, CampusTours.com, an Internet resource for university and college virtual tours, has recognized URI’s site with its 4-Star Virtual Campus Tour Award.
As a recipient of the award, URI is featured on CampusTours’ homepage, joining the select ranks of other schools such as Tulane University, Ithica College, and Princeton. The University’s Virtual Tour was designed by URI Webmaster Lisa Chen.
“Receiving this award makes me feel like all my work is worthwhile. I have put a lot of effort into it, along with many other people who I have worked closely with, and this feels really wonderful to be recognized by CampusTours,” said Chen.
In selecting URI for the award, CampusTours cited the overall simplicity and linear narrative style in addition to its organization, direct links to websites of departments and offices, and video clips of student testimonials about why they chose URI. CampusTours said that the student reviewers on the panel especially liked the personal connection they felt with the tour guides who “guide” the virtual tours.
“The combination of several tour technologies has allowed URI to communicate more than simply a sense of the campus layout with their virtual tour. Interspersing personalized video segments from student tour guides with well-written explanations, photos and panoramas of campus landmarks gives the Rhode Island tour the feel of a real visit,” according to a CampusTours press release.
URI’s tour, which can be found at http://www.uri.edu/home/tour/ features virtual tours, Quick Time video, multimedia presentations, maps, and more. It was created as a recruiting tool through a collaborative effort with the Office of the Webmaster, the Admissions Office, and Information and Instructional Technology Services.
The virtual tour of the campus showcases text and pictures of academic buildings, residence halls, the library, athletic buildings and more. Real URI tour guides, represented by pictures, videos, and sound, lead visitors down the virtual path, offering descriptions of the buildings and departments. The web site also offers Quick Time Virtual Reality views of the URI quadrangle, the library, and the gardens of URI’s Learning Landscape.
CampusTours was voted one of the top 50 Web Resources of 2000 by Smart Money Magazine and the editors at the popular internet search engine Yahoo! have selected CampusTours as one of their “Most Popular College Entrance Sites.” CampusTours reports that it is visited by thousands of students every day.
For Information: Jhodi Redlich, 401-874-2116 , Jennifer Smith, 401-874-2116