When I ran the Marketing & Communications office at Santa Fe College, I didn’t have the budget to hire a dedicated copywriter, so on evergreen marketing pieces I often wrote everything myself. Such was the case with two view books, published in 2018 and 2020. Look to either for examples of my marketing writing. More relevant to UX writing are the sections — and corresponding websites — that list programs of study, the college’s core “product.” 

Both view books were designed for print and online flip-book style viewing. The print version of the 2020 book featured a four-panel fold-out section with a matrix of academic program options. It correlated to a new program of study index page on the college website that I was still ideating/prototyping at the time of publication, and subsequently had my web team build and publish in 2021. The fold-out and the online index helped student to have a more clear understanding of their academic options. 

I initiated these changes after hearing feedback from academic recruiters that some students were confused about different degree types, and were signing up for classes in a different track than the one they actually belonged in. With up to four certificate, A.S., A.A. and bachelor’s degree tracks offered in general fields like Accounting and Nursing, it was easy for students to get confused.  They didn’t have anywhere to compare one degree against another, to see the differences between them. Even on the website, similar sounding options were separated on different tabs. They needed a way to make sense of the multiple certificate and degree options.