The University’s Web site will undergo a complete alteration in the coming years as part of a comprehensive effort to make it more navigable and efficient.

The changes are aimed at members of the GW community and outsiders, with the first installment set to launch in January.

“This is a two- to three-year process to re-engineer GW’s Web presence,” said Robert Chernak, senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services.

Chernak said the University plans to work toward a “unified Web” across schools. A graphic redesign is also in the works. Chernak stressed that the Web site’s makeover would be aimed at consistency of design.

“The goal is to make it dramatically different and much more functional,” Chernak said, noting that the current Web site is too heavily skewed towards GW’s “parochial interests.”

An important section of the redesign will focus on the business processes related to admissions, like financial aid, housing and Colonial Inauguration.

The University is also at work soliciting feedback from users about what they would like to see from the Web site, Chernak said.

“We’re trying to understand consumer psychology,” Chernak said. “Understanding the information needs people have requires a lot of work and effort.”

Vignette, the platform in use in the creation of the new Web site, takes advantage of current technologies to ensure the best possible product, Chernak said.

He said, “Vignette will enable users to update content in a way that has more consistency across the school.”