Blog 3

I looked at three different web pages for the biology department at three universities, and found the most effective and engaging to be on the Saint Louis University’s biology web page. The least effective page was the University of South Carolina site, and in the middle was my own biology department at USM. What made the SLU web page the most appealing was its clean-cut layout, and the highlights of what you can experience as a biology major at their school, such as hands-on learning at the St. Louis Zoo, Botanical Gardens, or Medical Center. On the other side of the spectrum was USC’s looked unprofessional and had too much text on one page. Southern Miss had very little writing, but a slideshow of pictures plays on the home page showing various opportunities available in its biology classes, and did not look like a high school student created it. USC also had a picture of the biology department’s building – less than exciting. Also, in SLU’s biology introduction, they name the organizations that many biology students are involved in, something that I didn’t find out about until the end of my sophomore year at Southern Miss. The web pages are:
http://www.usm.edu/biology/
http://www.biol.sc.edu/undergrad/overview.html
http://www.slu.edu/x14762.xml

Some constraints about the way you write are the audience you are writing for, and the group you are representing in your writing. Everything that is put on the department web page reflects everyone within the department, as well as the institution itself. As far as the audience, you don’t want to intimidate potential students with unnecessary vocabulary and too many statistics. These recruits want to know why they should choose one school’s biology program over another, and that’s what you need to give them – be to the point, but not too cut and dry. While being clear and concise, you also want to make them feel like they would be a part of a group that cares about its members. This can be attained by using ethos, pathos, and logos that pertains to the audience and those the writing represents. You must take into account the stakeholders in your communication, or your writing may have a widespread negative effect.

There are certain things to keep in mind for creating an appealing and attractive brochure for biology recruitment. One would be to include the different opportunities the school and biology department provide for science majors. Also, the use of photos that reinforce the potential out-of-classroom learning experience will likely make the text more memorable. Too much writing will put off a prospective student, and they may not read about all of the great things the program has to offer. A clean, well put together introductory site will likely encourage those viewing it to explore other links within the biology department for further investigation. However, too boring or simple and the reader will forget about it, and too much will likely make them want to get away as quickly as possible. There must be moderation to achieve a successful balance of writing and visual aids to give the reader enough to make them want to know more.