Recreation Services Web site wins national honor

Recreation Services Web site wins national honorMarch 27, 2003Sharon Foldes

Students know they can easily navigate the Syracuse University Department of Recreation Services Web site when registering for fitness classes, discovering fitness center hours and finding out information on club sports. This semester, the site was selected and recognized as the Winter 2002-2003 Featured Member Web site by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA).

The Department of Recreation Services, a principal unit within the Division of Student Affairs, recently redesigned its website to better inform students, faculty and staff. Webmaster Rohit Tote, a graduate student, is responsible for the site and its updates. NIRSA has recognized six schools in the past for the honor, including the University of New Hampshire, University of California San Diego, University of Rhode Island and James Madison University.

“Rohit and I worked closely together in redesigning our site so it would look better and improve the functions offered,” says Mitchell Gartenberg, director of recreation services. “The result is a fully-functional site that is now nationally recognized as one of the best in the country.”

The NIRSA, founded in 1950, is a professional association with thousands of members from colleges, universities, military installations, community recreation departments, corporations and correctional institutions. The annual participation in recreational sports is more than 12 million. The organization praised Recreation Services for its focus on ease of use, access to register for fitness classes, well-placed buttons for hours and phone numbers and specific logos for branding purposes.