A student project has turned into an award-winning redesign of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum Web site.

Student members of the University of Advancing Technology Web Club recently received the Governor’s Tourism Award in the Web marketing/technical marketing category.

Club members seek projects to work with non-profit organizations. In 2002, they worked to redesign the Web site for the Thomas J. Pappas School for homeless students.

The arboretum, which is outside Superior and is managed jointly by Arizona State Parks and the University of Arizona, needed to have its Web site redesigned to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

After the Web site went back online, it attracted the attention of the Office of Tourism, which decided the redesign “put a destination on the cutting edge of technology.”

“These awards represent the work of communities, organizations and

individuals who made exceptional efforts to improve the state of tourism in

Arizona,” said Governor Napolitano in presenting awards at the Governor’s Tourism Council. “The recipients achieved success because they understood the value of partnership.”

Scott Neidig, who was project manager, accepted the award.

In describing the project, Mr. Neidig said, “The reason we got the go-ahead to start the site revision is that the site’s code needed to be brought up to standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium. Sites that adhere to these standards are accessible to persons who use audio Web browsers and other alternative browser devices for the disabled.

“I was thrilled to find out the site was nominated for the Governor’s Tourism Award and even more thrilled when it won.”

Boyce Thompson Arboretum is 55 miles east of Phoenix on U.S. Highway 60 just west of Superior in Pinal County. It is nestled against the base of the 4,400-foot-high Picketpost Mountain.

Col. William Boyce Thompson acquired the site in a swap with the Forest Service for land in northern Arizona. The site was originally part of the Crook National Forest. Col. Thompson, who owned the Magma Mine in Superior, acquired nearly 400 acres for construction of his home, which he called Picket Post Home.

He set aside a portion of the home site to establish the arboretum in the 1920s. The initial mission of the arboretum was to study the plants of desert countries and to make the results available to the public.

Arboretum visitors can see nearly 3,200 different desert plants along the 1.5 mile main trail, and more than 230 bird and 72 terrestrial species have been observed as both permanent and migratory residents.

Visitors to the Web site (http://arboretum.ag.edu/) can take a pictorial tour, learn about the various plants and animals seen at the arboretum and read up on the history of the arboretum and Col. Thompson.

Web Club Starts To Promote Education

The University of Advancing Technology is on West Baseline Road in Tempe. The university is a private computer school that focuses on technology.

The university started out in 1983 as a computer-aided design (CAD) systems consulting company and high-end computer manufacturer that has since evolved into an accredited senior-level college that provides training and education in multimedia, animation, interactive media, Internet technologies, computer programming, network engineering, Internet administration, software engineering, computer aided design, animation and game design.

During the summer of 2002, there were 589 students enrolled.

“The Web Club was founded two years ago to promote Web-related education,” said Kevin Creighton. “One of our first projects was the redesign of the Web site for the Thomas J. Pappas School, which we completed over the course of the January 2002 semester.”

Mr. Creighton was manager of that project.

“A group of a dozen students volunteered their time to build the site, reworking the design, graphics, content and usability to make it more attractive and functional to visitors,” he said. “We also instituted an area for Spanish-speaking visitors to the site and a contact form that allows visitors to the site to sign up as a volunteer or get information on donations.

“The results of this were a dramatic rise in volunteers for the school and an increase in traffic to the site,” Mr. Creighton added.

Mr. Neidig, who says he will graduate in the near future, says he hopes the Governor’s Tourism Award will serve as an inspiration to other students.

“I’m hoping that our award will spark interest in other students to keep the Web Club after I’m gone and continue to take on projects like the [arboretum] site,” he said. —