Type and Purposes of the Project
This project is an academic website intended to showcase my research, teaching, and knowledgebase in counseling and psychology. The primary purpose of this website is to enhance my digital identity, online presence, and establish a professional platform that appeals to a diverse audience beyond Georgia State University, including prospective graduate students, fellow scholars, and future potential collaborators.
The “Client”
This will be an online portfolio, and I am my own client. I am a counselor educator and psychologist specializing in multicultural counseling and clinical rehabilitation, with credentials that include coursework in advanced counseling techniques and research in multicultural counseling competence. My background includes counseling practice in a range of clinical settings (e.g., VA medical center, college counseling centers, community practice), clinical supervision, graduate teaching and training, basic and applied research, and involvement in community program evaluation.
Audiences
The primary audience for my website includes graduate students and professional colleagues/potential research collaborators. As a program coordinator, I am looking to present my digital profile and expertise to prospective students who may be interested in applying to the programs in my department. I also want to provide more information regarding my scholarship program to potential applicants who may be interested in conducting research on disability or LGBTQ+ issues in counseling. Of course, I have developed some newer scholarly interests in rhetoric, writing, and composition. I also want the website to speak to other academics, researchers, and possible future colleagues regarding my scholarship.
Content Design
I plan to include the following content pages in my website design:
- About Page or Bio: Personal background, academic journey, and research interests.
- Research: Overview of research philosophy, training, and approach. I would like to provide a review of projects, publications, and ongoing studies.
- Teaching: Overview of teaching philosophy, including past courses taught, course descriptions, syllabi, assignments, and student resources (e.g., I would like to attempt a letter of recommendation tool).
- Publications: Access to abstract links of of research articles, book chapters, and editorial pieces.
- Curriculum Vitae: Upload my current vitae.
- Blog: Insights on current trends in multicultural counseling and psychology.
Design Tools
I plan to use GSU’s WordPress to design my site. Not only is this supported by GSU, but I can easily hyperlink other pages to my WordPress webpage. This platform also provides some customizable templates, and it does not require extensive coding skills, making it ideal for creating a professional-looking website. I may also incorporate some basic CSS for additional customization but will need to work through some of the WordPress tutorials to be afforded some more control over the design features of the website. I intend to utilize minimalist design principles.
Special Concerns
Ensuring the website is accessible to individuals with disabilities, including screen reader compatibility is important given that persons with disabilities is an audience I’m attempting to capture because of my scholarly work. WordPress does include some extensions to ensure accessible design, within reason. Ideally, I would like the design of the website to be mobile-friendly and responsive. My main concern, however, is how much design control I can be afforded through WordPress, since there appear to be some limitations to how much design control I can have.