Empowering Higher Education Through Open-Source Innovation

Calvin University

Client Info

As Calvin University transitioned from a college to a university, it carried with it a proud tradition of academic excellence and an ambitious vision for the future. Yet, its digital platform told a different story. Outdated and cumbersome, the legacy site hindered Calvin's ability to reach its growing, diverse audience of prospective students, alumni, donors, and lifelong learners.

The university faced a pivotal question: How could its website evolve to reflect its transformation while driving greater engagement, accessibility, and scalability?

Industry

Higher Education

Top challenge

• The legacy content management system was highly fragmented, containing thousands HTML pages and backend objects that made updates extremely difficult.

• Poor navigation and inconsistent design created a frustrating user experience, forcing visitors to hunt through multiple pages for basic information and leading to high bounce rates.

• High barrier for content editors due to unintuitive user interface and coding requirements of the CMS

• The outdated platform failed to meet accessibility standards, leaving portions of Calvin's diverse audience underserved and unable to fully engage with content.

• The website's dated infrastructure and presentation didn't reflect Calvin's evolution from a college to a university, hindering its ability to attract new audiences.

What We Did

Recognizing the scale of the challenge, Calvin partnered with Promet Source to reimagine its digital ecosystem. This partnership prioritized understanding the needs of every stakeholder, from prospective students navigating the site to editors managing its content.

Discovery Workshops: Promet engaged Calvin’s internal teams to uncover their biggest challenges and aspirations.
User Testing: Direct input from key audiences shaped the design, ensuring usability and inclusivity.
Agile Development: Iterative sprints allowed for constant refinement, aligning the project’s pace with the university’s needs.

At the heart of the redesign was the migration to Drupal with Provus®Edu, a powerful platform designed for higher education.

By the Numbers

92%

SEO Performance Score

The development of a new site is a great time to take stock of content for organization, duplication, metadata, and more. With user experience leading as the north star, removing outdated content resulting in improved SEO.

The new site prompted a content audit and cleanup, resulting in a 42% reduction in basic HTML pages. Calvin reduced 2,804 HTML pages to 1,613 pages organized across 5 main content types.

The reduction in outdated and duplicated content reduces the carbon footprint of Calvin's web presence, supporting the university-wide sustainability efforts.

We needed an implementation partner who would really understand our context in higher education, take time to learn our organizational and digital complexities, and listen and adapt to our questions and ideas along the way. Promet’s team fit this need and led us well in user testing, project management, development, migration, and ongoing support.

Lori Dykstra

Associate Director of Web Strategy, Calvin University

Transformative Features and Benefits

The new website provided solutions tailored to Calvin’s goals:

Simplified Editor Experience: Provus®Edu enabled editors to create and manage pages using drag-and-drop functionality, reducing onboarding time.
Improved Accessibility: Ensuring a usable experience for all.
Seamless Integrations: Event Management System (EMS)for campus events and Slate CRM integration for prospective students that reduced manual data entry and streamlined workflows.
Scalable Architecture: Modular design allows the university to add new features, such as searchable and filterable dashboards for content types, as needs evolve.

By the Numbers

36% +

Increase in visitors to the 'Apply' page

By the Numbers

99%

Accessibility Score

WCAG 2.2 compliance ensured the site was usable by everyone, with features like alt-text enforcement and keyboard navigation.

I love how intuitive and user-friendly Drupal is for content editors. I've quickly learned how to configure blocks and layouts, create content like events and news articles, and master many of the editing tools. The clean interface has made my editing process smooth and efficient. I'm able to be creative while staying within our brand guidelines, all without needing to read or write any code.

Hannah Patterson

Alumni Programming and Communications Coordinator, Calvin University

A User-First Approach

Promet’s redesign also addressed Calvin’s need to connect with diverse audiences, from high school students exploring undergraduate programs to lifelong learners seeking professional development opportunities.

Highlights:

Consolidated navigation paths improved clarity and reduced bounce rates.
Tailored user journeys, including program-specific templates, engaged key demographics.

Building for the Future

Calvin University’s digital transformation is more than a success story—it’s a blueprint for how higher education institutions can adapt to evolving demands. The new platform, coupled with Calvin's renewed efforts in web governance and editor training, has prepared them for the future.

Sustainability: Intuitive tools and efficient infrastructure keep maintenance costs low.
Scalability: The website can grow alongside Calvin, supporting new programs and audiences.
Insights-Driven Growth: Advanced analytics provide data to refine user journeys and inform decisions.

This redesign is more than just a website update; it’s a strategic leap forward. Partnering with Promet, we conducted user testing, improved accessibility, increased efficiency, and ensured we created an experience that truly delights.

Luke Robinson

Web Developer, Calvin University

The Result

Calvin University’s redesigned website (combined with campaigns) resulted in a 36% increase in active users in the Apply page.

This website is more than a technological upgrade; it’s a testament to what’s possible when institutions embrace innovation. By prioritizing user needs and future scalability, the university has positioned itself as a leader in higher education digital transformation.