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Establishing a New Website

There are 4 options for building and hosting university websites:

  • For school units and departments
    If your unit falls under a school, please contact them first for assistance.
  • For general academic or administrative units
    Global Marketing and Communications can assist in establishing general academic or administrative sites on the central web server using Cascade CMS. Complete our project request form for assistance.
  • For students, faculty, independent centers or labs
    If you are building an academic or research site that does not fall under a school, you can create a free site on NUSites using branded templates. NUSites is a WordPress platform which OGMC co-manages with IT Media and Technology Innovation, Weinberg, and the Library.
  • For web developers
    If you have the technical skills to build and host your own site, you may request a virtual machine from Northwestern IT Cyberinfrastructure. Please review the documentation on locating administrative applications and locating research applications in central data centers. Alternatively, you may use a third-party web host, as long as you follow Northwestern web guidelines.

For academic software development, please visit Media and Technology Innovation.

Preferred Vendors

As of September 2022, Northwestern has awarded preferred contracts for website development to 7 vendors for units whose projects fall outside of the parameters listed above.

Site URLs

Please review these domain name guidelines, effective March 18, 2021.

Requirements for All Sites

  • Sites must follow the university's accessibility policy
  • Sites must contain required elements
  • Third-party software products must be approved by IT
  • Sites that are not kept up to date or for whom there is no longer an active owner are subject to removal
  • University-wide sites must follow the brand guidelines; custom designs must be reviewed by OGMC early in the development process

Design and Development

Global Marketing and Communications provides research, design, development, and content architecture services. To request our services, submit a project intake form. If you enlist an outside contractor to assist in designing or building your site, please make them aware of the requirements above and the Northwestern department templates (NetID required).