Hodges Promoted to Director of Electronic Media at IUPUI

Steve Hodges has been promoted to director of electronic media at IUPUI, a role in which he will serve as executive producer for multimedia produced by the campus, including its websites, videos and other electronic media, announced Troy Brown, Executive Director of the Office of Communications and Marketing.

“Steve Hodges was hired to keep IUPUI as a leader in the use of new media technology,” Brown said. “He has done that and then some.”

Among his accomplishments since joining IUPUI in 2004:

- Won numerous national and regional awards for multimedia work, including the IUPUI Website (multiple awards in 2007 and 2008), The Spot, and the IUPUI Virtual Tour.

- Created the JAGtv Intern Program, which currently employs 7 students who produce nearly 200 videos per year for the campus.

- Launched and managed the JAGtv digital signage network, a system of nineteen screens across campus.

- Created and served as executive producer for The Spot, a student-produced weekly news program which airs on campus websites and cable television.

Hodges has been manager of electronic media at IUPUI.

Brown pointed to the newly published eduStyle Guide to Usable Higher-Ed Homepage Design, which offers a glimpse into the best higher education websites in the U.S., as the most recent example of what Hodges’ work means for the campus. It offers a glimpse into 20 of the best higher education websites in the U.S. and IUPUI is among them.

The book's Introduction explains its criteria: "One of the first things you may notice about this book is that all of the sites we have included are great websites; in fact, these are the best of the best over the last few years."

IUPUI has received accolades for several website features, such as its inline video player with closed captioning, high quality photography, events calendar, and search functionality. The IUPUI site was produced and is maintained by the electronic communications team Hodges manages in the Office of Communications and Marketing.

Hodges said Indiana University’s world class information technology infrastructure plays a key role in enabling IUPUI to remain at the cutting edge of new media communications delivery in higher education.

During a recent trip to Mexico, he noted, he was able to pull up IUPUI’s website and watch its new media features download far more quickly than sites such as You Tube. “That means the Office of Communications and Marketing can focus on conveying information instead of needing to invest in significant infrastructure upgrades or maintain servers.”

“IUPUI also encourages and supports experimentation and a willingness to try new things,” he said. “That culture has also contributed to our success.”

Looking ahead, Hodges said a major challenge will be to determine how to use electronic media to more effectively deliver campus information to students, staff and faculty.

“Collaboration across the campus will be important to improving electronic media on campus,” he said.