Mobile Governance at NAU  

The university has established a Mobile Subcommittee, which reports to the Web Steering Committee. The Mobile Subcommittee is charged with overseeing the strategic development of mobile activities at Northern Arizona University, and with ensuring that university activities related to mobile are integrated and efficient.

For more information about activities related to mobile at Northern Arizona University, please contact eden@nau.edu.

For more resources related to mobile content strategy and mobile research, read on.

Mobile content strategy

Mobile is blowing up. Handheld devices are everywhere, and the number of users visiting higher ed sites on mobile devices is predicted to surpass desktop visits soon. So that means that you need to get in the mobile game as soon as possible, right?

Not so fast. Just because something is hot and handheld doesn’t mean the traditional rules of strategy don’t apply.

When it comes down to it, web visitors still want the same thing in a mobile experience that they would want in a more traditional setting: content. Which means you need a content strategy. Which means you need to define your audiences and objectives.

Further Reading:

11 Steps to Creating a Mobile Content Strategy – the essentials of mobile content strategy.

Mobile Content Strategy: Creating User Scenarios – read more about why understanding your users is critical to mobile success.

Mobile in Higher Ed – a blog about mobile usage in higher education.

As the Web Goes Mobile, Colleges Fail to Keep Up – the Chronicle outlines the problem.

Mobile research

The statistics are startling. Ninety percent of the world now lives in a place with access to mobile networks. Nearly a third of the U.S. population owns smartphones. And mobile growth is being driven – no surprise here – by young people.

Put it all together, and the implication is clear. University web visitors are demanding mobile-ready content. Which means we, as a university, need to continue to pursue a clear strategy for giving our mobile consumers what they want.

To learn more about the mobile landscape, here are some useful resources:

Mobile Use in Higher Education Settings – research on the state of mobile sites in higher education.

NAU Survey of Mobile Users – a recent survey conducted by ITS on mobile use at the university.

Hubspot Research Report: Action in Mobile Marketing – a downloadable document with a wealth of recent data about mobile use in the U.S.

Mobithinking: Global Mobile Trends and Statistics – reams of statistics about global mobile use.