It’s that time of the year again
Job Knowledge and Performance
As Director of Design and Web Service, I played a key role in migrating our website from MODX to Cascade. I worked closely with Cascade’s project manager and developers to ensure that the new site will meet the school’s needs. Some specific examples of my responsibilities for 2024-2025:
- Implemented the new logo across all websites using the updated version from the branding office
- Created My Law School Portal landing page in WordPress
- Implemented chat widget on all library pages.
- Updated course listings
- Updated Fall 2024 Schedules
- Designed an e-invite for the Closing Reception for the Scalia-Hampton Summer Immersion Program
- Created the registration form for the Closing Reception for the Scalia-Hampton Summer Immersion Program
- Prepared to move the full calendar, powered by 25Live, over to WordPress
- Created a new calendar page on WordPress
- Put the calendar behind the firewall
- Requested SSO for WordPress
- Updated banners and photos for the “About Our Faculty” page
- Updated graduation information
- Updated Academic Regulations
- Updated exam schedules
- Updated Summer 2024 Course Schedule
- Requested swapping out the new logo and swapping out new fonts
- Checked color contrasts following the University guidelines.
- Worked on logo, colors, and typography to match the University’s new brand
- Created a new landing page for admissions to capture the applicants
- Mocked up email signature with the new brand
- Added new users to the Voices for Liberty WordPress account
- Updated Summer 2024 Course Schedule on Webpage
- Added a supporter section on the Pipeline Program
- Updated Field Study for International Students
- Updated JD Caps & Gowns info for graduation
- Reviewed ad agency’s tracking script
- Tested new chat widget for Law Library
- Upgraded to PHP 8.3 on MODX Cloud
- Upgraded MODX to version 3.0.5-pl
- Updated faculty’s profile and CV
- Updated LEC’s web directory
- Updated Outlaw & International Journal
- Updated Spring 2024 Exam Schedule (JD and JM/LLM Residential programs)
- Examined the Pixel Tracking script and XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) injections.
- Removed JD-Flex pages
- Updated Summer 2025 Course Schedule
- Updated WordPress Plugins
- Added multicolumn layout for LEC
- Updated spring 2024 course schedules
- Added to Reciprocity Guide section of website
- Updated spring 2024 course schedules
- Added new user accounts for the Gray Center
- Created a sign-up form for LEC
- Created a new faculty webpage
- Replace language on Record’s Q&A page
- Updated faculty CVs
- Added new users for CAS
- Refreshed homepage banners
- Updated recruitment calendar
- Updated faculty bio
- Monitored MODX servers
- Monitored WordPress network
- Provided WordPress training to new Career Center staff members.
- Updated Summer 2024 Course Schedules
- Tested the migration process for the course catalog, course schedule and syllabi, working papers, clinics and externships, class notes, and student organizations.
- Updated faculty bio and CV
- Added tracking codes to sls.gmu.edu/contact/
- Updated requests for Art Clinic site
- Added Summer 2024 Course Schedule
- Researched Cascade’s Connectors and Integrations for the course catalog and course schedules
- Tidied up WordPress forms
- Optimized WordPress databases
- Audited WordPress plugins
- Updated WordPress themes
- Added Ad Tracking to all of our pages for Admissions
- Updated Voices for Liberty website requests
- Updated applications for the Pipeline Program
- Updated course Schedule & Syllabi and the 2024 Spring JM/LLM, Flex-LLM, Antitrust Schedule
- Created the 2024 JD Waitlist Response Form for Admissions
- Updated LLM FLEX Spring 2024 Course Schedule
- Reviewed outstanding technical items for Cascade implementation
- Corresponded with the Cascade team on implementation technical specifications including news module, event module, flexible layouts, components, and news list component
- Hashed out backend functionalities with the Cascade team on RSS feeds, RSS parsers, Open Graph, random functions, and responsive images
- Discussed templating system with the Cascade team on embed video, custom CSS & JavaScript, custom meta tags, custom codes on header and footer, inheritance, blank page template
- Discussed dynamic functionalities with the Cascade team including automatically generated anchor link, pull date from directory to create a separate page for each department, library search box, and classes filter
- Reworked the color palette for the new site to comply with the university’s guidelines
Organizational Citizenship
As Director of Design and Web Service, I engaged with my colleagues, our University ITS, our vendors, our faculty, our administrators, and our students. I was always available and responsive to others’ questions, needs, and concerns. Some examples of the services I provided in 2024-2025:
- Updated Online US Law course pages
- Updated authors and research page for Voices for Liberty site with embedded videos
- Updated content for Admitted Students Intranet
- Updated course descriptions
- Updated Connect with JD Admissions page
- Provided access and trained new staff members for the CAS Intranet
- Added Flickr photos and showcased them on the homepage Updated JM/LLM course schedule page
- Updated 5 year completion requirement for LLM programs
- Updated the homepage template to change from two-column to three column layout
- Created the Withdrawal Form for Admissions
- Created web form for the Art Clinic website
- Updated the Summer Immersion Pipeline Program section on the website
- Updated website and added photo gallery for the Voices for Liberty Symposium on Civil Rights and Free Speech
- Updated the Law & Economic LLM and Global Antitrust LLM pages
- Reviewed implementation technical specifications
- Updated JM-LLM FlexLLM Online GAE Course Schedule
- Added apply buttons for JD admissions pages
- Created new banners for the law school site homepage
- Created new banners for CMEIL homepage
- Updated JD/MPP Joint Degree
- Updated the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board
- Updated C-IP2 design changes and added a database
- Updated Voices for Liberty website included Research, Media, and Events pages
- Created a member-only site for Air & Space Law Society
- Create a new site for Air & Space Law Society
- Reviewed and put together all the form fields for the profile pages to be implement in Cascade
- Reviewed Cascade’s components & directories
- Updated focus areas
- Updated Academic Regulations
- Updated Connected With Us Virtually schedules
- Added syllabi to Spring 2024 schedules for JM & LLM
- Updated the Transfer Admissions page
- Reviewed flexible column layouts for the new site in Cascade
- Worked on the Arts Clinic website. Added content to launch
- Updated of Reciprocity Policy on Career Page of Website
- Updated JM-LLM Spring 2024 Course Schedule on Webpage
- Updated the Scalia-Hampton Pipeline Program pages
- Removed vulnerable WordPress plugin and replaced it with a secured plugin
- Reviewed technical specifications for Cascade implementation
- Helped with designing the Scalia-Cardozo mug
- Posted graduation info
- Fixed monitor display issues
- Created new image heroes for the homepage
- Added Around the Law School section on the homepage
- Tested all WordPress sites, plug-ins, and theme to make sure everything compatible with PHP 8.2
- Updated academic calendar
- Reviewed and cleared UAT tickets for Cascade implementation
- Updated graduation information
- Added 2024 directory for faculty working papers
- Updated course descriptions
- Updated JM-LLM Spring 2024 Course Schedule
- Searched for JM program’s curriculum from 1999-2005 for SCHEV approval
- Added new faculty members
- Updated Online Directory
- Created a version of the Sixth Annual Scalia Forum invite for students
- Updated 2024 Workshops
- Added Spring 2024 course schedule
- Updated the academic calendar
- Reviewed HTML UAT with Cascade developer
- Updated Admitted Student Intranet
- Searched for JM degree information to meet SCHEV compliance
- Updated JD Admissions connect with us info
- Worked through Cascade HTML’s tickets with Cascade developers
- Researched for an alternative solution for displaying digital signages.
- Developed an alternative slider without relying on WordPress and Smart Slider.
- Continued to work with Cascade’s developer to clear HTML tickets.
Goals, objectives & Results
The goals and objectives for last year were to launch a brand new website with a new content management system. Here are the areas that needed to be accomplished and how I and my team had accomplished in 2024-2025:
- Submitted issue Full Width Banner Image Option is Missing
- Submitted issue Sidebar Navigation Still Showing When Turned Off
- Submitted issue Some Restrictions for no CSS
- Submitted issue External Link Icon Not Showing
- Submitted issue The Color Bar Block Removed From Template
- Submitted issue Auto-Listing Pages for the Student Organizations
- Submitted issue Classnote Listing Page
- Submitted issue Redirect Feature
- Submitted issue Faculty Working Papers
- Submitted issue Missing Custom Meta Tags
- Tested UAT for Cascade implementation
- Updated Academic Standards page
- Worked on CAS authentication for the full calendar
- Trained new content editors on using WordPress
- Updated recruitment calendar
- Added new faculty bio
- Updated 2024-2025 Tuition and Fees
- Helped with the Liberty and Law Center website
- Added Orientation Legal Methods Syllabus and Reading Material for Students
- Updated 2024 Fall JD Course Schedule
- Updated the Gift Commitment Form
- Helped with Global Wealth Management website
- Updated academic calendar
- Took training on how to use Cascade
- Put together the Mason Mentors page
- Updated the giving page
- Updated Academic Regulations
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Updated letterheads
- Prepared the migration process
- Gathered URLs for website migration to Cascade
- Pulled documents and images for website migration to Cascade
- Supported faculty members on using WordPress
- Upgraded WordPress to 6.6
- Optimize WordPress database
- Completed the Mandatory Annual IT Role-Based Security Awareness Trainings
- Switched the admitted student intranet to the incoming student intranet homepage
- Updated faculty bio pages
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Updated the logo assets
- Updated homepage banners
- Cleaned up MasonLEC.org according to requests
- Discussed UAT process for Cascade, which was the crucial phase in the CMS implementation.
- Tested new webpages to see how friendly it was to create a new page, update an existing content, add a link, import a file, upload a photo, and so on.
- Tested to see how intuitive it is to create a multi-column layout page, add color buttons, create a slider, add news/spotlight page, add an event page, add color boxes, create banner/hero images, and so on.
- Looked into the functionalities to see if we could add custom meta tags, CSS, and JavaScripts, create inheritance for directories, test the site search and site map, put together an automated schedule page, test the anchor links, examine the listing pages, and test the faculty director and the faculty working papers, and so on.
- Created the 2023 Year in Review page for MVETS
- Updated faculty bio requests
- Updated the Pipeline program pages
- Added new users to the Liberty Center site and trained WordPress
- Updated events info for Voices for Liberty Initiative
- Created a new WordPress site for OutLaw student org
- Worked with Web Content Specially to make PDFs and course schedule links accessible
- Updated course descriptions
- Updated Student Org requests
- Exported Faculty In the News to get the numbers of faculty quoted in the media
- Updated the Clinics, Externships, and Legal Practicum pages
- Moved the full calendar and put it behind the firewall instead of phpCAS
- Added courses to the catalog
- Added new Pipeline program supporters
- Updated Fall 2024 schedule
- Updated concentration list
- Updated Giving URL
- Posted info for the Dean Leadership Conference
- Posted summer course schedule
- Supported LEC and PEP WordPress sites
- Updated Powerpoint Template for the Dean
- Created the new letterhead for print and electronic
- Created a new JD resource section for the Career & Academics Services Intranet
- Fixed the Law & Economic Center CSS (stylesheet)
- Uploaded a student video on Vimeo and updated our new logo for Vimeo
- Updated Course Descriptions
- Updated the clinics & externships landing page and individual clinic pages
- Updated press coverages for Voices for Liberty site
- Upgraded MODX Cloud hosting plan
The goals and objectives for last year were to launch a brand new website with a new content management system. Here are the areas that needed to be accomplished and how I and my team had accomplished in 2024-2025:
- Submitted issue Full Width Banner Image Option is Missing
- Submitted issue Sidebar Navigation Still Showing When Turned Off
- Submitted issue Some Restrictions for no CSS
- Submitted issue External Link Icon Not Showing
- Submitted issue The Color Bar Block Removed From Template
- Submitted issue Auto-Listing Pages for the Student Organizations
- Submitted issue Classnote Listing Page
- Submitted issue Redirect Feature
- Submitted issue Faculty Working Papers
- Submitted issue Missing Custom Meta Tags
- Tested UAT for Cascade implementation
- Updated Academic Standards page
- Worked on CAS authentication for the full calendar
- Trained new content editors on using WordPress
- Updated recruitment calendar
- Added new faculty bio
- Updated 2024-2025 Tuition and Fees
- Helped with the Liberty and Law Center website
- Added Orientation Legal Methods Syllabus and Reading Material for Students
- Updated 2024 Fall JD Course Schedule
- Updated the Gift Commitment Form
- Helped with Global Wealth Management website
- Updated academic calendar
- Took training on how to use Cascade
- Put together the Mason Mentors page
- Updated the giving page
- Updated Academic Regulations
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Updated letterheads
- Prepared the migration process
- Gathered URLs for website migration to Cascade
- Pulled documents and images for website migration to Cascade
- Supported faculty members on using WordPress
- Upgraded WordPress to 6.6
- Optimize WordPress database
- Completed the Mandatory Annual IT Role-Based Security Awareness Trainings
- Switched the admitted student intranet to the incoming student intranet homepage
- Updated faculty bio pages
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Updated the logo assets
- Updated homepage banners
- Cleaned up MasonLEC.org according to requests
- Discussed UAT process for Cascade, which was the crucial phase in the CMS implementation.
- Tested new webpages to see how friendly it was to create a new page, update an existing content, add a link, import a file, upload a photo, and so on.
- Tested to see how intuitive it is to create a multi-column layout page, add color buttons, create a slider, add news/spotlight page, add an event page, add color boxes, create banner/hero images, and so on.
- Looked into the functionalities to see if we could add custom meta tags, CSS, and JavaScripts, create inheritance for directories, test the site search and site map, put together an automated schedule page, test the anchor links, examine the listing pages, and test the faculty director and the faculty working papers, and so on.
- Created the 2023 Year in Review page for MVETS
- Updated faculty bio requests
- Updated the Pipeline program pages
- Added new users to the Liberty Center site and trained WordPress
- Updated events info for Voices for Liberty Initiative
- Created a new WordPress site for OutLaw student org
- Worked with Web Content Specially to make PDFs and course schedule links accessible
- Updated course descriptions
- Updated Student Org requests
- Exported Faculty In the News to get the numbers of faculty quoted in the media
- Updated the Clinics, Externships, and Legal Practicum pages
- Moved the full calendar and put it behind the firewall instead of phpCAS
- Added courses to the catalog
- Added new Pipeline program supporters
- Updated Fall 2024 schedule
- Updated concentration list
- Updated Giving URL
- Posted info for the Dean Leadership Conference
- Posted summer course schedule
- Supported LEC and PEP WordPress sites
- Updated Powerpoint Template for the Dean
- Created the new letterhead for print and electronic
- Created a new JD resource section for the Career & Academics Services Intranet
- Fixed the Law & Economic Center CSS (stylesheet)
- Uploaded a student video on Vimeo and updated our new logo for Vimeo
- Updated Course Descriptions
- Updated the clinics & externships landing page and individual clinic pages
- Updated press coverages for Voices for Liberty site
- Upgraded MODX Cloud hosting plan
Operational Leadership
As a supervisor and leader, I communicated clearly job expectations, goals, and priorities while fostering an inclusive, fair, and engaging team environment. I implemented procedures that established the trust from our users. Here are examples to demonstrate our roles in designing and developing websites for the law school in 2024-2025:
- Helped fixing the Mason LEC homepage loading issue
- Evaluated third-party tracking scripts.
- Closed out UAT tickets
- Updated 2025 Spring JD Course Schedule
- Continued working out UAT tickets
- Tested the new blank template in Cascade
- Tested the new course schedule import script
- Monitored MODX page loading
- Reported MODX failover server not in sync with the production server
- Updated Connect with Admission page
- Updated the spring 2025 course schedule
- Cleared out UTA tickets
- Created two test pages in Cascade for demo
- Discussed with Cascade to figure out a friendly solution for importing the course schedule
- Converted cours schedule from Excel to XML
- Updated admin and faculty bio pages
- Added Symposium to homepage on Voices for Liberty and Liberty & Law Center websites
- Updated Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board page
- Tested course import schedule in Cascade
- Tested faculty working papers in Cascade
- Tested profile pages in Cascade
- Set up Startup Law Clinic landing page
- Updated CAS intranet
- Renewed SSL certificates for new production servers
- Activated PHP on new server
- Followed the controversy between WordPress and WP Engine, which affected our WordPress sites
- Continued to work on UAT
- Updated Intranet calendar for admitted students
- Updated LLM Online requests
- Took the FERPA 101 training
- Collaborated with Hannon Hill on UAT tickets
- Reviewed Cascade’s “In the News” component
- Requested PHP includes for header and footer in Cascade
- Reviewed the profile components in Cascade
- Tested footer link issues
- Tested course schedule on mobile and accessibility
- Requested central location for links including SSRN, social media, and webpages
- Continued to test out the blank template
- Continued working with Hannon Hill on Cascade UAT
- Tested profile pages, but they are not ready
- Tested a blank template, but issues haven’t resolved
- Tested main navigation, which still has accessibility issues
- Tested the course schedule table, which is still in early stage
- Tested faculty working papers, which are still missing some functions
- Updated faculty bios
- Completed ITS mandatory cyber security training
- Worked with Cascade developer on components
- Created a new WordPress site for the Thomas More Society student organization
- Added new editor to the Thomas More Society student organization
- Updated WordPress plugins
- Tested working papers for migration to Cascade
- Tested course schedule table for migration to Cascade
- Tested blank template for migration to Cascade
- Transitioned JD Focus Areas & Concentrations to the University’s course catalog
- Updated financial aid info
- Updated the JD Focus Areas & Concentrations to direct students to the University’s course catalog
- Continued to work on CAS Authentication for the full calendar
- Updated faculty bio
- Continued to test Cascade for implementation
- Migrated Course Catalog to University’s site.
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Assisted MVETs with the online application
- Removed SBA site from WordPress
- Moved the catalog from Law site to University site
- Moved JD Focus Area & Concentrations from Law site to University site
- Unpublished all individual course pages in MODX
- Unpublished all individual JD Focus Areas & Concentrations in MODX
- Worked with ITS on CAS authentication for the full calendar
- Updated Fall 2024 Course Schedule
- Conducted UAT for Cascading implementation
- Reported bugs in Cascade for the new site
- Followed up on phpCAS authentication.
- Worked on faculty and staff new photos and bios
- Created the PDF Viewbook
- Tested UAT for Cascade implementation
- Submitted issue Featured Image Cropped Off
- Submitted issue All Events Link is not showing up on the homepage
- Submitted issue Optional Alt Tag
- Submitted issue Open Sans is not loading
- Submitted issue A Blank Template Feature
- Submitted issue Course Schedule Import, Sorting, and Accessibility
- Submitted issue Bio Page Form Fields
- Submitted issue Missing More News Links
- Submitted issue Row of Buttons Implementation
Mentoring & Coaching
As a leader, I worked closely with my team on projects and requests. I also performed hands-on tasks. We built on our team skills. I assigned tasks and projects that fit the skillsets of individual. Here are some of the examples we worked together that demonstrated my mentoring and coaching abilities in 2024-2025:
- Archived outdated pages
- Worked with UA IT team to migrate C-IP2 off our server
- Worked on UTA tickets with Cascade developers
- Put together landing pages for departments to review
- Worked on landing pages in Cascade
- Launched a new faculty page in WordPress Multisite
- Mapped current landing pages to Cascade template
- Worked with U Akron to transfer C-IP2 website
- Researched, tested, and implemented password-protected intranet sites
- Changed CAS intranet log-in method
- Changed Adjunct portal login method
- Changed Graduate Info portal login method
- Continued working on tickets for Cascade migration
- Worked on mapping templates for migration
- Replied to the developer questions for page migration
- Updated GradInfo page
- Replied to migration testing tickets
- Replied to migration questions regarding to components, layouts, and functionalities
- Updated faculty bios
- Removed web pages as requested
- Reported migration issues
- Removed PHP functions in the current CMS including library search box, library catalog, and people finder
- Mapped current site components to new site components
- Mapped current grid layouts to new multi-columns
- Added Title IX link to the footer of the current site
- Reported over 100 issues on website migration
- Tested out the new server for scalability
- Mocked up new landing pages
- Experimented with CSS in Cascade
- Created custom styles in Cascade
- Tested the latest website migration
- Reported migration issues including broken internal links, broken PDF links, broken email links, wrong link, unstyled pages, duplicate sidebar, duplicated navigation, and incorrect quotes.
- Tested out the header and footer includes in Cascade
- Test out different types of content in Cascade
- Upgraded to MODX 3.1.0
- Updated faculty bio requests
- Updated Working papers for 2025
- Updated Spring 2025 course schedule and syllabi
- Created photo gallery for Voices for Liberty Symposium 2024
- Tested website migration
- Ran into sidebar issues in Cascade
- Reported incorrect rendering of typographical details including quotes, dashes, and characters
- Reported issue with responsive layout
- Provided updated list of URLs
- Reported missing links during migration
- Checked as many pages as possible to figure out the issues
- Updated the Academic Administration section
- Updated final exam schedule
- Took training on International Collaborations
- Updated Art Clinic info
- Updated 2025 Spring Flex LLM Schedule
- Tested website migration into Cascade
- Reported pages of incorrect imports
- Ran the URL scripts in MODX to provide the number of pages need to be imported
- Assessed the adjusted timeline for the new site lunch
- Tested dynamic sections include clinics, student orgs, class notes, concentrations, and people finder.
- Figured out the solution for the full calendar, which sat behind CAS authentication
- Reviewed our current site to get ready for for the migration into Cascade
- Prepared the migration checklist.
- Checked to see if the pages render correctly
- Checked to see if the text has any weird characters
- Checked to see if the sidebar populate correct nav items
- Checked to see if images display correctly
- Checked to see if the buttons work correctly
- Check to see if the links are not broken
- Posted final exam schedule
- Updated the 2024-2025 Academic Calendar
- Tested sample pages for the migration to Cascade
- Reported bugs on the tested pages
- Worked with server admins to prepare for the launch
- Set up sFTP access for the backend
- Ran DubBot on the Dev server to test out new pages
- Whitelisted the Graduation Info Portal
- Created a new site in WordPress for Graduation Info Portal
- Prepared for the website migration into Cascade
- Selected pages for test migration
- Switched Admit Intranet homepage
- Updated Academic Calendar
- Fixed formatting issues for the CAS intranet
- Migrated Law Library’s Public Database Catalog from MODX to WordPress
Awards, Appreciation, and Recognition
- Celebrated 13 years at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University.
Goals & Objective
- I understood how Cascade works as a CMS
- I am confident using the Cascade interface
- I figured out the architecture in Cascade
- I would like to take a deeper dive into the backend of Cascade
- I would like to learn its programming language
- I would like to attend Cascade conferences in the future