This is my second post on the best websites in the tertiary education sector – full details are here.  I’ll assume that all websites provide an electronic brochure to what courses are on offer, so I’ll be looking for:

• effective use of Facebook, Twitter or other social media (and if I can’t find links to them on a homepage, that’s not very effective – hmm, after reviewing some that are student-focused, I can see why they’re put on sub-pages);
• an x-factor that makes people come back to the site; and
• some way to engage broader stakeholders, such as employers or the community.

This is the second group of 10 ITPs, working north from UCOL. Please be aware that Facebook links may require you to be logged into Facebook.

1. UCOL - They have a great FB page, which passed 2,000 members this week and is now up to 2,171. They have great interaction (a recent status update had 37 comments) and, at this stage, would be my pick for best FB page. Their Twitter feed has 163 followers. They also have an online chat option for enquiries on the home page, which I haven’t seen before. They’re a bit light on wider links and no real x-factor.
2. WITT - WITT has a basic site.
3. EIT - FB has 257 members and is updated regularly as a news service, but has limited interaction. I quite like the ukedateit FB page too for ukulele fans. EIT’s Twitter has 12 followers, but I’m one of the 75 followers of MistyatEIT, a  tweeting cat. They list their advisory committees, their business relationship unit, their research strengths and even services to the public amongst other things, so they do build wider links.
4. Tairawhiti - There’s no social media that I can see, but I’ll give them x-factor marks for their subsite on their vineyard.
5. Waiariki - They have 381 FB fans and they keep the page active and get some OK interaction – they push some of the updates to their Twitter account, which has 17 followers. They list their many sponsorships and have a good community newsletter/magazine.
6. Wintec - They have 314 FB fans with good updating and interaction and  175 Twitter followers. Their website has a great employers and community section accessed off the homepage that has clear and detailed information. They also have a Professional Products and Services brochure. The x-factor for me is the uncluttered site with a series of quick links that should cover both common needs and Wintec’s priorities.
7. BOPP - BOPP uses FB (417 fans), Flickr, Twitter (8 followers), YouTube and WordPress (several different blogs). They use Flickr well to get a lot of photos up and keep things updated. They have clear homepage links for business, community and schools, with a lot of detail under each. There are virtual tours and more and, unlike most sites, they even have RSS feeds! I’d give them an x-factor for great coverage.
8. MIT- I found a Twitter account with only 1 tweet (18 followers) but couldn’t find a FB page. You have to search a bit for their industry section, but it’s worth it once you find it, as it is pretty good, as is their research and initiatives section. I like that they have a link to traffic webcams off their homepage.
9. Unitec - They have 212 FB fans and 195 Twitter followers and they get reasonable interaction – often their updates are quite interesting too and spark me to click on them (like when they retweeted ED this week!), but that may be a byproduct of having so much news as a big institution. Unitec is on LinkedIn and YouTube too – there are a lot of videos online for them. Unitec’s a bit weak on links with wider stakeholders, but they have a good Treaty partnership section
10. NorthTec - They have 52 FB fans and 40 Twitter followers (about the same as ED’s figures!), and use them mainly for news updates rather than interaction. I like a FB video they recently posted of building a boat using time capture video. On their website, I like today’s headline “What’s a girl from Norway doing in a place like this?” and that they link all the social media from their homepage, including LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr (and they have RSS). They seem to be using everything well, with good photo collections and video viewing numbers. They explain their research, industry and academic links well, but there’s not quite enough to engage people. The x-factor is probably that their website is an integrated part of their communications, not just a brochure.

Out of those 10, I’d put Wintec and BOPP at the top overall, and I’d put UCOL up top for their superb Facebook page (and it’s a frontrunner for top tertiary page). I’d give EIT, Waiariki, Unitec and NorthTec honourable mentions too for their work. Rather than name top ITPs, I think I’ll do some other sectors first and then explore the top ones from each in more depth.