GS Paths

Project Brief

The Challenge

Context

Graduate School PATHS (Physical Activity Training & Health in Sport Sciences) is a newly established institution within Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne. It brings together over 70 researchers, 5 research teams, and trains students from Master's to doctoral level in sports science and health.

Alongside it, the HPS Master's program (Health & Performance Science) is an international degree taught entirely in English, targeting students from around the world.

The problem

Both the school and the Master's program were brand new. Without a dedicated online presence, it was difficult to:

• attract applicants, especially internationally where a website is often the first point of contact
• present programs, research teams, and partnerships in a structured way
• communicate news, application deadlines, and events
• stand out from competing programs that already had an established web presence

The only existing materials were printed flyers. For a school aiming to recruit internationally, that wasn't enough.

What was at stake

Applications opened in February. Both sites needed to be live before that date so the school could reach potential candidates. Every week without a website was a week of lost visibility among students actively searching for their next program.

The Solution

Overview

Two complementary showcase websites. The first presents Graduate School PATHS as a whole: research teams, programs, international partnerships, key figures. The second is dedicated to the HPS Master's: detailed curriculum, application process, teaching staff.

Key features

Institutional presentation

The GS Paths site highlights the school's scale: 70 researchers, 5 research teams, 25 doctoral students, 5 Master's tracks, 6 technical platforms. Prospective students and partners can immediately see they're looking at a serious, established institution.

Structured application portal

The HPS Master's site walks applicants through the process step by step: eligibility criteria, deadlines, available funding. For an international program targeting students worldwide, this clarity makes the difference between a submitted application and a closed browser tab.

Bilingual site

The GS Paths site needed to be available in both French and English. The school targets international candidates, and a French-only site would have been a barrier. Localization was built directly into WordPress so the team could manage both versions independently.

Full autonomy

WordPress was chosen for the same reasons as on my other projects with the university: the administrative team needs to manage the sites without technical help. Crane Rogers, the school's administrative manager, can update content, publish news, and edit pages entirely on his own.

The Process

Crane Rogers reached out to establish an online presence for both Graduate School PATHS and the HPS Master's program. The school was new, applications opened in February, and no dedicated website existed.

The project kicked off in October 2024. I designed both sites in parallel, which made it possible to share structural and design work while keeping each site's own identity. Within a month, both sites were live. A few rounds of feedback over the following weeks helped fine-tune the last details.

The design brief was a particular exercise. The team provided colors, logos, and an image library, but no mockups or precise art direction. They're researchers and administrators, not designers. I had a lot of freedom, but first I needed to understand what they actually wanted: what tone to set, what image to project, how to organize information for different audiences (students, researchers, partners). The result is a site that matches their vision, even though they didn't have the words to describe it at the start.

WordPress was the obvious choice here. My usual tool is Next.js, but the need was different: a non-technical team that needs to manage two sites long-term. WordPress is the best fit for that. It's an approach I stand by: the right technology is the one that matches the client's needs, not the one the developer prefers to use.

One of the challenges with WordPress is delivering a site that's both fast and secure. Out of the box, WordPress can quickly become bloated and vulnerable if you're not careful. I spent time setting up the installation properly: careful plugin selection, performance optimization so the site handles traffic well, and security best practices. The goal was for the team to manage the site without risking either performance or security.

Results & Impact

What was delivered

• two complete showcase websites, including one bilingual (French/English)
• a news system for regular communication
• an admin interface accessible with no technical background
• a training session to make the team self-sufficient from day one

Results

Both sites were operational well before the February deadline, giving the school time to promote its programs to potential candidates. The team has managed the sites in complete autonomy since delivery: news gets published, content gets updated, and application announcements go out without any technical help.

What's next

The team runs both sites independently. This project is part of a broader collaboration with Jean Monnet University, which has entrusted me with several websites over time. A trust-based relationship built one project at a time.