Announcing the New SFS Website and Georgetown’s First Full-Site Editing Theme

Posted in The Cache

August 2025
The Georgetown Web Services team is pleased to announce the launch of the newly redesigned website for the School of Foreign Service (SFS), built in close collaboration with SFS Communications, MarTech (SCS marketing team), Encora (formerly DMI) and UIS Web Services. This project represents the culmination of a two-year, university-wide effort to reimagine the SFS web experience, prioritizing usability, searchability and strategic user action.

At the heart of this new site is a fundamental shift in Georgetown’s web development architecture. The new SFS site is the first to launch on our newly developed WordPress “block” theme. Unlike our legacy “classic” WordPress themes, this theme leverages full-site editing (FSE), enabling a far more flexible design system and allowing for streamlined, modular construction of pages and content areas.

With this new theme, we are introducing reusable, accessible design blocks and global styles that support better performance, responsiveness and SEO. FSE themes are built to load quickly. They reduce page bloat, improve Core Web Vitals scores and deliver a fast, smooth experience to users. That performance advantage directly contributes to better search engine rankings and a more reliable experience across devices.

The SFS site illustrates what this new approach makes possible, including clearer pathways to academic programs, better presentation of faculty expertise and a consistent, identity-driven interface across every page. It also sets a new standard for how Georgetown presents its schools to prospective students, scholars and alumni.

We extend thanks to the many teams who contributed to this project. Encora, our external development partner, supported the design under UIS management. MarTech and the SFS Communications teams led the internal implementation effort, crafting new content, reimagining media and guiding design to reflect the school’s voice and mission.

The new theme is now available for select projects and will expand for broader adoption as we continue development. For any schools, departments or centers considering a redesign, we encourage you to begin planning early. A well-executed transition involves strategic thinking about both structure and substance.

Content from existing sites cannot be automatically migrated into the new theme. Instead, moving to this platform will require building anew. We view this not as a limitation but as an opportunity. Most existing university websites benefit from a periodic content audit, and any site considering a transition to the new theme will need to revisit, restructure, and rewrite. Practices we strongly encourage regardless of the theme.

We’ll be sharing additional internal guidance and best practices as adoption expands.

Check Your Links

As part of this migration, the following program and service sites have been redirected to new URLs within sfs.georgetown.edu. Site managers and editors should review any internal or external links pointing to the legacy domains and update them to the new URLs below:

• Security Studies Program
  Formerly: css.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://sfs.georgetown.edu/ma-security-studies/
  
• Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS)
  Formerly: msfs.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://sfs.georgetown.edu/ms-foreign-service/
  
• Global Human Development Program (GHD)
  Formerly: ghd.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://sfs.georgetown.edu/ma-global-human-development/
  
• SFS Career Center
  Formerly: sfscc.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://sfs.georgetown.edu/career/
  

On another note, Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) has been restructuring its sites to better reflect the organization. As you link to these GUMC sites, please be aware of their new URLs:

• Medical Education
  New Site: https://meded.georgetown.edu/
  
• School of Medicine:
  Formerly: som.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://medicine.georgetown.edu/
  
• Department of Medicine:
  Formerly: medicine.georgetown.edu
  Now: https://dom.georgetown.edu/
  
• Berkeley School of Nursing:
  The School of Nursing is now the Berkley School of Nursing, so please update any reference to the school name.
  The site remains the same at https://nursing.georgetown.edu/.

Redirects are in place for all former domains. However, we recommend updating any bookmarks, embedded links or promotional materials to reflect the new URLs to ensure a consistent user experience.

WordPress and Accessibility Office Hours

We will continue to hold both Web Accessibility and WordPress office hours every Tuesday afternoon over Zoom throughout the year.

WordPress office hours appointments are every Tuesday, 2:30-3:30 p.m. via Zoom. You can sign up for an appointment slot (for any future office hours date!) here. Please note that we are unable to accommodate unscheduled appointments. If you are currently experiencing an issue outside of office hours or wish to submit a feature request, please use this form to capture that information.  

Web Accessibility office hours are every Tuesday, 2-3 p.m. via Zoom. You can talk through accessibility-related questions with Kevin Andrews, electronic and information technology accessibility coordinator. Please schedule a web accessibility office hours appointment here.