The Redesigned SCSU Website Goes Live!
08/23/2006
Southern Connecticut State University was founded in 1893. Their mission was to train exceptional teachers. Over the years Southern has grown, modernized, and diversified: their new mission is to be the comprehensive metropolitan public university of the State of Connecticut.
Nobody Knows The Troubles They've Seen
Southern felt that their existing website was disjointed and
out-of-date, reinforcing their reputation as a "safety school" in Connecticut.
They needed something that was both dynamic and easy
to use: something that reflected their standards of academic excellence
and their commitment to both community involvement and the life-long learning process of their students.
Additionally, Southern wanted to pull away from merely being known as a "Teacher's College" and towards being known as a "University of Opportunity & Choice." As an institution in the midst of many changes, including the arrival of their new, hip president, Southern presented Gravity Switch with a variety of exciting challenges.
Getting By With A Little Help From Some Friends
The first order of business was for members of the Southern community to sit down with members of the Gravity Switch team to redesign and reorganize the existing Southern website.
Designer Isabelle Guerin-Groelz took Southern's goals and came back with a design that was both elegant and exciting.
Give a Man a Fish, and You've Given Him a Meal. Teach Him to Fish...
The plan also included Southern using the Gravity Switch Content Management System (gsCMS) for ease of updating their new website. It was important to create a website that could have decentralized content creation but centralized control.
With the gsCMS, each newly created page will retain the look and feel
of the rest of Southern's site. This helps reinforce Southern's Brand and
create a strong web presence.
Over the past couple of months Gravity Switch has given Southern the tools to train over 120 content creators, and they now have over 1200 pages live, with more coming online every day, using the gsCMS.
Look At Me Now!
The New York Times recently wrote that Southern is undergoing a renaissance, a sentiment echoed by current students. During the planning phase of the redesign we asked some students to sum up Southern for us: "it's a different SCSU than my parents knew." This is music to Southern's ears.
The redesign of Southern's website allows for a faster, wider spread of their newer, more hip image: Welcome, the all new Southern!
About Gravity Switch
Gravity Switch is an experienced web/multimedia design firm with a knowledgeable and friendly staff. With over 10 years of industry experience we're well versed in higher education marketing, branding, and design. For information about working with Gravity Switch or to see samples of their previous work please call [413] 586-9596.