Our RFP for our strategic partner for our web refresh is scheduled to close this Friday, December 16. We look forward to reviewing responses from the vendors selected to participate in that phase.

The refresh of the University web presence requires collaboration across the University, so it's important to get the word out about this project early. To meet this need, we're tackling project communication at a variety of levels:

Grass tops: the University cabinet has discussed the high-level timeline, scope, budget and requirements of the project. In addition, each Vice President has been asked to recommend employees to serve on the advisory team for this project, to help ensure that the core team receives representative feedback from key campus stakeholders.

Grass roots: we've contacted all users of our central web content management system, echoCI, to notify them that this project is set to begin in 2012. In addition, we're publishing a blurb in this week's "Wavelength" campus newsletter about the project. We're also contacting members of key campus committees to keep them in the loop.

Want to get involved in the project? We're looking for a variety of community members to participate in our refresh activities. Visit the project site, and sign up to participate on the "Get Involved" page.

If there are other ways you think would be useful to getting the word out, please post your comment here, or email me at peter.mosinskis@csuci.edu.

Thanks for everyone who participated in making the 2009 Web Site Use Survey a success. The response was overwhelming: we have over 1,100 respondents, so we have a lot of feedback to sort through. I think our response rate can be attributed to several factors:

• People value the CSUCI web site as an information resource. From prospective students to employees to the general public, so many people already use and rely on the CSUCI web site as the primary source of information about the University. www.csuci.edu averages over 8200 visits per day, and over 2100 (more than 25%) are new visitors to the site. These numbers will continue to grow.
  
  
• Our community is happy for the opportunity to voice its opinion. They are active and want to participate in shaping the future of CSUCI. We must continue to consider and evaluate all opinions and comments about the CSUCI web site, and take action to demonstrate that the University values this feedback and will address the community's needs.
  
  
• A coordinated, detailed communication plan. The Core Task Force created and implemented a plan to ensure maximum response and publicity. The plan covered techniques and timelines for getting the word out through email, print and web.