San Diego Community College District

www.sdccd.net
www.sdccd.net/public
www.sdccd.org
www.communitycollege.net

The Client
One of the largest community college districts in the United States, the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) serves almost 100,000 students every year through three two-year colleges and six continuing education centers.

A major employer in the region, the district is also a vibrant partner with business and industry, offering customized training opportunities to students.

The Challenge
The SDCCD needed a revitalized, friendly communication hub, able to serve a wide range of users.

"Working with your team has been a breeze... You are very creative and take ‘client direction’ with amazing equanimity."

"I would again like to express my appreciation for having you on our web team. Your creativity, hard work, flexibility, patience and integrity have made it a pleasure to work with you."

- Kristin Tow, Public Information Officer

Our Solution
Create a network of sites geared towards different types of users. These sites are united by a common look and feel and are reached through a “gateway” site which is at www.sdccd.net.

Students, faculty and staff, alumni, and the general public are provided a multitude of rich resources right at their fingertips through this centralized hub.

Some of the key aspects of the sites:

• Consistent navigation structure used across all sites allowing for easy access to any page
• Panoramic photo-tours are used to show students the campuses and facilities
• Content is highly focused to each user segment
• Course catalogs are delivered to nearly all students electronically as PDFs enabling immediate delivery as well as lower cost print-runs

Results
Since its launch, this highly usable communications hub has consistently averaged above 100,000 visitors a month. Tornado continues to refresh and refine the SDCCD online experience, allowing the SDCCD to take full advantage of the web and its potential for recruiting new students, communicating with students, and as a tool to enhance public perceptions about the SDCCD.

Awards and key results:

• Once the new site launched, the SDCCD received more than twice as many inquiries for information compared to the previous year
• The site has been well received by students and faculty
• The site helps to highlight and win business opportunities available to the District as well as facilitate “gifts” to the District
• The Silver Medallion of Achievement Award was presented by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (ncmpr.org), The Medallion Awards, District VI
• A Bronze Award for CommunityCollege.Net was awarded by the National Admissions Marketing Report. Judged among colleges and universities with more than 10,000 students