Ripple Effects Interactive to Assist Web Committee

NC State’s Office of Public Affairs has contracted with Ripple Effects Interactive, Pittsburgh, to assist in the development and enhancement of the university’s “core” Web presence, www.ncsu.edu , which includes the re-design of the homepage, top-tier pages and creation of new pages that support, define and enhance the NC State brand and mission.

Ripple Effects is an interactive marketing agency with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The firm has extensive experience with higher education clients including: Carnegie Mellon, Wake Forest, Cornell, Vanderbilt and others. See http://www.rippleeffectsinteractive.com/

The elements of the redesign of www.ncsu.edu will include the following steps:
> Planning and program organization
> Web presence prototyping
> Web presence development
> Web presence delivery and acceptance

Among the tasks to be performed by Ripple Effects are:
1) Serve in an advisory/consultative role as a part of the university-wide Web advisory committee that has been charged with oversight and deployment of a redesign site.
2) Provide staff to define, develop and deploy a new Web site, including gathering, compiling, and reviewing site requirements (in conjunction with direction from the advisory committee), visual design, Web content preparation, technical specifications, and technology recommendations.
3) Assist in the development of policies and procedures to govern the Web site following deployment.
4) Assist in identifying and documenting recommended staff requirements for on-going maintenance and enhancements to the Web site for a 2-3-year lifecycle.

The intended timeline is to launch the redesigned Web site by August 15, 2006. Beta versions of the site shall be available prior to the intended launch date. Specific project timelines and deadlines will be established with the selected vendor and the advisory committee.