Case Study: California State University, Chico achieves centralized web management and consistent branding with Hannon Hill's Cascade CMS

California State University, Chico - Customer Case Study

California State University, Chico (founded 1887) struggled with a fragmented web presence—departments used a mix of Dreamweaver, homegrown systems and third‑party tools with no central oversight, resulting in inconsistent or outdated branding, no centralized training, and difficulty enforcing accessibility standards. This decentralized approach left many sites on templates dating back to 1999 and made web management inefficient and risky when staff changed.

After a three‑stage vendor selection (30 vendors narrowed to Cascade CMS), CSU Chico chose Cascade for its fit with university workflows, strong accessibility features, and higher‑education experience. Implementing Cascade centralized templates, branding, accessibility enforcement, training and support while preserving departmental control of content; today 120 sites are live (40 more in development) with plans to migrate 200+ sites and update them to the new campus design.

California State University, Chico