In an effort to clarify, coordinate and improve communication at the University, Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady and Vice President for University Advancement Allan Price have created the Task Force for Integrated Marketing and Strategic Communications.
The committee’s objective is to improve the way the University communicates its unique strengths and benefits. Currently at the first stage, the task force is identifying the University’s “strengths, vision and values.” Once that is accomplished the panel will develop a plan to coordinate marketing and communication activities for the institution as a whole.
Local public relations firm The Ulum Group is also contributing to the project. The firm, which has worked with a number of University departments before, is facilitating internal focus groups, developing questionnaires and meeting with faculty, staff, students and advisers “to get broad brush themes and understand perceptions of the University of Oregon among these internal audiences,” said Ulum Group Vice President Bev Mayhew.
“The Ulum Group is a very well-respected firm in the state of Oregon,” said task force co-chair and University spokesman Phil Weiler. He said the firm was the logical choice.
The University has not yet selected a firm to put together the task force’s projected May 2008 advertising campaign, said Marian Friestad, task force co-chair and vice provost for graduate studies.
After all of the input and information about the University is collected, the task force will present its goals to some sort of advertising agency and craft a new marketing strategy. The entire process will last 12 to 18 months.
Those activities include any message the University sends out through media such as billboards, Web sites, newsletters, television commercials and posters around campus. The idea is to somehow unite all of those media with a clear indicator that the message comes from the University, while highlighting its defining qualities.
“It would cover anything that we do in terms of communication,” Friestad said. “Virtually anything and everything would have the opportunity to take advantage.”
Friestad said although the messages would vary by school or department, there would still be some common themes that would “speak to what’s at the heart and soul of the University of Oregon.”
“That’s not to say they’re going to be cookie-cutter,” Friestad said. “That’s the last thing we want.”
Rather, the purpose is to save departments time by having the media formatted with provided templates clearly indicating University affiliation.
“We’re looking at what this University can say about itself and how does it say it,” Weiler said.
At present, the task force is still trying to determine those themes. Focus groups with faculty, staff, administrators and students are meant to collect input from campus community members. There have been 10 to 12 such groups from which resonating themes will be drawn. In May, a campus-wide online survey for student feedback will test those themes. Students also had the opportunity to give input in selected focus groups, one of which took place Thursday afternoon.
John Huddleston, a sophomore English major, suggested that the task force should acknowledge the quality of University professors, and their availability to students. He also sees the need to unify.
“None of the departments are really linked – they’re all really separate,” Huddleston said. He said there is a visible gap in communication between departments, particularly in activity going on within the administration.
Sophomore Sara Wyckoff hasn’t noticed a particular disunity, but she had many suggestions of how the University could improve its message to outside stakeholders.
She would like to see a more equal balance in the way each department is presented. As a marine biology major, Wyckoff said she gets frustrated when the science department is overlooked in favor of more popular or hipper departments to receive praise. She also said the University should emphasize available student resources and the campus’ compacted layout, which creates a sense of closeness and community.
Wyckoff said if the task force achieves its goal, it could be beneficial to students.
“It would be good if it all connected back to a central theme,” Wyckoff said. “It would promote a sense of community and make all aspects of the University more accessible to students.”
Friestad said the task force wants to respect the opinions of the people who are here every day, and student involvement is a primary concern.
“We want to listen first,” said Friestad. “It’s very, very important when you get ready to communicate with people outside your organization that you really have a good feel for what the people inside the University think and feel.”
Contact the higher education reporter at [email protected]