Public Relations & Promoting the University

There is nothing more powerful than word of mouth to promote our institution.  Once the University has established a “race to the moon” caliber vision, we can use this as the basis for a public relations campaign, and get people taking about us.  I have experience crafting community messages, press releases, and using multimedia to get the word out about our accomplishments (see below).  For example, at Stony Brook University we were concerned that we were not being perceived as a great teaching institution.  To promote this aspect of the University I created and hosted Stony Brook’s “Innovations in Education” television show which had thousands of views and Facebook fans around the World. This show was the subject of an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed and created a significant positive improvement in the perception of the University as teaching centered.

University rankings can also have a big impact of public perception.  I have been responsible for managing the submission of data sets to agencies like US News & World Report, and know the importance of providing timely and accurate data.  While analysis of the metrics and knowledge of how they contribute to scoring can provide some opportunities to improve some of our own metrics, fundamental attention to quality programs and student success rates will have the biggest impact on long term rankings. This is achieved first and foremost through a process of continuous quality improvement.  

Public RelationsAs the President of Learning Management Solutions, I hired and worked with a Public Relations (PR) firm to help with branding and get our new product in the news.  As a result, I interviewed with many of the top Tech magazines, including InfoWorld, PCMag and Wired, and with newspapers like the NY Times.  In addition, I am competent in Internet based marketing (adwords etc.) and web site search optimization.

• • In academe, I am experienced working with the University PR department to craft community messages, press releases, and campus newsletters.