Introduction. CHHS Communication Goals. The CHHS Communications Plan will achieve three goals:

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1 College of Health and Human Services Communications Plan 2014

2 1 Introduction The purpose of the College of Health and Human Services Communication Plan is to provide a set of goals, strategies, and measurements for advancing college communications and marketing efforts. As such, the plan serves as a guide for annual communications priority-setting, budget allocations, and evaluation. It is a tool that will be updated and revised regularly to reflect changing university and college goals, priorities, and activities related to communications and marketing. CHHS Communication Goals The CHHS Communications Plan will achieve three goals: 1. Increase awareness of the college 2. Increase understanding of the college 3. Increase engagement with the college Higher Education Environment The University of New Hampshire like all public universities in the United States faces a rapidly changing environment for higher education. As stated in the UNH 2020 Strategic Plan, dramatic changes in the global job market, the demographics of the U.S. population, and the use of digital information technologies will continue to have a significant impact on higher education. In fact, health care and higher education may be the two fastest changing fields in the next 3-5 years. In this increasingly complex and competitive environment (see Eduventures Marketing Research for Social Work Department, 2013), it is imperative that the excellence of CHHS s teaching, research, and service be communicated in a professional and timely manner. Assumptions: 1. UNH and CHHS will be significantly impacted by changes in the national environment. 2. UNH and CHHS will face stiffer competition for students and tuition dollars. 3. UNH and CHHS claims of excellence are undermined by less than professional communications.

3 2 Integrated Strategy The College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) Communications plan is consistent with overall University of New Hampshire Communications and Marketing strategic planning (see UNH Communications Summit 2013 at As such, the CHHS plan represents an integrated and coordinated effort to consistently and effectively communicate with audiences (or stakeholders) who are critical to the long-term success of UNH and the college, while maximizing the efficient use of current university and college resources. Such a strategy combines the collective marketing, technological, and communications expertise of the university with the unique communications activities of the departments and institutes in a way that promotes consistent, integrated, targeted, and costeffective messaging. Figure 1: CHHS Information Generation and Dissemination Process

4 3 Target Audiences The primary target audiences of CHHS communication efforts include current and prospective students, parents, alumni, donors, government, and communities. Branding and messaging for CHHS will be consistent with the overall strategy of the university (see UNH 2020 Strategic Plan), while emphasizing the specific strengths, culture, and character of the college (CHHS Core Group-Sterndale meeting, 2013). These qualities and characteristics include: excellence, discovery, service, leadership, highly engaged, interdisciplinary, innovative, international, accessible, inclusive, personal, resourceful, and sustainable. But the overall communication theme will be the highly valuable impact CHHS has on its stakeholders and audiences, particularly in the areas of aging; child/adolescent/family; disability; and health policy. Figure 2: CHHS Impact on Stakeholders and Audiences

5 4 Targeted Message: Students and Parents The UNH College of Health and Human Services promises you a high quality education that combines research-informed instruction with real world field applications in an environment that is personal, accessible, and inclusive. In so doing, we offer relationships that will last a lifetime. Targeted Message: Alumni and Donors The UNH College of Health and Human Services is committed to sustaining a rich network of faculty members, alumni, and agency contacts that provides lifelong opportunities for job networking, giving, mentoring, volunteering, and teaching. This is a commitment that our alumni and donors can believe in! (See UNH Foundation s Believe: A Campaign for the University of New Hampshire ) Targeted Message: Communities The UNH College of Health and Human Services pledges to consistently provide communities throughout the region with faculty volunteers and graduates who take the lead in developing and delivering health and human services that address today s most critical needs. Targeted Message: New Hampshire The UNH College of Health and Human Services strives to meet the workforce development needs of the state by providing highly skilled graduates engaged in the development and delivery of health and human services that address the state s most pressing problems. In short, we are a ready partner in state problem-solving! Methods and Tools The methods and tools used by the college to communicate with the aforementioned audiences will be integrated and consider recent university research (UNH Communications Summit 2013), which shows the following: Students prefer to be communicated by for important stuff with explicit subject lines. Current students don t frequently use college and department websites nor do they read publications such as UNH Today. However, the use of social media and mobile apps by current and prospective students is growing. Web: The CHHS communications strategy will include a state-of-the-art college website. All other college communication methods and tools should drive audiences to the college website for further information and engagement. To facilitate this, the college website must be consistent with the UNH web framework including an up-to-date content management system. (see Project Charter for the College of Health and Human Services Website (n.d.) by Web Solutions). For example, the current adoption of the Drupal 7 content management system will develop and extend web functionality, empowering the Dean s Office and departments to better

6 5 self-manage content on their respective websites. Furthermore, based on the research of UNH and others on the effective use of academic websites, the design of individual websites should prioritize communication with prospective students, followed by alumni, donors, and community partners. Other features will include the effective use of social media, Points of Pride feature stories, news and events, opportunities to donate, short videos, visual tours, and UNH Connect (online alumni community). Special attention will be paid to first impressions and lasting impressions for website visitors. Social Media: According to current university research (March 2013), 80% of current UNH students own (or use) a smart phone. At present, the vast majority (75%) use IPhones. The two leading mobile apps used by UNH audiences are Facebook with 15,000 UNH followers and Twitter with 6,000 UNH followers; Google Plus has 3000 UNH followers. Facebook, Twitter, and UNH Tales (a student blog) are considered the most effective social media for student recruitment. Therefore, the CHHS strategy will utilize all three on the college website. The strategy will also include the design and employment of college marks (also referred to as buttons ) to be used on mobile devices. The CHHS communications plan will, of course, utilize YouTube and LinkedIn as well as various other social media (e.g., Instagram) as appropriate. Given limited staff time and resources, priorities for the use of social media will be set. With respect to LinkedIn, the CHHS communication strategy involves working closely with University Communications and Marketing to utilize LinkedIn University and develop a sub group for CHHS audiences from the main UNH Alumni Association group on the UNH LinkedIn page. As one benefit, youth and other prospective students will be able to start a LinkedIn account to follow universities and colleges of interest in this case, UNH and CHHS. News Media: The college strategy for consistent and timely news coverage will include a single point of contact with a media relations specialist at University Communications and Marketing. This specialist can assist the college and departments by directing college members to the most appropriate mediums for individual stories and announcements. This assistance will also include help with the writing of press releases and feature stories, communication with state and national media representatives, and assistance with interview accommodations and photos. UNH Magazine, UNH Today, and the Knowledge for Healthy Living newsletter will be utilized consistently. Publications: CHHS communications efforts have traditionally included the use of department, institute, and center brochures, university publications, and sporadic use of college newsletters. Current activities, though, could be improved with a more conscious effort to integrate university and college branding, messaging, and themes. In addition, the audience for the Knowledge for Healthy Living newsletter will be expanded. Furthermore, the current strategy improves on past efforts by allocating resources to develop and update college-level publications the rationale being that an effort to promote the sum and not just the parts improves our ability to demonstrate the positive impact of the college on the state and region.

7 6 Promotions: Communications in the future will also include a small budget for various promotional items. These will include CHHS t-shirts (to promote healthy living as well as a college identity for incoming undergraduate students), college banners, college table runners, and college display boards (for use a conferences, special events, and large campus meetings). Measurement Web: Google Analytics will be used to measure traffic on the CHHS and department websites. The following metrics will be collected on a monthly and yearly basis: *the number of visits to college and department pages (i.e., most visited pages) *the number of unique visitors (one individual visiting one or more times) to college and department pages *average visit duration *number of pages per visit *Total visits to all college websites *Most frequently used search term *Where each visitor is coming from (for example, a UNH Graduate School webpage). *What mobile device used to visit college and department websites. *Bounce rate (i.e., the % of visits that involve just one page and then exit) Social Media: The CHHS communications strategy will employ one or more of the following: Google Analytics tracks social media mentions, URL shares, clicks, and conversions (i.e., completed activities such as a student enrollment or donor gift) Facebook has a data dashboard called Insights that can be used for measurement and evaluation. Twitter can be searched for the number of mentions of CHHS. News Media: CHHS will be sent monthly reports of media mentions by University Communications and Marketing. This is a new capability derived from the use of Meltwater News software starting in October of The monthly reports will not only allow CHHS to track the number of mentions of CHHS departments, institutes, and center, but will provide actual links to the articles.

8 7 Publications: A record and inventory of new and updated brochures will be maintained by the Dean s Office. In addition, the university will keep a library of college-related photos that can be verified and quantified each year. Promotions: An inventory of promotional materials such as CHHS t-shirts will be conducted at least yearly. Resources CHHS - like the university as a whole - is committed to the most effective and efficient use of resources. Existing college administrators, staff, and students will be utilized within the context of their job descriptions and current activities. This will require a slight shift in values and culture though as the college begins to pay more attention to the benefit of strategic communications and marketing to online student enrollment, alumni relations, government relations, community partnerships, community problem-solving, and fundraising. It must be emphasized that college efforts at improving communications and marketing parallel efforts at the university level. This should result in greater resources from the university for use in CHHS communication efforts. To this end, the nature and extent of no fee services and resources will be detailed each year in a Service Level Agreement between CHHS and University Communications and Marketing. University resources available to CHHS include: Martha Barker, Senior Graphic Designer, Editorial & Creative Services Currently the art director at Editorial and Creative Services, Martha has been a graphic designer at UNH (on and off) since With a BFA in Communication Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology, she has been a staff designer at a small design studio in Corning, N.Y., a staff designer at Cornell University, and art director for an ad agency in Portland, Maine. While focusing mainly on print publications, Martha is also responsible for keeping a watchful eye on the University s graphic identity and ensuring that UNH maintains a strong and cohesive visual impression. Jason Boucher, Social Media Coordinator, New & Emerging Media Jason is responsible for developing and leading the University of New Hampshire's social media strategy and coordinating related activities by enhancing and expanding UNH's image online. I help to Increase brand equity and awareness, promote the University's mission through all social media platforms, and build relationships with stakeholders. I maintain a content strategy, which results in delivering higher quality content and increased traffic to our website. In addition, I'm a founding member and former president of Seacoast

9 8 Katherine Derby, Information Technology Katherine Derby is a communications developer with UNH IT Communications. She coordinates the social media presence for UNH Information Technology, is a web developer/graphic designer for several UNH IT sites such as signals.unh.edu, and is a regular contributor for UNH IT News on Signals, the IT newsletter for UNH Faculty and Staff. Martin England, Staff Writer, Information Technology Martin England has worked at UNH as part of Information Technology since He has authored, edited, and taken photos and videos for Signals, the nationally-recognized UNH IT newsletter for a dozen years, and has been an integral part of interpreting otherwise nerdfriendly, technology-heavy materials for mass consumption. In his spare time, he writes, records, and performs his own music, has written freelance articles on music for various regional publications, and lives happily with his beautiful wife Jennifer and their four dogs in Southern Maine. Bridget Finnegan, Director, New & Emerging Media Bridget has been at UNH since Prior to her current position at UNH she was University Webmaster. In a former life Bridget had a career as a print designer and illustrator. She has a BFA from Washington University in Saint Louis in Photography. Explore the minutia of her life in her illustrated blog Marjorie Foote, Senior Graphic Designer Marj is a great resource for visual design, particularly for brochures. She can be reached at Marjorie.foote@unh.edu Neil Larson, Technical Lead, New & Emerging Media Neil began exploring web design and development amidst an era of <blink> tags and scrolling marquees. Nowadays, Neil tackles web design and coding projects with a focus on visual strategy, web standards, accessibility, user experience, and responsive design. Neil also engages in strategic planning, consulting and development of online ad campaigns, mobile applications and multimedia presentations - with follow-up analytics, tracking and reporting. Neil resides with his wife and three children in Somersworth, Erika Mantz, Director, Media Relations Erika joined Media Relations 11 years ago as a writer. Before coming to UNH she worked as a police reporter, assistant editor of a weekly arts and entertainment magazine, and at New Hampshire Public Television. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Syracuse University. Follow Erika on

10 9 David Moore, Editorial Director, Editorial & Creative Services Dave Moore has worked in Editorial and Creative Services for 12 years. Prior to that, he worked in Admissions Publications at Boston University and for several national magazines in Boston. He is the author of The Wadleigh Falls Diet and the best-selling memoir "Mom, there's an Eel in my Omelette!" A Lamprey River Childhood. Beth Potier, Senior Writer/Editor, Media Relations Beth is the go-to person for press releases and feature stories. She can be contacted at beth.potier@unh.edu. Scott Ripley, Multimedia Producer & Director, Video Productions Scott joined UNH as a Video Producer/Director in November of 2007 after nine years working as a Videographer/Editor in television news. He has won 2 New England Region Emmy awards at WFXT in Boston, an AP Award at WHEC in Rochester NY, and several National Press Photographers Association awards at both stations. He has a Bachelors Degree in TV Broadcasting from SUNY Oswego. Scott specializes in producing news style stories on a wide range of subjects at UNH. If you have a story suggestion and would like to contact Scott, he can be reached at (603) or via . Lori Wright, Senior Editor and Writer, Media Relations Lori covers the research and activities of the College of Liberal Arts, and the Paul College of Business and Economics. Prior to joining UNH, she served as a newspaper reporter and copy editor in Texas, Florida and New Hampshire, a chief copy editor for an online financial news site, and a corporate communications specialist. She holds a bachelor's in journalism from Louisiana State University, and a master's in political science from UNH. She is author of "Swing Voters?: Catholic Voting Behavior in U.S. Presidential Elections From 1992 to 2004." Follow Lori on