The Future of Communications in Higher Education Joseph Hice, APR, CPRC Chief Communications Officer Associate Vice Chancellor NC State University

Trends that affect us all Accountability to our various publics Challenge from the competition The rise of a new breed of Chancellor Changing role of communications

Accountability With increased competition for funding and the need to justify our contribution or value to all of our stakeholders, communications will have to lead message development and delivery –Different messages for different groups Parents, students, civic leaders, business leaders, etc. How does giving help?

Challenge from the competition Public & Private institutions –Differentiate or die Point(s) of differentiation For profit organizations –Driven by the bottom line –Aggressive Kaplans Ive failed you campaign –$20 million in marketing last quarter University of Phoenix Stadium –$60 million/10 year sponsorship –$250 million last quarter!!!!!

A new breed of Chancellor Visionary –Openly & Consistently articulates a clear vision for the institution Role model –Management by example An Advocate –Champion for the institution –Champion for advancement

A new breed of Chancellor Business approach to running the institution –Internal communications challenges –External communications challenges Media savvy –They recognize the power of the press (and the changes) and want to capitalize –They represent the values, purpose, and the integrity of the institution to key constituencies Fundraisers –A different kind of support Financial & Human capital

Changing role of communications As a Counselor to the Chancellor and the university –Protect and enhance the reputation of the institution Facilitate two-way communication with those who are key to your success Help establish the Strategic direction –Communications planning across boundaries –Ability to generate bipartisan support for the plan

Changing role of communications Disseminate the Chancellors vision and enlist advocates in its implementation Engage the campus community in the communications and marketing effort Create the dialogue for long-term communications

Can we talk? One voice, one message The dialogue –Long term discussion starting at Point A and ending at Point Z –Planned out in the beginning. Today I know what Im going to say six months from now, 12 months from now, 5 years from now –Interactive communications – between you and me – is what differentiates good communications from great communications

Fundamentals The tools –Traditional Print & Broadcast media/publications –The Web –Social Media Facebook, Blogs, Twitter and tweets

The power of the Web Appx. 70,000 people a day visit either – – More than 25.5 million a year are making the choice to visit one of our sites and seek out news & information about NC State University –60% of those visitors are from outside NC State University (15.3 million) Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, more

Social networking 82% increase in time spent on social networking sites over the past year. Sites like MySpace, Facebook and others are where prospective and current students, alumni, donors, etc. gather million unique visitors to Facebook in Dec. 2009

Facebook 90% of full-time U.S. college students are members –97% at NC State –45,000 on NC State network Two-thirds visit daily 300 million active users

Twitter Is Growing twitter.com had about 5 million site visits in December million in December million users (17% twittered last month)

Blogs and higher education Theyre everywhere Admission, alumni, students, faculty all have blogs on sites out there Millions of citizen journalists –Blogs (189 million around the world)

Its all about Influence! Influence is directly related to your following –Your following is your audience Massive influence online translates to massive influence off-line The goal is to become your own media channel, your own network –Todays student/institution has started building his or her online network –Where will you/they be in 5 – 10 – 20 years

Keep the web in your toolkit Develop your strategies and goals first –There is no magic bullet Know the technologies –Where is a new release or Blog appropriate? Apply, measure, move on

Not everyone is ready to treat the Web As a community

Questions to ask yourself Are you ready to make the commitment? –It takes time and hard work to make it happen Do you really want interaction and more transparency? –And does your boss? The entry costs are low – but the cost of not following through can be great. –Sustainability

Time for dialogue