Sharon Omahen
Information Specialist

J. Faith Peppers
Extension News Editor

Janet Rodekohr
Manager, Public Affairs
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Background

Abstract:

In 1997, the two communications units in the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were merged into a new single unit called the Education, Communication and Technology unit.

After the merger was complete, ECT's first task was to create a comprehensive plan outlining the support and services we offer the college. Our second task was marketing our new unit to the organization.

Two areas of the college, research and extension, were accustomed to having communications professionals devoted solely to them. The third area of the college, instruction, wasn't accustomed to having personal service. We had a very heady task of explaining to research and extension how we were going to continue to serve their communications needs with fewer people, and to show teaching how we could support them.

We developed a comprehensive college communications plan, something that had never been done before. Parts of that plan have now been completed, including launching a massive student recruitment effort, developing a collective college Web-based employee newsletter and teaching a series of media trainings to faculty and administration throughout the state.

This paper will share our strategy, successes and disappointments. It will also show faculty reaction to the new unit's effectiveness.

Method

Introduction

With the creation of ECT, the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences moved to a new level of college-wide thinking. By combining two communications groups, the college gained the potential to unite its message to the people of Georgia.

To chart our course, ECT needed a good map. Before we could present a unified message that supports the college, we needed to know what the college is now and where it wants to go. Building a detailed map required an honest assessment of the college, its departments and its functions from people both inside and outside the college.

It took a review of current thinking about the land-grant role and mission, changing demographics and current realities surrounding the college. It required a supportable list of the college's gold star accomplishments, its internationally recognized achievers and its greatest hopes for success.

With these facts in hand, ECT set its goals and formu lated key messages and strategies to deliver those messages. The outcome was a communication and marketing plan that could solidify financial and philosophical support, unify the college, support the strategic plan and build awareness and recognition.

ECT set four goals, followed by objectives and strategies to reach those goals.

GOAL #1: Develop communications products for internal and external audiences of the college to promote and enhance the college and its various functions in an integrated way and to extend the educational resources of the college.

OBJECTIVE: To promote unity within the college.

Internal newsletter: ECT will compile, write and distribute a quarterly college-wide newsletter on the Web and in hard copy, with customized sections for the Griffin and Tifton campuses, county extension programs and teaching.

Print on Demand: Develop an on-line procedure to order publications and print them to order. This system wou ld eliminate the need to mass produce and warehouse publications, cutting printing costs and responding to demands for publications.

Current Projects:
"Ag Explorer": A video newsletter features college success stories. It is distributed to departments, county faculty and administration to use for both internal and external audiences.

Visuals Self-help Room: Provides hands-on training in preparing visuals for presentations, designing newsletters, preparing poster sessions and other related skills taught through informal mini-seminars.

Unified publications procedures: Extension and research publications editors are working together to combine procedures where possible.

College Welcome Center: The multi-media and static exhibits designed for the new center will promote unity by featuring collaborative efforts within the college.

Ongoing efforts:

ECT Services: Printing, duplicating, poster presentations, larg e-format printing (Athens only), Media Library, photographic services, programs and signs. Unit members will critique newsletters and other documents, make point-and-shoot cameras available at the Tifton and Griffin campuses for faculty and staff retirement parties, coordinate 4-H communications and photography projects, support college awards programs with news coverage and hometown releases, and assist publicity committees of college associations with photographic support if the association covers travel, film, processing and distribution expenses. Note: The ECT services that require high-maintenance equipment and materials, such as printing, video production, photography and signs, are fee-based services. The prices cover only equipment and material, not staff time.

OBJECTIVE: Reach external audiences with defined messages
to promote the college and extend the knowledge of the college.

Marketing strategy for county staff: Support county staff with a strategy and materials to market the college and its educational message to the people in their counties.

Reaching Urban Georgia: Improve the image of the college in Georgia metropolitan areas by conducting a communications campaign directed at urban Georgians. Define urban issues, promote the college's outreach capabilities, set the life sciences in context for urban Georgians and promote the value of agricultural education and careers. Conduct news conferences, set up a speakers bureau, conduct in-service training on working with the media, concentrate news efforts in urban centers and disseminate impact statements and other information at various urban venues.

Web development: Produce an ECT Web page designed to entertain and reach non-traditional agricultural audiences with information about the college, focus Web services on targeted news departments, develop a Web-based publishing system, create Web-based training materials on communications skills an d build a Web Design Support Group that serves the college.

College exhibits: Place 20 college exhibits targeted at college themes and objectives in circulation around Georgia. ECT will purchase the exhibit hardware, initiate the design and distribution, and set up a master calendar of potential exhibit locations.

Sunbelt Exposition: Create a highly interactive exhibit structure and layout to give the college a dynamic presence at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. It should reinforce a college image that is progressive, diverse and forward thinking.

Infographics Delivery System: Develop a system to design and deliver infographics for news stories, exhibits, videos and Web materials.

Current Projects

Special exhibits: An exhibit is being designed for the Rock Eagle 4-H Center's Natural History Museum to feature careers in agriculture, and an exhibit is in the works in partnership with Fernbank to educate elementary and middle s chool children about agriculture.

College Welcome Center: Mentioned earlier to promote unity, the Welcome Center will also promote the college to alumni, potential students and their parents.

Update educational video productions: Revise "So Easy to Preserve," a nationally recognized videotape series on the art of home food preservation, including eight 30-minute videotape programs and a 300-page book. Update "An Outdoor Classroom: Georgia's Environmental Education Program" to inform teachers, curriculum planners and other educators about this program.

Ongoing efforts

Video news releases: Produce products for Georgia viewers and build in regional and national appeal where possible. The team plans to establish a new weekly satellite distribution of at least two stories.

Public Service announcements: This is a cost-effective way to increase the college's visibility while broadcasting educational information thro ugh cooperating television stations. Ag PSAs are also sent out monthly to 85 radio stations and the Georgia News Network.

Radio services: Subscribing county agents receive taped programs that feature agricultural specialists presenting a two-minute report. Agents get a total of 12 programs per month (the team plans to change to 6 pieces per month, distributed by Web rather than cassettes). Four radio stories 20 to 30 seconds long are fed by telephone to the Georgia News Network for use on their Friday and weekend programs. The network has 107 subscribing radio stations. Atlanta's WSB-radio receives a live report about every other week. The telephone network service is an automated 800 call-in service for radio stations to get a full story as well as soundbites to produce their own story.

Print news services: The CAES Research and Extension News stories are available as a printed, mailed news packet for 266 Georgia newspapers and magazines; on E-mail listserv s that include 365 subscribers, including 49 newspapers, magazines, on-line news sites and other media; and as a Web site that generates nearly 600 hits a week, for a total weekly distribution of 1,210 outlets. Individual features are also sent by direct computer feed to three newspapers and are included in fax services to more than 60 others. Many major newspapers, wire services, magazines and other outlets require personal contacts and a supporting fax and E-mail brokering of news stories. Stories are also repackaged and distributed to a database of nearly 500 national publications, based on specific interests.

Collaborative efforts: Although print and broadcast products are obviously different, the ECT news team finds ways to collaborate and coordinate efforts to get the most exposure possible for each story. They intend to enhance these efforts by developing a "Story of the Week" for all media outlets.

Web-based news and image delivery syst em: Media can download text and industry-quality photographs and information-graphic images. The team intends to develop its portion of the ECT Web page into a high-impact news center to make the site the primary delivery mechanism for print, broadcast and on-line news media.

OBJECTIVE: Support student recruitment efforts.

Current Projects:

College Welcome Center: Present dynamic, future-thinking exhibits and displays to attract students to the college.

Student recruitment package: Based on materials developed for the College Welcome Center, follow up with a package of student recruitment materials, including departmental brochures, a college promotional video, a disposable exhibit for college recruiting days at schools, packets for guidance counselors, a student recruitment message on the college Web site and other products. ECT looks for non-traditional ways to target junior high school students with special materials such as the " ;Seeds to Satellite" exhibit on display at Fort Discovery.

GOAL #2: Attract public and private financial support through communications products.

OBJECTIVE: Encourage legislative and other governmental support.

"Hit the Issues" Day: Organize county clusters to invite legislators and other decision makers to a college-wide event held simultaneously throughout the state to present how the college responds to key issues. Researchers would be on hand to explain current projects and benefits. ECT would prepare impact statements tailored to each meeting site.

Develop dean's exhibit: Develop an exhibit for the dean and associate deans about the college that can be assembled quickly and easily, and displayed in high profile locations.

College video: Prepare a video about the work of the college, available through the Media Library for administrators, county staff and others.

County exhibits: Redesign the extension marketing exhibit for counties to promote the total college.

Legislative marketing strategy: Develop a marketing strategy for members of the college to present key information to legislators throughout the year.

Current Projects

"Your Money's Worth" series: ECT collects impact statements electronically from throughout the college and prepares a series of fact sheets from this information. The series can go to decision makers based on geographic location or subject matter. The material from the impact statements can also be used for media contacts, college annual report and other outlets.

"Ag Explorer": This video newsletter features college success stories. It could be distributed to selected legislators.

Ongoing efforts:

Administrative support: Printed materials and packages for tours and visits by legislative and congressional delegations, university administration and Board of Regent members; spee ches for the dean; a college annual report and materials for other university requirements for annual reports; public relations efforts to promote the college; and publications as needed.

GOAL #3: Teach and train faculty and staff of the college in communications skills and strategies.

OBJECTIVE: Prepare members of the college to communicate.

"Working with the Media" training: As part of the Urban Georgia initiative, ECT proposes a college-wide training series for administrators, scientists and extension staff to help them weigh the risks and benefits of working with the media, learn interviewing skills and techniques, and other basic communications skills.

Ongoing Efforts:
Training: ECT offers a wide range of training opportunities for faculty and staff of the college. It conducts media training during the Foundation Training sessions for county agents; and it offers courses during the Extension Winter School on such topics as column writing, writing impact statements and designing with computer software. It responds to requests from extension districts for secretarial and agent training in such topics as photography, newsletter design, customer relations, marketing, presentations and Web design. ECT is ready to expand its training to the entire college.

GOAL #4: Carry out applied research in the communications field.

OBJECTIVE: Learn from applied research.

Audience analysis: Any marketing strategy, whether it is for county agents, donors or legislators, must include a science-based analysis of the audience. ECT should work with UGA market analysts to prepare surveys and other instruments to learn about our audiences.

Ongoing Efforts:

Impact statements: ECT intends to continue collecting impact statements annually and to work with the technology unit to refine methods of collection. This rich database will be the foundation for valuable information on how to collect and communicate impact.

Media surveys: The print and broadcast team members regularly survey their media contacts to learn how their products are being viewed. The results help them refine their product and report to other communicators on media trends.

Communication research: Members of ECT pursue a scholarly interest in the field. They take every opportunity to learn about trends, changes, ideas and techniques in the field of communications. They carry out applied research and present it at professional meetings when appropriate.

OBJECTIVE: Seek professional development opportunities.

Ongoing Efforts :

Professional associations: Many members of ECT are active in professional associations. Like other educational professionals, they learn from and contribute to their field of study. The college should support and encourage their active participation in these associations.

Learning opportunities: Me mbers of ECT must seek out and attend training opportunities, receive materials and search for knowledgeable sources to keep them current in their fields. The unit's budget should include funds to support these necessary skill- and knowledge-building opportunities.

Results

Results

To date, the newly formed ECT unit of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Science is well on its way to carrying out the above plan.

Several of the original goals have been met. Others are under way.

To begin the process, the unit leaders met with college department heads and presented the Communication/Marketing Plan. The presentation was followed by a "Working With the Media," training for department heads and college leaders as outlined in Goal # 3.

The training was then offered to faculty and staff in several locations around the state, and to county agents at their annual winter training school. The seminar was so well received, it was repeated for a second round.

The second step in the plan was to establish a college newsletter to help foster internal communications in the unified college, as called for in Goal #1. The newsletter was designed and a marketing plan set (see complete plan attached ). The Web-based newsletter debuted in the Spring of 1999. Thus far, response to the newsletter has been positive.

Also outlined in Goal 1 was the plan to move to a print-on-demand system. That system is now up and running.

Other objectives in Goal 1 call for efforts to improve understanding in urban Georgia, more Web development and developing an infographic delivery system.

An extensive five-year marketing plan to reach urban Georgia has been completed (see complete plan attached). Phase I of the plan has been completed and Phase II will kick off March 15 with a pilot project in cooperation with Zoo Atlanta.

A new Web work team has been established and three employees have been devoted to developing new web products.

Infographics are now available to media each week on ECT's on-line news center. AGlimpse, a weekly color graphic can be downloaded and reprinted.

The new student recruitment package is underway. Team membe rs are nearing completion on a new recruitment brochure for each of the college's 21 majors, an overall college brochure and a brochure highlighting new careers.

Goal 2 calls for action to attract public and private financial support through communications products. The "Hit The Issues Day," debuted last year. County extension agents were given an on-line template to present their impact statements and other local information to legislators and other decision makers in an attractive, concise form.

A continued push to collect impact statements for use in an on-line data base that can be customized by legislative district yielded a 50 percent increase this year. More than 1,000 impact statements were turned in from across the college.

Goal 4 outlines plans for continued research and audience analysis, along with continued professional development.

The Public Affairs Team recently completed a survey of the state's media, and exhib ited the new on-line news center at the Georgia Press Association's state convention. The group developed a comprehensive media guide to agriculture and will conduct a training in cooperation with the Press Association in May.

Conclusions

Outlook

ECT has made significant progress in many areas, including major projects to reach goals. It has used the communications/marketing plan as a blueprint for progress, which has allowed it to move out of the reactionary response form and into a more proactive stance.

However, it has been hampered by a loss of staff through attrition with little ability to replace these positions. The loss in staff has forced the unit to restructure and refocus its efforts, placing importance on Web support, media relations and a print-on-demand delivery system for publications.

Ironically, the loss in staff has also allowed ECT to use position requests to help determine its direction and focus. If and when these position requests are funded and new staff are in place, ECT will be in an excellent position to continue the work of its plan to support the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.