ECC Communication Plan 2015

Public Relations Department 2

Communication Planning

One of the college’s strategic goals is to develop and implement a communication plan that provides easy

access to information to and from all internal and external groups to promote access, student success and

positive student learning outcomes. The following document provides this plan. It should be viewed as an

initial point of reference. College staff must direct their efforts toward ensuring that communication

activities and initiatives remain current to supporting Erie Community College’s mission .

In addition to the objectives outlined above, this document will work to achieve a communications

environment conducive to accomplishing the following:

Distribution of clear and consistent messages articulating our mission, vision and goals

Demonstrate the value of ECC to our students, faculty, staff and our Western New York community

Advance the perception that programs and services offered by ECC are of high quality and are available

to all students (complete access)

Foster a culture of transparent communications as viewed by internal and external audiences

Increase alumni involvement in college activities

This plan serves as a primary tool to guide our college personnel as we take on communication-related

activities. This document examines current college wide communication efforts and makes

recommendations for improvement. While a number of initiatives are intended to improve

communications and will be identified, implementation will be based on a phased approach as available

resources allow.

Environmental Analysis

There are a variety of factors—such as population diversity and fluctuation, incomes, emerging industries,

and education trends—that impact Erie Community College’s communication efforts and direction

throughout Western New York.

Population

Erie Community College’s district is comprised mainly of students from Erie County, with additional

attendees commuting in from outlining areas of Niagara, Chautauqua, Genesee and Cattaraugus counties.

Per 2014 U.S. Census Data, the estimated population of Erie County is 922,835, comprised largely of white

(80.7%), African American (13.9%), Hispanic (4.9%), Asian (2.9%), and American Indian (0.7%). Over the last

decade, Buffalo has welcomed a rising refugee population—comprised of such ethnicities as Iraqi, Nepalese

and Sudanese—that have settled in the city and, over the last few years, started to attend classes through

ECC’s English as a Second Language (ESL) Program at City Campus.


20.8% of the population is under the age of 18, whereas nearly two-thirds of the population are over the

age of 25. 89.8% of persons over the age of 25 are a high school graduate or better, with 30.9% holding a

bachelor’s degree or higher.

In the most recent assessment of ECC performed by the National Center for Educational Statistics (in 2013),

the college’s student population of 13,649 was split evenly between male and female students. 34% of

these students were part-time; 66% were full-time. The student body’s race/ethnicity was comprised

largely of white (65%), African American (16%), Hispanic (6%), and Asian (2%). 66% of these students were

traditional, aged 24 and under; 34% were non-traditional at 25 years old and older.

Income

Both per capita ($27,978) and median household ($50,653) incomes in Erie County are below New York

state averages, which makes being able to offer an affordable education key to ECC’s effectiveness.

With 14.6% of the Erie County population living below the state’s poverty level, it’s important to offer

education that’s both cheaper than other local alternatives and focused on giving residents the training

necessary to rise out of poverty.

According to 2013 Pew Research numbers, Millennial college graduates ages 25 to 32 who are working full

time earn more annually—about $17,500 more—than employed young adults holding only a high school

diploma. College-educated Millennials also are more likely to be employed full time than their less-

educated counterparts (89% vs. 82%) and significantly less likely to be unemployed (3.8% vs. 12.2%).

Emerging Industry

In order to remain competitive with both regional and national educational options, ECC must continue to

offer and promote training applicable for sustainable careers. Whether short-term training via one-year

certificate programs; courses toward a two-year degree; or transferable credits as part of a four-year

degree, the college must continue to make it known that we’re offering ways for students to prepare for

the jobs of today.

According to a recent report by MSNBC, ECC currently offers training for seven out of the 10 Best U.S. Jobs

of 2015, including registered nurse, industrial engineer, Web developer, and medical and health services.

Regionally, we must continue to offer and promote our courses and training in emerging fields now moving

Western New York forward. New programs such as Biomanufacturing, Nanotechnology, Industrial

Technology, and Green Building Technology offers vital training for science, technology, engineering, and

math (STEM)-related careers now blooming across the region; and programs like Clinical Lab Technician,

Health Information Technology and Radiologic Technology are preparing students for careers inside the

ever-growing Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.


As the industries emerge and become a more regular part of the local conversation—whether via media,

marketing or word-of-mouth—ECC needs to thrust itself into that conversation, too. If the college offers

affordable training for jobs being advertised inside news features and ad campaigns, it would make sense

to be mentioned in those same stories and televised scenes. Whether through focused advertising or

announced business partnerships, ECC needs to be part of what’s becoming known as the “New Buffalo.”

Educational Trends

With rising college costs and the growing national burden of student loan debt, students are looking for

ways to limit college costs and learn on their schedules, which can free them up for full-time employment

and family commitments.

Along with its three campuses in Buffalo, Orchard Park and Williamsville, ECC now offers 14 programs and

over 250 courses entirely online, allowing students to do school work on their time. All provide students

with the type of convenience and flexibility necessary to accommodate their work-life balance as they

pursue degrees or career training.

But as stated above per emerging industries, ECC must offer and promote its focused (and practical)

training along with convenience. As a community college, ECC’s faculty, staff and advisory councils can

adjust curricula and course offerings to satisfy student need and economic fluctuations. Whether training

for STEM careers, a life in the service industry or a future in the humanities, we need to diagnose whether

this training provides a gateway to a career, then promote its possibilities.

Stakeholder Analysis

ECC has a long list of stakeholders both internally and externally. Understanding who these people, groups

and organizations are and their relationships to our college is vital to creating and implementing a well-

organized and targeted communication plan.

Faculty: ECC currently employs approximately 336 full-time and 510 part-time faculty members.

Faculty members represent a wide-range of disciplines that are organized into four divisions; Engineering

and Technologies, Health Sciences, Business and Public Service, and Liberal Arts. There are currently 25

certificate programs that should be considered part of, or an extension of, these four divisions.

Nevertheless, they tend to have well-organized communications networks and have influence on a variety

of strategic decisions. In addition to social contacts, their communications are facilitated through

participation in the College Senate, union membership in the Faculty Federation of Erie Community College

(FFECC) and a variety of curriculum, shared governance committees and working groups.

While communications among full-time faculty are generally considered effective, we need to improve

communications for adjunct faculty along with their communications amongst our student body.


Staff: Staff members include those employees who are not faculty or management. These staff members

hold positions in support of a variety of programs and services offered at ECC. Many support staff work in

other areas that put them in daily contact with both faculty and students. One concern often expressed by

staff is that communication via email fails to reach staff in positions that do not have convenient access to a

computer while at work. An alternative form of communication maybe required to effectively

communicate with this important group.

Administration: Management staff number approximately 45 and can generally be categorized into two

subgroups having considerably different shapes of influence and interest. Academic Deans include the

administrative staff of the Instruction offices, divisional chairs and others who directly supervise faculty or

are associated with ECC’s instructional offerings. Administrative staff act in support of instructional goals

and objectives but do so in student services and other support services areas (Financial Aid, Registration,

Admissions, etc).

Trustees: The governing body of Erie Community College consists of 10 trustees. Board members are

appointed officials representing residents throughout various areas of our Western New York community.

The Board generally meets once a month. Board members are appointed for 7 year terms and are eligible

to serve multiple terms through appointment. Election of board officers are two year terms. The Board also

includes a student representative. This member is selected by the Student Government Association and is

responsible for ensuring that students are represented at the highest levels of college decision making.

Communications are managed directly through the Presidents’ Office with occasional messaging originating

from our Public Information Officer.

Students: Erie Community College provides educational services to more than 12,929 students from

diverse backgrounds and with diverse academic and sports-related interests. To appeal to the students’

diversity of interests, a variety of clubs and social organizations as well as an active student government are

available to serve as the central focus of student activities. Communication between students is informal

and social. Many students prefer to network socially via Internet sites such as Twitter and FaceBook.

Students use these sites to stay connected with friends and make new contacts. Students make use of

technology such as text messaging to communicate with their immediate friends. Communication between

our college’s administration and students is challenging. Opportunities to easily reach the entire student

population are extremely limited and most frequently associated with the Admissions and Financial Aid

functions of the college. The college now assigns all incoming students with an ECC email account and

communicates with students via this account on a regular basis. The student portal is an effective and

widely utilized operations and communication tool that we are continuously promoting.

Public Officials and Legislators: As a publicly funded institution, and one that is part of the SUNY system

family, ECC is subject to a host of county and state educational legislation, the college’s relationship with

local and state elected officials is important and should be managed proactively. ECC’s Legislative Advocacy

team has the primary responsibility for advocating for or against legislation that has the potential to affect

the college. The team includes representatives from the Board of Trustees, the President and Senior

Executive Staff. This committee tends to be more active during poor budget years when cuts to education

at the state level are proposed. In addition to the Legislative Advocacy team, various members of the


college staff maintain personal and professional relationships with elected officials. Currently, the college is

operating without a specific government relations position that would be responsible for communications

with government officials (stakeholders).

Parents and other family members: Parents and other family members are often the most influential

contributors to the decision by many to attend ECC. Also, family often offers the encouragement and

financial support many of our students need in order to remain successful in their academic pursuits.

Communication with parents and family members has the potential to be a useful tool in both recruitment

and retention efforts. These are critical student service areas at the college that require immediate

attention based on our current strategic plan. Currently, communications with these influencers are limited

primarily to college marketing and Admissions efforts during enrollment periods.

Business Community: The business community relies on Erie Community College to aid in the creation of a

qualified and well educated workforce. Members of our business community serve on a number of

advisory committees on campus in order to ensure that their needs are clearly communicated to our

community and our college curriculum adequately reflects those needs. Often agreements exist between

ECC and business entities for the purpose of aiding training efforts and improving student learning. These

business relations also foster career pathways leading to job placement for our students. This is a critical

piece to our continued marketing and communications efforts. Other contacts with the business

community are made through memberships in community groups such as clubs, organizations and/or

chambers of commerce.

General Public: While education is clearly the main function of any community college, the public looks to

ECC for other purposes including entertainment through our sporting events, student activities,

development through job training programs, community enrichment through noncredit community

education courses and through financial and in-kind participation in many community events and activities.

These types of activities provide a huge benefit to the community, and also pay dividends with regard to

improving ECC’s reputation as an active participant in creating and sustaining a better community.

Currently, the college has formed an events task force spearheaded by our Senior Vice President of

Operations to help address and move this critical need forward.

High School Students: As the primary target group for our recruitment efforts, high school students are an

important target audience. Special efforts are made to reach this group through the Student Services and

Public Relations offices using a variety of methods including career fairs, campus tours and other such

activities. Marketing efforts are primarily targeted at students and student influencers. Messages delivered

in marketing activities consistently include the following themes: access, quality education and

affordability. Diverse student testimonials and campus life images are used frequently to reinforce our

targeted messaging.

High School Counselors: It has been recently identified and solidified through the outcomes of STAMATS

market research that our biggest feeders and strongest partnerships with the College are area high school

counselors. This important group provides the education and guidance to our primary targeted market and

requires consistent foster of personal/professional relations and communications. As part of our strategic


plan it has been determined that our ECC counselors would manage relations and assist in determining

best practices for communications with our area high school counselors. This would be based on

geographic location or territories and would require planning and scheduling of visits and communication

messaging. The college also needs to invite our area high school counselors to participate in events and

activities at the college to help build and maintain relations (Open House, Foundation events, student

activities, sporting events).

Channels of Communication

ECC is a large multi-campus organization with dozens of routes or channels in use through which

communications occur. The following is a listing and explanation of many, but it is likely that others exist or

soon will be as the process for developing channels is informal and channels of communication tend to be

created and eliminated frequently as needs dictate.

Mass Media: The Public Information Officer maintains a comprehensive list of media outlets and

frequently provides story ideas to media representatives through the distribution of media advisories and

press releases and/or by personal contact. The PIO has responsibility for working with our Human

Resources Director responding to requests for information under both the Freedom of Information Law

and our legal department. These requests are increasing in frequency and complexity and are often

associated with aspect to the college’s current fiscal state. While the President and the PIO are expected to

represent ECC to the media and have clear authority to do so, other media contacts are often made by

specific interests within the college. While we have no interest in restricting or impeding constituent

groups such as the FFECC, CSEA, AAECC, AFSCME and others from contact with the media, a policy should

be developed to provide guidance for contacts specifically related to college business. Contacts such as

those promoting college events and activities or those highlighting programs and services should be

coordinated by the Public Information Officer.

Community Involvement: College personnel are frequently in attendance at benefit dinners, award

ceremonies, community service agency functions, fundraisers and other events throughout Western New

York. Participation in these events is usually coordinated by the staff of the President’s Office, Foundation,

and Student Services and reflects favorably on the college. Event participation coupled with additional

advertising sponsorships and support foster good relations within our community while providing various

means of communications to tell our story.

College Marketing: The Director of Public Relations and Marketing team are responsible for our college’s

marketing efforts. Advertising is coordinated in-house to assist with media placement and message

development. A new marketing plan is created each fall to run throughout the following year. Recent

campaigns featuring college alumni and current students as spokespersons have been successful and well

received. Media buys generally include but are not limited to television, radio, online, mobile, print, indoor

and outdoor that provides support to our college’s advertising efforts.


From the President’s Desk: This email directly from the President could go out to college staff on a

regularly-scheduled basis. Current messages are sent out sporadically and in generic formatting without

brand recognition (new initiative for future college consideration).

Campus Bulletin Boards: Bulletin boards are strategically placed throughout campuses. All postings must

be approved by the Student Activities Office or Deans of Students prior to posting. Posting on the boards is

available to all campus groups. The boards are frequently used to advertise on and off campus events. In

addition to those managed under the umbrella of Student Activities, many departments maintain bulletin

boards for the purpose of communicating with departmental staff, employees and students. Currently,

there is an overflow of postings randomly place throughout the college at locations other than designated

bulletin boards. This creates a sense of visual chaos that distracts from the visual appeal and effective

communications that we are trying to maintain at the college. These randomly placed posters and flyers

need to be avoided through college wide policy and enforcement.

Digital Displays: College wide television monitors (LED displays) are strategically placed in high traffic areas

throughout ECC. Messages are submitted, developed and scheduled by the Events Specialist through the

Public Relations and Marketing Department (IT/video support when required). Messages are updated daily

and are targeted to students, faculty and staff. There are only audio capabilities in specific requested

settings.

Marquees: The signs located on college property fronting at North, South Campuses and Vehicle

Technology Training Center add greatly to ECC’s ability to promote events on campus as well as programs

and services that benefit the college’s students and the community at large. The signs allow for multiple

messages to be displayed on a weekly basis. The marquees are updated by the Maintenance Department

while the Public Relations and Marketing Department generates content messaging. The Public Relations

Office has final approval for all content (quality control). Recent electronic signage installation at the North

Campus athletic fields allows for video application and is coordinated through the Assistant Athletic

Director with support from the Public Relations Office and the Santoro Sign Company.

ECC Today: ECC Today is an electronic internal communications (newsletter) that appears automatically

when logging into college computers. There is a print version also that is distributed biannually to our

college-wide community. The target audiences are ECC faculty, staff and students but others may find it

interesting as well. The newsletter is intended to communicate a wide variety of information to the

college’s internal audience. ECC Today is intended to be the primary general purpose news vehicle for the

college community and is updated daily by our Events Specialist. Information will vary, but standing items

and newly proposed initiatives will include:

Employee Profile: This profile will consist of a brief article focusing on the contribution of a particular

employee related to the college’s goal of educating students and creating a community of life-long

learners. All employees contribute in their own way and this should be explored. Other topics of

interest may be other jobs held, community involvement or historical perspectives offered by long time

staff members.


Student Profile: This profile will consist of a brief article focusing on a student’s educational and life

goals. The article may include information such as any teachers or staff members who have been

helpful in aiding the student in accomplishing his or her goals, but should highlight the student’s

challenges and accomplishments above all else.

Upcoming Events: Each issue should include a detailed description of an upcoming event such as an art

gallery show or a theater presentation. There are a variety of events occurring on campus and this

article is intended to provide publicity for the purpose of increasing attendance as well as to inform.

Listing of campus events for the month. This should be a comprehensive list of all events scheduled for

the following month including art shows, cultural awareness program events and other special events.

Actions taken by the Board of Trustees or BOT report

Current job openings as provided by the Human Resources office

New and retiring employees (awards and recognition)

Professional development opportunities and conferences

This listing is a general framework. From time to time, current issues will dictate content to be included

beyond what is listed. Primary responsibility for this publication resides with the Events Specialist, Public

Information Officer and the Director of Public Relations.

Student Email Accounts: All students are assigned email accounts by the college as part of the enrollment

process. These accounts were originally provided as a way to eliminate costly mailings related to

enrollment, financial aid, and other student services functions. Concerns about diluting the effectiveness of

the email accounts have played a significant role in limiting the distribution of emails primarily to student

services related communications.

College Website: The new college website currently consists of approximately 250 individual pages of

information. Ownership is distributed such that the main page is the responsibility of the Office of Public

Relations and Marketing while other pages are the responsibility of the college’s Webmaster and of

individuals and departments throughout campus. Recent improvements have included the usage of

student life and program images on the main page that support our marketing and branding efforts.

Various departments taking on website responsibilities have been responsible for a variety of concerns

including outdated information, redundant information, inappropriate variations in design and the lack of a

uniform website structure. It is clear that currently no single department has the resources to take

responsibility for all aspects of the website. Our full-time Webmaster and newly designed site is seen as a

positive step to addressing a number of continuing concerns. The college website is positioned as a primary

source of information and is listed on virtually all college marketing materials.

Social Media: Social media participation includes Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin and YouTube.

Currently, we have 4,356 likes on Facebook, 1,476 follows on Twitter, Flickr is utilized to catalog, post and

share college wide photography while YouTube primarily hosts our digital media. Currently, the college’s

social media responsibilities and efforts are shared between the Public Relations and IT departments.


Recruiter: The Office of Admissions will use Recruiter to mainly create personalized communications that

build relationships with your prospects and our applicants. Additionally, we will be able to track

performance, and through that increase our yields, and deliver better outcomes for the students within our

pipeline. Recruiter will be used to manage all of our print and electronic outreach to all of our prospective

students and applicants to ECC. Additionally the software will allow us to maximize prospect recruitment

efforts by generating automated outreach for every step they take. We will be able to schedule outgoing

communication to stay in consistent contact with our students. Finally, there are powerful analytics that

drive greater admissions yield by allowing us to track performance and deliver better outcomes based on

our marketing messages.

Shared Governance Process: Campus constituent groups including the CSEA, AFSCME, FFECC, AAECC and

SES are involved and have influence in a variety of activities that collectively are often referred to as the

shared governance process. The College Senate is subject to individual opinion, this transmittal of

information is accomplished with varying degrees of success. This communication process is often

facilitated through meetings, website and other online resources (live streaming) as well as printed

bulletins and notices.

Student Portal: MyECC was launched as a student portal and is intended as a primary tool for students

to conduct business with the college. Student specific information such as course schedules, grades,

assessment levels, previous class history, student email and other information is made available in a single

portal. Currently, the portal has more than 53,000 unique users on a monthly average. However, more

needs to be done to market the portal and to make improvements. All services that are available on the

portal are also available in various places throughout the college website. Other features of the portal such

as the news and alerts section make it a great communication tool for the delivery of student information.

The duplicate availability of services elsewhere on our college website has limited the portals traffic.

Publications: The college distributes a wide variety of publications to our external community. This

literature comes from many departments and includes promotional information from various programs

and services. We are currently developing graphic standards or style guides for the production of literature.

This will be posted at a later date on our website and accessed through our Marketing Toolbox. The Public

Relations Office has recently standardized ECC’s program based informational literature. Currently, there

are over 100 of these “program” brochures used to describe various courses of study, their prerequisites,

course sequence and other specific information that may be useful to those considering a featured course

of study. The brochures are color coded by division, attractive and should be used as models for future

informational brochures.

Class Schedules: Currently, on average there are approximately 23,000 class schedules printed 3 times per

year (spring, summer and fall) which is down dramatically from more than 39,000 per semester only a few

years ago. While this decrease was made possible by encouraged Internet access, it was also responsible

for the elimination of a primary marketing tool. Class schedules were once sent to every senior high school

student’s home in Erie County and made available at each campus. Distribution to individual homes now

occurs only by request. Primary responsibility for coordinating the production of class schedules currently

resides with the Registration Office and the Public Relations Department.


Catalogs: The electronic college catalog (Acalog) is updated biannually. The catalog is our main source or

foundation for information relative to drawing information from for other communications. Primary

responsibility for coordinating the production of catalogs resides with our faculty (self-content

management system) IT and Public Relations Departments (operations and quality control).

Welcome Center: During various times throughout the academic year, the volume of telephone calls

received by the college defies efforts to personally answer each call. For this reason, the college operates a

telephone “tree” to direct incoming calls to the proper departments. Efforts are made throughout the

process to answer questions such as registration dates, drop dates and other frequently asked questions.

The routing of calls during heavy usage times such as registration periods has become problematic and

efforts are underway to analyze the flow of calls and information that is automatically provided in order to

make improvements.

The Student Voice: The college newspaper was produced weekly through the spring and fall semesters.

The newspaper was entirely run by students but had a faculty advisor. The newspapers were distributed

primarily on campus with a distribution of approximately 2,000. Online access was also available with a link

posted on the college’s website. There is currently a survey out canvasing the college wide community with

the potential interest in bringing it back into the college through Student Publications.

Text Messaging: We currently only use text messaging for SUNY Alert and other ECC opt-in alerts (class

cancellation and CITS alerts currently). Students may opt-in at http://alerts.ecc.edu for these text

messages. The Ellucian Go Mobile recently released an updated, which allows you to send notifications to

the app. These are not text messages, but an app alert that shows up on the phone (if the student allows

the app to alert them). If the student does not allow the alert, then next time they open up the Ellucian Go

app, they will see the announcement. We have not upgraded to the latest version yet, as we are waiting

on a Colleague update.

Delivering text message notifications for a class cancellation versus having students come into school to

find a note on their classroom door can be a quick and vital fix to improving our customer services. We

have this capability now through our SUNT Alert system. The problem is that our faculty do not always use

the system to put in their class cancellations. There needs to be a push to get faculty to use the system.

Events Calendar: The college’s online event calendar is maintained through the combined effort of the

Events Specialist, Student Activities and Facility Coordinators. This calendar is located on the college’s

homepage and is accessible by anyone from the community with web access.


Challenges

The primary challenge that must be addressed is to more effectively use existing channels of

communication both internally and externally to distribute messages that articulate and support ECC’s

mission, vision, strategic goals and objectives. Also, while channels are in place to reach our many

groups (stakeholders), we need to consider other groups that have been often neglected altogether

(students). Future plans should include vehicles to reach all identifiable stakeholder groups.

No coordinating body exists to focus a comprehensive message(s) throughout all channels of our

communication. The Communications Committee would manage all existing and new channels of

communication.

While internal communications efforts may be improved with regard to message development and

channel coordination, communication with students is a more challenging issue. Efforts have been

made to address this issue, primarily by creating student email accounts and the student portal. Both

represent progress in this area but should be more fully developed. Our efforts need to explore the use

of communication tools students have already embraced such as social networking sites, mobile

communication technology and online deployed video.

Communications with former students is for all practical purposes non-existent. There is some

outreach through our Alumni Office but very limited in range and scope. While the benefits of

maintaining an engaged and informed alumni population are significant, ECC has not yet taken

effective steps to engage this stakeholder group.

The combination of active news organizations and increasing scrutiny on our college has created a

negative media environment for Erie Community College. Mitigation efforts must include a renewed

focus on the need for transparency in decision making and demonstrating the value the college brings

to the community it serves.

Specific Initiatives

Establish Communications Committee: The group is co-chaired by the Executive Vice President of Student

Affairs and the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management. The team will include those on

campus who have responsibility for different aspects of internal and external communications and

marketing efforts. This committee will be charged with acting as a coordinating body to ensure that college

wide communications activities support strategic goals and objectives. The group will also be tasked with

more specific activities such as advising on topics for Recruiter, ECC Today, Portal, Email, social media,

website, mobile applications and college publications (Acalog). Meetings will be open to all involved and

interested parties. The committee will also assist in the annual development and implementation of the

college’s communications plan. This committee consists of Student Service, IT and Marketing staff.


Key Elements and Timing 1. College Communication Plan (complete by June 30 of each year)

2. ECC Today Newsletter (print production and distribution in August and January of each year)

3. Spring Marketing (creative completed by December 1st , media buys before December 20th)

4. Summer/Fall Marketing (creative completed by April 5th , media buys before April 15th)

5. College Brand Management Campaign (timing contingent on budget)

6. Direct Mail Campaigns (ongoing as scheduled)

7. Recruiter Messaging (ongoing as scheduled)

Reevaluate the college website: Currently no matrix exists to indicate who is responsible for

continued updating of individual pages. Such a matrix will be created and maintained by the

Webmaster. The Public Information Officer is responsible for content on the home page. This is

presumably because the page is the most viewed page on the college website and as such has

tremendous value as a communication tool. At the heart of a successful web reorganization is the need

to recognize the distinction between marketing and services. Advancing the use of the new student

portal will help in this regard. The portal is currently used to deliver services specific to the student’s

relationship with the college. Efforts need to be made to ensure that the primary focus of the student

portal continues to be service based.

The home webpage should be used for navigation purposes and as a platform to highlight college

accomplishments and how the college benefits individuals and the community. Space on the home

page should be allocated to events with wide appeal such as the athletic, campus happenings.

The student portal should be advanced as the primary delivery method for online services. The focus of

the college website should be shifted to marketing and general information delivery. This distinction

will help to make both the website and the portal more effective and useful tools for our students and

potential customers.

Continue to research opportunities and grow mobile communication technology: The majority of our

students have mobile devices such as phones, iPads and other such devices. In addition to the use of

these devices for communicating with others, many now use them to retrieve information from various

electronic resources. Currently, a number of services will send weather, flight information, sports

scores and an almost unlimited variety of applications directly to phones and mobile devices. ECC

should research opportunities to use mobile technology to benefit students and staff. The first

opportunity for research could be associated with efforts to increase ridership by our students on our

NFTA mass transit with other opportunities to be explored.

Establish marketing priority for academic programs: Working in conjunction with the enrollment

management team, a priority list should be developed indicating which programs should be featured in

marketing efforts. This list would allow marketing to consistently drive program enrollment in

predetermined areas or within programs of special interest (new, in-demand or low enrolled). New

programs should have a process in place to measure their development and approval so marketing and

communications are prepared prior to program launch.


Initiate an identity and branding campaign: Current marketing efforts are considered effective for

recruitment purposes but media saturation is limited to periods just prior to and during registration

periods. New efforts must be made to fill voids in these time periods (direct mail, advertising, event

sponsorship and participation). These efforts will require funding or shift in existing funds based on

STAMATS market research on outcomes. An informational marketing campaign should be undertaken,

focused on maintaining and improving brand image in the community. Such campaigns undertaken by

other schools have demonstrated the benefit of using successful college alumni as spokespersons.

Messages focused on the broad range of benefits Erie Community College offers to our community are

expected to reinforce existing marketing efforts while simultaneously providing a strong year around

media presence. This initiative will be implemented in conjunction with the college’s yearly marketing

plan to ensure a coordinated effort between recruitment based marketing efforts and those that

enhance our brand image through delivery of specific messages. The objectives of such a campaign

should be to position ECC as a primary community resource and as an institution that offers value and

quality to the wide range of stakeholders it serves.

Develop a newsletter for the business community: This magazine or newsletter should be produced

and distributed quarterly to key members of ECC’s business community (Advisory Boards). Key

messages should focus on the college as a provider of qualified employees in a variety of fields, our

commitment to developing degree and certificate programs to address specific regional needs and our

continued commitment to supporting Western New York’s economic success.

Develop and implement Kats Athletic Marketing Plan: The combination of a quality downtown

athletic complex and successful sports teams provide an exciting opportunity to build awareness and

attendance at college sporting events. In order to capitalize on this opportunity, a Kats specific

marketing plan should be developed and implemented. A variety of opportunities including the first

football, basketball, and hockey (Harbor Center focus) games can be used to promote attendance and

awareness (ECC Opening Day rally or kick-off). ECC Kats marketing efforts should be coordinated with

other college wide marketing efforts to maximize outcomes.

Development and implementation of a marketing and communications online toolbox: Our college’s

website would host a site location within marketing and/or public relations. The toolbox would house

increase communications and provide universal access to college-related marketing materials.

Materials such as: graphic and editorial style guides, logos, marketing, communications and

recruitment plans, photographs, design templates, policies and procedures.

Develop and implement graphic standards: Currently, there are various logos and taglines in use by

different departments of the college. Over the years, divisions and departments have taken the

initiative to adapt the college logo for their particular purposes. ECC must consider the logo as a critical

component of its “brand” identity. Attempts at strengthening brand identity using college symbols such

as the logo will be ineffective unless a standard set of logos and images is established, announced and

enforced. Given the number of variations that currently exist, a phased approach at eliminating

unacceptable images and usage may be necessary such that:


1. No new publications or other usages may be initiated utilizing unapproved college symbols or images.

2. Existing unapproved logos may remain in use for the lifespan of the item they appear on. This approach

would eliminate the financial burden of immediately replacing a variety of signage, office

correspondence and print/electronic publications, but would have the immediate effect of reinforcing

the importance of brand identity to our internal and external audiences. This issue is important enough

to justify developing a board policy indicating approved usage for college logos and images.

As part of the policy, the PIO should be designated as the central clearing house for all publications to

ensure that ECC’s branding policies for publications leaving the college are enforced. These directions

must be communicated to our campus community and our North Duplicating Center. While a standard

set of images and logos is needed, so is a standardized set of templates for materials which represent

the college brand to the community. Letterhead, business cards, brochures and other frequently used

materials must be standardized in order to present a uniform, easily recognizable brand image to the

community. Responsibility for non-print items such as signage and clothing/uniforms (sports teams and

college book store) would reside with division and department leadership who would be responsible

for following established policies.

Increase communications with ECC alumni: Currently, there are minimal efforts to establish or

maintain communication with our college alumni. While traditional mailing lists are a useful tool,

attention should be given to establishing an electronic mailing list of alumni as well. The establishment

of scheduled communications is a necessary first step to creating a sense of engagement and belonging

among ECC alumni. While developing mailing lists is a costly job, there are many low or no cost ways to

proceed, including placing a link on ECC’s website that would allow alumni and the public to subscribe

to various electronic publications and event notifications produced by the Alumni and Public Relations

Offices. More effective but costly methods include mass mailings to help initiate an alumni contact list,

and contracting a service to develop and prequalify lists.

Reinforce and promote our shared governance website: While the effective dissemination of

information to our college wide community is critical to a successful and well-coordinated

communication effort, it is also important to receive communications. ECC’s shared governance

process (College Senate) is well developed and tends to facilitate communication on a variety of issues

related to the operations of our college. Various departments share information with varying degrees

of success. This effort could be aided by the creation of a central point of information for all shared

governance groups. A shared governance location has been created and is operational but limited in

information and accessibility. The website location will be most effective if it becomes widely known as

a central repository for agendas, minutes, and archived documents while providing universal access. A

master calendar for shared governance meetings will allow for quick reference and also aid in avoiding

scheduling conflicts.


Reintroduce a College Annual Report: A well written and produced annual report should be produced

yearly. Such a report would be a useful tool for both marketing ECC and informing those who support

our mission. The annual report should inform readers as to college strategic goals and what has been

done in the previous year to attain them. The report should also include a detailed financial statement

and indicate how financial decisions have supported strategic initiatives. Other useful information may

include demographics, enrollment data and trends, reports on college partnerships in the community

and acknowledgment of college supporters. Our annual report should be distributed electronically

and/or via mailings to a wide audience that should include staff, students, community service agencies,

libraries, political figures, local feeder schools (Counselors) and the media.

Legislative Advocacy: Erie Community College improves the lives of our students and our community.

It is important to ensure that legislators understand and support the college’s mission as well as that of

our community college system. While ECC does have an ad hoc legislative advocacy team, meetings are

infrequent and generally coincide with county and college budgeting cycles. Relationships with local

elected officials are beneficial and should be encouraged. A government relations plan should be

developed and implemented that has its primary goal to communicate ECC’s significant contributions

to the towns and counties served by our locally elected legislators as well as those who are influential

in budget and education committees. The plan should include a calendar of meeting dates.

Implement Web-based public relations management software: The Public Relations Office will initiate

the purchase of web based software intended to aid in public relations and media functions. The

software (Vocus on demand software for public relations management) will facilitate media list

development, track media contacts, receive and archive news stories, provide a central repository for

and aid with analyzing the results of the various activities of the PIO.

http://www.cision.com/us/about/news/2015-press-releases/cision-launches-new-flagship-products-

for-pr-social-and-content-marketing/?nav_location=hero_homepage

Maintain proactive media relations: Continue efforts to move away from reactive news releases to a

more structured and proactive approach focusing on proposing news stories based on college goals

and mission. Opportunities to coordinate news releases with current events, holidays and local

activities should be researched and identified. Examples may include a story featuring students who

volunteer in our community during the holidays or an employee who is recognized for contributing to

the success of local community service activities. ECC’s role in sponsoring and supporting community

events should also be highlighted whenever possible. While many activities and accomplishments are

recognized, others go unpublicized. Each of these that do not receive attention represents a missed

opportunity to highlight ECC and its contribution to education and the community. The Office of Public

Relations and Marketing will develop a process by which campus entities and individuals can provide

details of activities, events and accomplishments for distribution both internally and externally. This

will be promoted through the PR Departments toolbox and scheduled messages via our internal

communication outlets.

http://www.cision.com/us/about/news/2015-press-releases/cision-launches-new-flagship-products-for-pr-social-and-content-marketing/?nav_location=hero_homepage

http://www.cision.com/us/about/news/2015-press-releases/cision-launches-new-flagship-products-for-pr-social-and-content-marketing/?nav_location=hero_homepage


Catalog and manage involvement in community service organizations: ECC is an active participant

in bettering the community we serve. We are one of the region’s largest employers and serve a

variety of community needs that reach far beyond education. Students, faculty and staff are vital

parts of our community and are active in many community service agencies. This involvement should

not be taken for granted as it reinforces a positive link between ECC and the community it serves.

Through our recruitment efforts a listing of area community service organizations should be

developed and college membership should be cataloged in order to ensure that a college presence is

maintained.

Support materials should be made available to staff who represent the college in the community:

These materials should continue to include updated fact sheets highlighting the college’s contributions

to the region and other appropriate materials relevant to the particular focus of meetings attended.

These materials are currently available in North Duplicating and continuously updated online via the

Public Relations Sharepoint site.

Provide informative packages to community first contact groups: Realtors and other professionals are

often the first to meet people who move to the area. Coincidentally, they are often in a position to

discuss schools with prospective buyers. Providing realtors and other “first contact” organizations with

college information may be beneficial to both the college and the organizations. Efforts should be

made to recruit area realtors and other first contact groups as partners or feeders in college recruiting

and marketing efforts.

Install additional electronic display boards throughout campus: The existing campus display boards

are a useful tool to reach students and staff with a variety of useful information. More boards should

be purchased and installed throughout the campuses.

Promote the use of web-based events calendar: The calendar should be positioned and advertised to

all members of the campus community as the primary source for campus event information.

Continue to position ECC as “Green” Friendly: One opportunity is to promote the usage of mass

transit. The NFTA and ECC are interested in examining opportunities to increase ridership amongst our

students through our transportation program. This will involve developing and implementing a plan to

continue and/or increase ridership with our students while marketing mass transit as an alternative to

high fuel prices and parking concerns. Also, possibly implementing orientation sessions to help first

time riders understand how to read bus schedules and navigate the transit system. Efforts should be

discussed also to promote and increase other environmentally friendly initiatives such as online classes

and course offerings in areas associated with green building and other green friendly curricula – Green

Building Technology, Canalside Learning Garden and Earth Day (college wide community clean up).

Develop College Speakers Bureau: Recruit and maintain a list of ECC staff and faculty who are

prepared to speak on different topics of interest to the constituent communities. The list will be

distributed to the media and chambers of commerce for use as a resource.

ECC Communication Plan 2015

Documents