University's Unified Messaging Effort on Track for Summer Launch

University Relations

University communicators work on developing unifying messaging themes.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The campuswide process to develop unifying themes for communicating about the University of Arkansas is scheduled to be completed this summer. The mostly behind-the-scenes effort is designed to provide communications guidance to help reinforce the university's mission and impact while advancing its academic strategic priorities.

"The goal of this process is to develop ways to convey who we are, what we do and why it matters in a unified way that all colleges, schools, departments and units across campus can expand on and adapt to fit their needs," said Mark Rushing, assistant vice chancellor for university relations. "The end result will not be a new logo or tagline, but instead a subtle tool to help us tell our unified story to the state and nation. Taglines tend to come and go every few years, connected to specific communication plans, and when one campaign outlives its usefulness, the tagline is scrapped and the whole process starts over again. We wanted to create something that will last much longer, serving as a guide for communications more closely connected to the university's true identity."

The development process has included extensive involvement from the U of A community, Arkansans and national peers, resulting in more than 7,000 survey responses, a series of 87 in-depth interviews representing 16 different state and national stakeholder groups and feedback from four working groups representing faculty, staff and students.

"We wanted to make sure we fully understood not just how our U of A community sees itself, but also how the university is perceived by others, so we put a lot of time and effort into making sure we got a good feel for what people know and think about the university," Rushing said. "We needed that feedback to pinpoint the areas where we can help the most in terms of creating better understanding for what the university does and why it matters."

“When the responses to surveys and interviews came in, several themes emerged,” said Amy Schlesing, director of strategic communications. “The U of A is a place where people can transform lives, both their own and those of others. This is a place where students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to build a better world and improve our state through teaching, service and research. This has been our core mission since 1871, so our communication about the university should fluidly tie into those efforts both to reinforce our strengths and help the university advance its goals.”

In addition to small-group presentations this summer, a campus event is being planned for the fall semester to provide an overview of the unifying themes and how they can be used when communicating about the university.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.