MWU Staff Hold Marketing Summit and Climb a Rock Wall

A few weeks ago, my staff in the Offices of Admissions, Development & Alumni Relations, and Communications & Marketing from both campuses met at our Glendale Campus to discuss our future strategies. We heard presentations from experts in the realms of public relations, campus tours, and alumni relations. We also discussed how we can best update our web site.

One of the most interesting discussions was about ways we can enhance our campus tour experiences. We think both of our campuses are beautiful and one of the best "selling points" of our University. Our Glendale Campus is basically brand new, so the buildings have been designed with the needs of our current students. While our Downers Grove Campus is somewhat older, many of the major academic buildings have been built in the past 6 years and all have been rehabbed in the past decade. Beyond the physical facilities, we also want students to get a glimpse of "the MWU experience." We want to make sure they hear good stories from our student tour guides, and they have the opportunity to sit in our classrooms and labs and get a sense for our campus culture.

As a team building exercise, we also had the opportunity to climb the rock wall at the new Glendale Fitness Center, where we held the meeting. I was impressed that several staff members were able to make it to the top. Admissions Director Jim Walter, University Relations Director Christine Clouse, Writer Marcia Faye, Development Manager Lois Fehse, Sr. Development Officer Barb Wysocki, Graphic Designer Carolyn Henry, and Web/Events Manager Abena Patton all made it to the top (forgive me if I have forgotten someone). Myself and Associate Directors of Admissions Wendy Kulpinski and Heather Kim made it almost to the top. Everyone had a good time cheering their colleagues on.

After the challenge of the rock wall, we also tackled the issue of our web site. As the web is moving to Web 2.0, we know we need to add video, podcasts, more blogs, and generally more interactive features. We think our Interact Now system is fairly ahead of the times, we also know it would work better if it ran "real time" for our University administrative database and that we can add some more on-line features for prospective and accepted students. We know much of the writing on our site is too long and dense, we also know that there is more content we need to add. The basic graphic design and navigational logic could also be enhanced.

So, the Summit served to spark some new ideas and helped to focus our marketing efforts for the future. We are always looking for ways to better meet the needs of our applicants, students, and alumni, and this year's retreat was critical to future planning.