North Dakota State University Finds Truth in the Rubble

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is about the last time a university communicator would expect to have to engage in crisis communications. Minard Hall at North Dakota State University had other ideas. The northwest wall of the four-story academic building, which was being prepped for an addition, collapsed Sunday, “leaving offices exposed to the elements with a gaping hole and cracks in the brick façade,” according to the Fargo-Moorhead Forum. There were no injuries.

Filed under: Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Web communications , North Dakota State University

It’s a Slow News Week, But That Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Lay the Groundwork for Effective University Communications

If you’re working this week, then, first, my condolences. Second, though, my congratulations. No students are around, your faculty are long gone, and most of your administrators are busy scribbling lists of New Year’s resolutions. It’s the perfect time for communicators to get caught up. So here are some suggested ways to pass the time before cutting out early Thursday:

Filed under: Communications Counseling, Random Musings

New Jersey Takes Down Stevens Institute of Technology; the New York Times Takes Care of the Rest

Talk about a cheap shot. Here’s the lede to the New York Times’s story yesterday about a lawsuit filed by New Jersey’s attorney general against Stevens Institute of Technology and its president over alleged financial misconduct:

In the 1990s, the president of Adelphi University was accused of receiving excessive compensation and forced from office. Since then, the leaders of American, Towson, Texas Southern and other endowment-poor universities have also crashed to earth after plunging their institutions into turmoil for similar excesses.

Filed under: Crisis Communications, Media Relations , Adelphi University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Texas Southern University, Towson University

Media Coverage of Education Declining, Giving Communicators More Reason to Bypass the News and Go Straight to Stakeholders

There will be considerable hand-wringing over the recent Brookings Institution report about the decline in news coverage of education. (Executive summary here; full report here.) We want the word to get out, after all, and nothing provides prestige quite like the impartial imprimatur of the media. Yet this decline also represents a great opportunity.

Filed under: Communications Counseling, Media Relations, Publications, Social Media, Web communications , Brookings Institution

Ithaca College Does More With Less in Communicating a Campus Story

There’s been an interesting discussion on one of the higher ed communications listservs I subscribe to regarding how institutions should treat bad news. That discussion coincided with the University of California’s posting of a story describing an attack on its chancellor’s home. A different but equally effective means can be seen at Ithaca College, where dozens of pianos in its music school recently were vandalized.

Filed under: Crisis Communications, Social Media, Web communications , Ithaca College, Twitter

Wonder Whether Berkeley Administrators of the ’60s Issued News Releases on Campus Protests

There aren’t many schools that would post (and link to from its home page) a story about an attack by protestors on their chancellor’s home. Then again, most schools don’t have the protest-laden legacy of the University of California’s flagship Berkeley campus.

Filed under: Crisis Communications, Web communications , Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Birgeneau, University of California

Tulane University Treats a $50 Million Gift as It Does a Showing of ‘The Nutcracker’

There’s a fine line between gracefully recognizing the generosity of donors and going wildly overboard in an absurdly fawning attempt to solicit further gifts. Most institutions err on the overboard side. Tulane University, which Friday announced a $50 million gift pledge, made the rare mistake of not going far enough.

Filed under: Advancement Communications , Tulane University, Weatherhead Foundation