September 1, 2000

Campus-wide plan focuses on image and perception

A university-wide initiative to develop an integrated marketing communications plan will officially be underway this month with a series of focus groups to be held on campus September 19, 20, and 21. There will be four faculty groups, two staff groups, two administrator groups, four student groups, and one prospective student group. Discussion will be facilitated by Stamats Communications, Inc., a national firm with over 75 years experience in higher education strategic marketing research, planning, and communications.

The idea to develop this comprehensive plan emanated from the May 1999 Report of the University Task Force on Student Success and Retention where it emerged as one of the top 10 recommendations. In January 2000, University President Bernard P. Knoth, S.J., appointed a 70-plus member Integrated Marketing Advisory Committee and a smaller core team representing all departments and colleges across campus and also representing the various constituents of the university from faculty/staff to students to alumni, to Board of Trustees. The larger committee met in April and the smaller core team met many times over the summer.

The research phase of the process to develop a plan will occur throughout the fall semester. Following the focus groups, there will be other web-based surveys, telephone surveys, and written surveys of our various audiences. There also will be at least one planning workshop for the marketing advisory committee with the Stamats consultants, set for October 4.

Over the summer, the core marketing team worked to review proposals solicited through an RFP and selected Stamats to assist the team in the development of an integrated marketing communications plan. The core team consists of Julia McSherry, director of publications and marketing communication; Charlie DiGange, interim vice president for institutional advancement; Anne Baños, assistant vice president for institutional advancement; Lydia Voigt, associate provost; Debbie Stieffel, dean of admissions and enrollment management; and Jim Eiseman, vice president for student affairs.

"It is important to the success of this initiative that the marketing communications effort be a participatory process," according to McSherry. "We encourage faculty and staff to participate in focus groups, surveys, and workshops. We also encourage everyone to assist in the identification of issues and concerns that should be addressed."

According to the timeline established by the team, the research phase will be completed by the end of the fall semester, the plan will be developed in the spring, and a report will be presented to the University Planning Team (UPT) in April.

The goals of this effort include:

• determining how Loyola University New Orleans is perceived by key internal and external audiences through the gathering of important baseline data;
• developing a communications plan to bridge any gaps between how we want the university to be perceived and how it actually is perceived;
• developing communications and image goals; and
• enhancing Loyola's image nationally to achieve our institutional strategic goals as set by the UPT.