April 5, 2002

Communications professor brings opportunity and honor to students

by Caitlin Rull, A'03, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications

An undergraduate degree in communications from Loyola gives students a marked advantage. There are multiple elements that contribute to this fact. At the center is the outstanding Loyola faculty and Teri Henley is among the best. She has undertaken numerous responsibilities in her time at Loyola and has been the recipient of many honors.

Aside from teaching advertising classes, Henley has found many ways to enrich the academic lives of all communications students. As advisor of the Loyola Ad Club, she offers professional networking opportunities and hands-on experience in advertising campaigns to students. She has led Loyola's advertising students to national prominence in the National Student Advertising Campaign eight times since 1992. She is the faculty advisor to the Proud to be Part of the Pack Committee, an initiative of the Integrated Marketing Communications Program. The 2001-2002 Pack Pride campaign won two ADDY Awards from the New Orleans Ad Club. And under her leadership the club placed third in the American Advertising Seventh District Student Competition.

Henley's advertising brilliance is evident in more than her students' successes. As past president of the New Orleans Ad Club and board member for eight years, she was recently given the club's President Award in recognition of her continued dedication and service. She also received a citation of excellence award for a campaign she designed in the local category for Single Promotion of the Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church at the 2001 ADDY Awards.

On March 26, Henley, in cooperation with the Shawn M. Donnelly Center for Non-Profit Communications and the Advertising Club of New Orleans, brought many acclaimed marketing, advertising, and public relations professionals and non-profit marketers to campus for the second annual Marketing Communications Seminar for Nonprofits. The seminar provided nonprofit employees with the opportunity to learn practical ways to get the most out of marketing, print media, databases, the Internet, and more. The day featured topics chosen by last year's participants in follow-up evaluations. Many esteemed speakers preceded the keynote address by WWL Radio Host, Andre Trevigne, and valuable workshops and strategy sessions occupied the afternoon.

The Ad Club of New Orleans created this seminar in order to help non-profit agencies in the New Orleans community. According to Henley, who came to Loyola after previous work in non-profit public sector marketing, "Non-profit employees have to work in so many directions. They are often not communications professionals so they seek pro-bono help in this area all the time. This is a great way for us to support them. This conference differs from the role of the Donnelley Center. With the center, we give our clients what they need, but with the seminar, we show them how to do it on their own."

The Shawn M. Donnelley Center was established in 1997 through gifts from Board of Trustee Shawn Donnelley, A'91, with its primary focus on helping non-profit agencies. Under the direction of Henley, it has developed over the years into a fully operational center where more than 175 projects for over 140 clients have been completed. "It is great for students to see their work and designs actually implemented," Henley says of those who use the center. The facility provides students the necessary experience to succeed in the competitive job market. "And also," Henley adds, "it provides students with a wonderful set of knowledge accompanied by Jesuit values. The center's non-profit work encourages students to be persons for others and to go out there and do something."

Loyola's Donnelley Center is a "win-win-win situation" according to Henley. It benefits the students, the clients, and the university. "It has garnered positive awareness for what we do and has brought many accolades from the community."

Henley's initiative in the Donnelley Center and in the New Orleans Ad Club helped bring the Marketing Communications Seminar to campus. And the seminar brings along a lot of opportunity. After last year's events, more than 20 participants contacted the center looking for help. "It is a blessing and a curse," says Henley, "we have more projects than we know what to do with." The projects that are best suited for students are given priority. Funding is also taken into consideration as the center relies primarily on external sources. But Henley finds that "when you're doing the right thing, the resources come."

Henley's dedication and success as a professor and in the field of advertising have provided Loyola students with wonderful opportunity and inspiration.