Individual Public Relations and Community Relations Projects

General Observations

This category is for outstanding public relations and community relations projects created to reach and motivate a variety of constituents, from prospective students, parents and grandparents to government officials to newly arrived immigrants and many others.

The 35 projects submitted this year were a delight to read. Our colleagues in public relations and marketing are doing very creative work that is disciplined in its approach in order to achieve stated objectives. And most of the projects are done on small or medium size budgets.

Our panel of judges was truly amazed at the high quality of work represented in almost every entry. We were pleased that both large and small institutions decided to enter this year’s competition. All of us admired the hard work that many institutions are doing in order to improve their relationships with the communities in which they reside. Finally, the public service initiatives that many schools are undertaking are yet another tribute to our profession.

We were gratified that most of the entrants made our jobs quite easy because they followed instructions so well, though there were a couple of notable exceptions. One institution had a magnificent entry, one that could have garnered a grand gold, yet no budget information was included. After much conversation and in fairness to all of the competitors we decided that we could not award this institution any prize, though it saddened us to make this decision.

Comments on Winning Entries

Gold Medal

University of Washington Tacoma, “First Freshmen”

• The university had 15 months to prepare a marketing and public relations plan to recruit its first freshman class. Their team’s efforts exceeded expectations when about 180 students enrolled when the target was 150. Nothing seemed to daunt the group as they moved relentlessly forward to try and reach their goal. Their work was exceptional, particularly with the short timeframe, relatively low budget and no previous experience in recruiting a freshman class. An excellent project.

Silver Medals

University of Maryland, College Park, “Fear the Turtle Sculpture Project”

• As part of its year-long 150th anniversary, the university initiated the sculpture project to extend the anniversary celebration into the community with art that was accessible to everyone. This project was executed in a clever and fresh manner. Their collateral materials were outstanding. The judges were very impressed how the project brought the community and campus closer together. The project also got great media coverage.

California State University Chancellor’s Office, “How to Get to College”

• This program is designed to let middle school and high school students know important things about going to college, such as the classes they need to take, the importance of grades and options for paying for college. The results from this program were great. The university mailed out close to a million posters but then 300,000 more were requested—a great example of a push-pull situation that works. The judges really liked how the university provides posters in so many different languages—English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Korean—as an acknowledgement of the needs of the community.

Bronze Medal

University of Pittsburgh, “From Colored Orphans to Youth Development, The History of Three Rivers Youth (TRY)”

• Mounted in observance of Black History Month, the exhibition and its accompanying publication of a social service organization of great historic and current import to the city of Pittsburgh tell a compelling story. The partnership between the university and TRY is a valuable resource to the community, one that will have a long-term impact. The team that produced this entry did outstanding research and produced exquisite materials.