F-2. Public Relations and Marketing
Media and Public Relations
One of the prime functions of the Office of Marketing & Communications is to keep the public informed about the mission, programs, and activities of Indiana University Southeast. It is important that the general public have an accurate perception of the nature of this campus. To accomplish this, the Office of Marketing & Communications produces and distributes many news releases pertaining to individuals, programs, and activities at IU Southeast. The office also coordinates contacts with the electronic, television, and print media. Opportunities for feature stories are suggested to media reporters and referrals are made to campus personnel who are able to provide in-depth information needed by reporters to develop these stories.
While any member of the campus community has a right to express an opinion in public, it is important to realize that only the Chancellor has the authority to speak for the campus. The Chancellor delegates some authority to the Office of Marketing & Communications, which serves as the source of official information concerning the campus. When other campus offices or departments deal with the media it is important that they check first with the Office of Marketing & Communications to be certain that facts provided to reporters are accurate, e.g., enrollment figures, alumni data, state appropriations, etc. The central voice for the campus in matters of public interest is the Office of Marketing & Communications.
From time to time, schools, divisions, and departments may sponsor programs or hold special events that might warrant coverage by the news media. When this occurs, they are asked to provide University Communications staff with detailed information about the program or event well in advance. This information is most welcome and may be distributed to the media. It should be remembered, however, that final decisions regarding the use of information are decided by media editors and news directors, not campus personnel.
In addition to the above, the Office of Marketing & Communications strives to acquaint the public as well as the campus community with opportunities and activities at IU Southeast. For the faculty, staff, and the campus community, a magazine titled IU Southeast is distributed quarterly. It contains feature stories and campus news, including faculty research and outstanding student stories.
Marketing
The marketing function in the Office of Marketing & Communications is vital to student recruitment and image building. Marketing is vital to a number of departments on campus. The responsibility and authority to purchase advertising, develop print pieces, and coordinate marketing activity resides solely in the Office of Marketing & Communications. All major marketing initiatives including digital and traditional strategies will be presented for approval to the campus Cabinet.
Advertising
Planning, development, and placement of University advertising is the responsibility of the Office of Marketing & Communications. Schools, divisions, and departments may pay for ads from their own budgets, but the design, copy, and placement (media where the ad is placed) of these advertisements must approved in advance by the Office of Marketing & Communications. Use of the IU Southeast logo or wordmark on advertisement or print piece, in any form, must be approved by the Office of Marketing & Communications. The campus seeks to maintain a unified, coordinated, and consistent image in style and content that speaks to the high quality and mission of the institution. On-campus advertisement of alcohol and tobacco products is not permitted.
IU Graphic Standards Guide and Style Guide
Indiana University adopted the Visual Identity Guidelines in 2008 to strengthen the IU brand through consistent use of images, messages, and trademarks. This guide is periodically updated therefore materials for dissemination to external audiences, especially those used for recruitment, must be reviewed by the Office of Marketing & Communications. The guidelines create a Signature System designed to facilitate consistent design and application of official identification. No logos other than approved signatures can be used to represent the university, a school, department or unit of the school without prior approval.
Copies are available in the IU Southeast Office of Marketing & Communications. For additional assistance or information on IU and IU Southeast graphics and style, contact the Office of Marketing & Communications.
The Office of Marketing & Communications is located in University Center South, room 240, and can be reached at (812) 941-2630.
IU Southeast Mass Email Procedures
Regardless of the purpose, if you are considering mass mailing, be sensitive to the fact that IU community members may not wish to receive unsolicited email that has nothing to do with their duties or mission at IU. The volume of spam is such that there simply is not time to deal with unnecessary email from IU senders as well.
You should use targeted methods to reach those who have a particular need to receive your communications (for example, targeted mailing lists, Salesforce, requests for information from your website), rather than using mass methods that may reach people who have nothing to do with your office or have no interest in your service.
At IU Southeast, mass email questions should be sent to the Director of Marketing & Communications or the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.
Definitions
Mass Email: Any unsolicited email, or group of emails, sent to a significant fraction of any of the communities – faculty, students, or staff – of the IU Southeast campus.
Mass emails sent to the officially administered mass email lists must directly relate to and facilitate the teaching and learning, research, or service missions of the University and must be relevant to the mailing list members. All mass emails that are sent to officially administered mass email lists must be approved by the appropriate University officers, as described below.
Outlook Email: Email composed and sent from the Microsoft Outlook client. Can be plain text or HTML. Anyone can create this and send if they have access to the “all” list or a targeted list of names.
Exact Target Email: Sent from the Salesforce CRM, email can be HTML text or formatted with graphics. Requires more lead time and only designated and trained individuals have access.
Officially Administered Mass Email Lists: Email distribution lists derived from the official IU database of faculty, students, and staff, often referred to as “all” lists, which are made available to the offices of the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellors, and selected departments such as Facility Operations and Human Resources.
Personal and Commercial Emails: Mass emails that are personal, political, or commercial in nature will not be distributed to the lists mentioned above unless they are in support of University business and have been approved following the procedures outline below.
Content and Format of Mass Emails
Mass emails sent to the lists described above should be concise and to the point and should make minimal use of embedded graphics and attachments. These emails must:
- Clearly identify the sending entity of the email (e.g., in the From: field)
- Clearly specify an email address to which replies can be sent (e.g., in the Reply To: field)—preferably an organizational, rather than a personal, email address
- Contain a meaningful description of the email (e.g., in the Subject: field)
- Mask the email addresses of the individual recipients of the mailing.
Outlook or Exact Target?
Reasons to use Outlook:
- On-campus recipients only
- Time-sensitive (Outlook is faster)
- Minimal images (but not just an image without verbiage)
Reasons to use Exact Target:
- Unsolicited, external emails or approved combinations of internal and external recipients
- Message tracking analytics
- No attachments
- Newsletters and graphical content
Approvals Based On Audience
Requests for distribution of mass emails must be directed to the following officers, or their designees, depending on the largest intended audience of the electronic communication.
- Students—the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
- Faculty—the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Staff—the Vice Chancellor of Administrative Affairs
- All Campus (Faculty & Staff)—any of the Vice Chancellors
- Alumni—the Vicen Chancellor for Advancement
- Donors—the Vice Chancellor of Advancement
These approvers must be contacted for both Outlook and Exact Target mass emails.
In addition, Human Resources, Facility Operations, University Police, and UITS all have access to “all” lists of faculty and staff for certain types of notifications.
E-mailing lists
Those individuals or groups desiring access to these lists must receive approval from the appropriate office.
- Lists provided through other sources cannot be used.
- Lists for faculty, staff and students are automatically kept up-to-date within IU systems.
- Current alumni lists must be requested from the Alumni Director. Allow up to ten business days for such lists to be compiled.
Contacts for Exact Target Emails
Requests for Exact Target emails should be submitted via web form.
Other IU Policies Pertaining to Email