University Marketing and Communications at UMSL received 10 regional CASE Awards, mostly for productions seen in this photo. (Click image to enlarge.) (Photo by August Jennewein)
For higher ed marketers and communicators, validation comes in many forms: higher click-through rates, more likes and shares, media placements, audience or applications growth, and on and on. But it’s also personally meaningful when their creative output is objectively judged superior to their peers – even more so when the comparison group isn’t really composed of peers, but institutions with two, three or four times (or more) the staffing and resources.
Call it “bragging rights,” but when compared against our geographic peers, few do it better than the University of Missouri–St. Louis, according to the recently announced results for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VI Annual Awards competition.
UMSL earned four golds, five silvers and a bronze award for creating the top Midwest region marketing and communications programs and pieces. The haul of four gold awards was a new record for UMSL.
“Our marketing and communications staff does an amazing job, particularly when compared against the many universities in the Midwest,” Chancellor Thomas George said. “Across myriad platforms and media, they illustrate how UMSL maximizes its resources to the benefit of our campus’ broad constituencies.”
The awards and descriptive categories are:
- Gold, Internal Audience Publications – Digital: UMSL Daily
- Gold, Design – Covers: University of Missouri–St. Louis Faculty/Staff Directory
- Gold, External Audience Newsletters – Print: University of Missouri–St. Louis IBI Newsletter
- Gold, Strategic Communications – Issues and Crisis Management: “A thousand yards from Ferguson, a town consumed by tragedy – A case study in proactive issues management”
- Silver, Editorial Design: “Students conduct malaria research in the Galapagos Islands”
- Silver, External Audience Newsletters – Digital: UMSL Monthly
- Silver, Marketing – Visual Identity Systems: University of Missouri–St. Louis Visual Identity System
- Silver, Websites – Individual Sub-Websites: UMSL Campus Tour Website
- Silver, Best Articles of the Year – Districts VI-VIII, International: “Bosnian Awakening: Giving back and moving forward”
- Bronze, Strategic Communications – Public Relations and Community Relations Projects: Serious Change. For Good.
The CASE District VI competition featured nearly 500 entries from colleges and universities in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. CASE is an international association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and related areas. The awards were officially presented Jan. 12 at the district’s annual conference in Denver.
