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Empowering students to create and share campus stories
Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing,
1
(4),
347-357
(2017)
Abstract
Juniata College employs students in its marketing office; however, unlike other colleges, it lets students drive its digital marketing efforts by granting them control over social networks and handing them cameras, booms and editing software — the very same tools the college uses when informing prospective students and donors about the institution. The college approach to hiring, training and retaining students creates distinct advantages compared to operations that choose not to empower students in a similar fashion. This paper shares the college leadership philosophies about how to empower students not only to click ‘share’ on a social media post containing marketing content, but to create content about Juniata College. Starting with a distinctive student employment mechanism, the paper details how the institution hires, trains and retains students, preparing them for future career success and, all the while, ensuring they gain valuable insight on content and content strategy for the college and its marketing efforts.
Keywords: social media, marketing, digital media, video, communications, management, leadership, controversy communications, content strategy
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Luke Fragello has led the Digital Media Studio at Juniata College since June 2014. He guides a team of 10–12 student workers to produce various visual storytelling pieces that enhance the College brand from a marketing perspective. He hires and trains students to be competent in all aspects of video production with an underlying emphasis on marketing. His team produces approximately 60 videos per semester, which include a weekly video series, academic department videos, event highlights and live streaming, fundraising videos, and other general branding videos. His recent projects include the live streaming of Juniata’s 106th annual oratorical competition, which featured a four-camera live stream with a multitude of graphical elements, and leading the overhaul of a campus virtual tour, including a walk-through of campus, virtual reality and supplemental videos and photography.
Genna Welsh Kasun has been creating advancement communications content for Juniata College since October 2009. She has held the positions of marketing and advancement writer, assistant director of advancement communication and now, director of social media and content coordination. She leads a team of five students, who strategise about, set goals for, and post to the College’s presences on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. She also creates and manages digital marketing plans, drafts and edits web content and writes and edits enrollment and development print publications. Her recent projects include working across the College to bring together a team of students, faculty, alumni and staff in posting to social media about Juniata’s 11th annual campus-wide research symposium as well as leading a social media campaign for a US$140,000 giving day campaign (#140kinaday) which raised more than US$204,000.
