Running Head: TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 1

Team One Communication Plan for Marist College Strategic Goal I

Amanda Gaskins, Joseph Peh Akomeah, GraceMarie Varone, Nancy Vaughan
Marist College

















TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 2

Introduction

The members of Team One Marist are Amanda Gaskins, Father Joseph Peh Akomeah, GraceMarie
Varone and Nancy Vaughan. All are students in Media Relations COMG 503 and each is pursuing his or her
Masters in Communication degree:
Amanda Gaskins received her Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies from SUNY and has interned with
companies such as Viacom. She currently works at the Harlem YMCA as an afterschool counselor and
with underprivileged children at Cardinal McCloskey Community Services.
Father Joseph Peh Akomeah is a Catholic priest from Ghana with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology
and the Study of Religion. He is currently serving as an associate priest at Saint Augustine Catholic
Church in Highland, New York.
GraceMarie Varone obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from St.
Josephs College. She currently works in higher education, where she meets with prospective students
and plans events.
Nancy Vaughan received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Biological Sciences from Mt.
Holyoke College. She is currently the School/ Community Relations Coordinator for the Waterbury
(CT) Public Schools.


Situation Description
Marist College, founded in 1929 and located in Poughkeepsie, NY, is home to approximately 6,200
students and 30,000 alumni. The school offers over 70 academic programs of study (Bachelors, Masters and
Certificate programs), which are available in on-campus or online formats. With small class sizes, and a strong
feeling of community, students are known as individuals and not numbers. Today, Marist is considered a leader in
use of technology to enhance the educational experiences of their students. Students are presented with many
opportunities to heighten their academic experience, and many choose to do so. Marist College has been
recognized for its excellence by many organizations, including The Princeton Review, US News & World Report,
and Time.
The course COMG503 Media Relations is designed to give students an understanding of how media
relations is integrated within an organization's strategic communication plan. It provides students with a practical
application of media relations, including creation of digital newsrooms, use of traditional and social media news
releases, interview basics, and press conferences. In this assignment, four members of the class are working
together as Team One Marist to create a communication plan that would support one of Marist College's strategic
goals for 2011-2016, focusing on one initiative each. Team One Marist has selected Goal One, which is divided up
into four parts: general initiatives, initiatives for traditional students, initiatives for graduate students, and initiatives
for adult learners. Each member of Team One Marist selected an initiative that complemented the overall theme
of enhancing student learning and developed a comprehensive communication plan to support Goal One and
individual plans that support their chosen initiative.


TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 3

Strategic Program Description
Research
Prior to developing a communication plan, the members of Team One Marist accessed
several different pieces of information available on the Marist College website to serve as
background information. This information included general information about Marist College,
information on career and student services available, types of programs offered to traditional,
adult learner and graduate students, and information about the strategic planning process
employed by Marist. Each student did his or her own research for the initiative that he or she
chose to work on. In addition, team members considered the resources available to carry out their
plans, as suggested by Fitch and Holt (2012)
Team members were especially considerate of possible generational differences that may
occur, especially given the age difference between traditional students, adult learners, and
graduate students. A research study conducted by Biggs, Haapala and Lowenstein (2011) asked
if anyone can ever truly put themselves in the place of someone of a different generation, but
through research, team members were able to consider some possible generational differences in
developing tactics and strategies for different aspects of the plan. Knoblach (2014), for example,
reported that millennials trust peer reviews as much as they do professional reviews, and rely on
user generated content more than traditional media. This led team members to utilize blogs and
social media as a primary tactic to reach younger students.

Planning
Using Kelloggs Template for Strategic Communications Plan, Team One Marist
identified potential audiences and developed objectives for each initiative of Goal One they had
selected. The primary audience selected was students. Secondary audiences were identified as
faculty and employers of students, especially in the case of the initiative that was focused on
better integrating adult learner degree programs with graduate degree programs.
Objective #1- Increase student use of the career center by 10% within six months.
Objective #2 - Increase employment within six months of graduation by 10% for the
classes of 2014 and 2015.
Objective #3 - Increase the use of student services both on-campus and off-line by
graduate students by 10% within six months.
Objective#4 - Implement a pilot program that integrates learning between adult learners
and graduate students in one concentration area.
The messages that will target audiences will include Marists continued innovation and progress
in creating advanced tools for students such as their many online programs. The messages will
highlight how Marist continues to improve career and student services for both current students
and alumni. Team One Marist will also highlight the colleges study abroad programs and degree
completion programs. To get messages out to large audiences quickly, the team chose blogs and
social media releases for many of their messages, especially those that need to travel fast and
continuously so ongoing progress may be noted. In addition, the team hopes to increase the
support system for all students, improving student experience both in the classroom and out of
the classroom as well as after graduation. Students should always feel a part of the Marist
community whether they are currently enrolled or have already graduated.



TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 4

Communication
In an effort to promote Marist Colleges Strategic Goal I, Team One Marist decided to
use various print and digital tactics to foster a number of initiatives listed as part of this goal.
Fitch and Holt (2012) state that becoming skilled at using the tools of the craft makes you a
more valuable worker (p. 21). Team members will be utilizing multiple tools of the craft in
order to target different student populations. In the following sections, each tactic will be
detailed, along with the audience targeted.

Tactics to be Used
As previously stated, each team member will be taking responsibility for a specific
population and tactic(s) geared towards one of the initiatives mentioned in Goal I. Amanda
Gaskins has chosen to work with initiative 5: Strengthen career awareness, planning, and
placement services for all current students and alumni (Marist, 2011, p. 5), targeting the general
student audience. In order to target the entire population, Amanda has decided to produce a blog.
GraceMarie Varone will be targeting the traditional-age undergraduate students (aged 18-22) in
order to promote initiative 16: Encourage student experiences outside of the classroom,
including internships, civic engagement, study abroad, research, and service learning that build
pathways to careers or advanced study (Marist, 2011, p. 6). With considering the hours this
population spends daily on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, we felt it is most
beneficial to reach out to them through a social media news release. In an effort to drive students
to connect with Marist College on these sites, the SMNR also contains direct links to the
Colleges various social media pages. Fr. Joseph Peh Akomeah will be taking initiative 22:
Strengthen student support services for graduate students and make them more accessible,
including online and on-campus services (Marist, 2011, p. 6), which will target Graduate
students through a traditional press release. Lastly, Nancy Vaughan will be targeting Adult
students in an effort to promote initiative 31: Better integrate adult degree completion programs
with graduate education (Marist, 2011, p.6). Nancy will be implementing the use of a traditional
press release.

Timeline
Implementation of this communication plan will begin July 2014 and run through
December 2015. The ultimate goal is to increase the amount of students who are actively
engaged in their education and who take advantage of all of the opportunities that are available to
them.

Evaluation
The following evaluations will be utilized to determine effectiveness:
1. Traditional-age students: Internships and study-abroad programs provide students with
skills and experiences that enhance their resumes. By increasing the number of students
who participate in these programs, we also expect to see a rise in post-graduation
employment. Data gathered from the Marist College Fact Book (2013-2014) shows the
average rate of full-time employment among graduates between the years of 2008-2013
was 64.7%. Prior to the recession in 2008, the average rate of full-time employment
between the years of 2004-2007 was 74.3%. It is the goal that by the end of our plans
timeframe, there will be an increase of at least 10% in student participation in out-of-
classroom experiences. It is our expectation that this will lead to better networking in
TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 5

their fields, and improved resumes. In turn, we also expect to see a 10% rise in
employment for the classes of 2014 and 2015 within 6 months of graduation.
2. Adult students: To enhance learning of both adult learners and graduate students, this
program will develop a pilot project in which representatives from both of these groups
will meet with a lead professor on one concentration area that has both and adult learner
degree completion program and a graduate degree program, such as communications.
Students will be asked to help develop an integration model whereby two classes, one
adult learner and one graduate degree, will collaborate on a single project. The first
evaluation should take place following administrative meeting to assess faculty interest.
The second evaluation should take place after the first committee meeting to determine
student interest. The final evaluation will be whether or not a viable integration program
can be developed.
3. Graduate students: To enhance the learning experience of graduate students, this plan
will focus on increasing the student experience of the Marist College graduate student
community. The blog and social media release techniques will target the graduate
community and create awareness of student support services that the college offers. This
will help to increase the popularity of these services. To measure the objective of
increasing the use of student services both on-campus and off- line graduate students by
10% within six months, after each semester surveys will be able to judge if the use of
student services has increased. Marist College has a multitude of services available to its
graduate students and many more graduate students will be able to succeed and feel more
a part of the college community.
If these objectives are met, students at Marist College will begin to reap the benefits of an
enhanced student experience.






















TEAM ONE COMMUNICATION PLAN 6

References

Biggs, S., Haapala, I., & Lowenstein, A. (2011). Exploring generational intelligence as a model
for examining the process of intergenerational relationships. Aging and Society, 31,
1107-1124.

Fitch, B., & Holt, J. (2012). Media relations handbook: For government, associations,
nonprofits, and elected officials (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: TheCapitolNet.

Kellogg Foundation, W. K. (n.d.) Knowledge Center. Template for strategic communications
plan. Retrieved September 13, 2013 from http://wkkf.org/knowledge-
center/resources/2006/01template-for-strategic-communications-pla.aspx.

Knoblauch, M. (2014). Millennials trust user-generated content 50% more than other media.
Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/millennials-user-generated-media/

Marist College Information, Retrieved May 2014 from the following:
http://www.marist.edu/academics/programs/index.html
http://www.marist.edu/about/glance.html
http://www.marist.edu/careerservices/courses.html
http://www.marist.edu/ir/factbook/index.html
https://www.marist.edu/strategicplanning/pdfs/paci.pdf?v=4
https://www.marist.edu/strategicplanning/
http://www.marist.edu/studentlife/activities.html
http://italy.marist.edu/
http://italy.marist.edu/studyabroad.html