Case Study

• Annual or periodic reports on the department and/or organization. ​

  • IUP Division of Student Affairs MarCom Annual Report ​

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• A list of those services your site offers to their clients. -Does not apply.

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• Brochures and other printed materials that present the corporate image of your site. ·

  • Cost Snapshot

  • Junior Piece

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• Price lists of fees for services. – Does not apply.

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•  Examples of the advertisements of your site.

  • IUP Screenshots

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• The Office of Marketing and Communication’s overall marketing strategy includes:

  • Paid Media Campaign

    • Paid Search (Google), Display, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, DOOH, CTV and OTT, Reddit, Awareness Branding (OOH), Podcast, YouTube.

  • Partner with Admissions and Advancement

    • Print Publications

    • Videos and stories

    • Digital assets

  • Website (top-level pages and program pages)

  • Student Success and Brand Stories

  • Earned Media

  • Organic Social

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• Job descriptions of the people that I worked with.

  • Nikki Knox: Director of University Branding

    • The Director of University Branding is responsible for developing strategies and tactics for hundreds of marketing projects across the university. Works closely with the Executive Director of Marketing on strategic goals in alignment with the university’s mission and strategic plan. Guides strategic marketing and planning with core university constituencies, such as Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions, University Advancement, Student Affairs, and Academic Affairs. Maintains project oversight to ensure that all projects deliver on key university goals and priorities and are completed on time. Collaborates with Executive Director of Marketing on organic social media and comprehensive paid media recruitment campaigns in alignment with Admissions efforts.

  • ​Molly Russel: Executive Director of Marketing

    • The Executive Director of Marketing will lead the strategic planning, market research, creative development and implementation of work carried out by the marketing staff to advance the strategic goals, mission, and vision of the university. They will maintain project oversight to ensure the successful implementation of comprehensive marketing and communications strategies. Manages creative and digital teams to create effective campaigns that resonate with their target audiences while maintaining alignment with IUP brand and messaging priorities. Collaborates with the Director of University Branding on overall project management, comprehensive paid media recruitment campaigns, and organic and social media campaigns.

  • Kira Wertz: Assistant Director of University Branding

    • The assistant director of university branding collaborates with constituents within the university to coordinate and provide strategic advice on unit-specific marketing efforts. They will be responsible for overseeing projects that support those marketing efforts, working with the MarCom team to strategize messaging and content and coordinate completion of the project by the specified deadline. The assistant director will also be responsible for maintaining and enhancing the overall IUP brand throughout their work with clients and on IUP’s digital channels.

  • Jocelyn Randolph: Artist Illustrator 2

    • An employee in this class uses many different art media to prepare a wide variety of artwork to promote such agency programs as training, education, recruitment, or publicity.  Work involves rendering complex illustrations, mechanical or freehand lettering, layout, design, and format for publications, posters, flyers, charts and graphs, and other visual aid materials, preparing floor plans for state office buildings, planning and designing displays for seminars, conferences, or conventions, retouching photographs, and laying out forms.  Work includes meeting with program personnel to discuss and determine project objectives, designated project methods, and assure desired results.

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• Biographical Histories and Resumes

  • Nikki Knox: Supervisor

    • Resume​

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• Professional development

  • Nikki is a member of AMA, went to Carnegie Conference (https://www.carnegiehighered.com/events/carnegie-conference-2026/), regularly attends webinars about the state of student recruitment in higher education, reads white papers on student habits and digital engagement.

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• How the site budget is determined and monitored. ·

  • The overall budget (MarCom Operating) is $1.6M

    • Advertising (including the below) accounts for $1.3M

    • The rest of the budget is spent on equipment upgrades, software contracts, etc. 

  • There is also two other budgets for the IUP Magazine ($150k) and our website vendor ($63k)

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• Projects are assigned during our intake meeting, which Nikki runs. The supervisors assign their team members as needed (you can find the personnel list at IUP.edu/marcom, if needed). People in the meeting are Nikki, Molly (assigns writers), Gavin (designers and photographer), Jessie (web team), Bill (video), and Michelle (media and communication). Supervisors keep track of their employees' workloads and assignments based on that. They evaluate the success of a project when they close it out. Employees are evaluated for job performance on a yearly basis.

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• We mostly use Asana for this. We don't track hours, but we have a good idea of what time is needed for different levels of projects. Brand managers are in constant communication with the team and can adjust deadlines as needed. It's our job to work with the team to set achievable deadlines and ensure we stay on track to meet them.·
   

• Copies of or descriptions of forms or other systems used to make assignments and maintain quantity/quality control.