Subcommittee: Public Affairs Members: Dawn Alford, Paul Knepper, Gayla Stoner
Overview of Current Programs and Efforts CWU needs to establish multichannel marketing, communication, and outreach plans to ensure the Latinx community and other stakeholders receive targeted, planned, and real-time information. Best practice recommendations include establishing frequent communications through a well- defined communication strategy with stakeholders that includes online materials. The strategy targets prospective Latinx students as well as their families and communities within a cultural context. 7 Strategically communicating with the Latinx population from youth-K12, through the transfer population to graduate school, is a critical strategy for achieving and maintaining HSI status. Areas of best practice include promotion of student support services from application to graduation. For example, the University of Illinois-Chicago established a specific organizational unit to provide Latinx student recruitment and support services. By developing and marketing this type of dedicated unit, CWU will build a visible pathway to higher education, application and financial aid, academic advising, etc. The overall communication strategy will need to reach internal as well as external audiences. Currently, internal communication channels are not effective in reaching the campus population and CWU lacks a multi-faceted internal communication strategy. Internal audiences include Latinx students, faculty and staff as well as non-Latinx students, faculty and staff. For the plan to operate effectively, it needs to include not only staff in the Public Affairs department, but also those located throughout the university. Because communications and outreach staff work in various departments, it can result in fragmented messaging. As important, the communication strategy needs to operate through academic and administrative communication channels. Some programs currently attract much more Latinx student interest than others do. CWU will benefit from establishing a Hispanic-serving Institution as a grid with academic and support units, administrators, faculty, staff and students each having a part, whether large or small (see Appendix I). Some will be devoted 100 percent to Hispanic-serving activities, some five percent; nevertheless, all stakeholders must contribute to achieve success. Essentially, our public affairs strategy aims to help each constituency find their place on the HSI grid. CWU must recognize that designing and delivering a coherent, effective program invites several challenges. Action Steps Taken • Public Affairs currently devotes $6500 a year to Spanish-language advertising. • Latinx students and staff are showcased in publications, websites, banners, etc. such as the large outdoor billboard located at the east Ellensburg entrance.
7 Torres, V. & Zerquera, D. (2012) Hispanic-serving institutions: Patterns, predictions and implications for informing policy discussions. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 11: 259-278.
CWU HSI Initiative 7.12.18
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