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Internal Communications

University Communications and Marketing is responsible for producing Inside WCU, a digital newsletter for faculty and staff. The publication is designed to share university news, features and announcements that help connect faculty and staff in the WCU community’s collective endeavor to carry out the university’s mission.

If you have questions about internal communications, contact Marlon Morgan and Julia Duvall

In addition to the faculty-staff newsletter, a wide array of other campus resources is available to assist members of the campus community in sharing information about their events and activities:

Campus Resources

News Releases

Some university events and activities open to the general public may be of interest beyond the boundaries of campus. Local and regional newspapers and radio and television coverage often can help spread the news about your events and activities. The communications team is available to help. It is important to keep in mind that WCU is located in a largely weekly print media market, meaning advance notification is vital. The communications team must be informed about your event or activity a minimum of two weeks in advance – sooner whenever possible. Please use the link below to submit a story for consideration for news release.

Submit a story

News Release Template

Printed Campus Signage

University Communications and Marketing and the University Print Shop can help you promote your event through a wide array of printed materials including posters, flyers, table tents, door hangers, sidewalk stickers, banners and more. Start by visiting branding.wcu.edu to find resources and guidelines. There you'll find links to submit a Creative Request for design assistance if needed.

If your unit has internal design resources, you can learn more about signage options and submit designed materials for production by emailing printshop@wcu.edu.

Campus Digital Signage

Digital Signage Template

 

The WCU campus features numerous venues where digital signage (screens mounted on walls in campus buildings) can be used to promote programs, events and more. Digital signage should be viewed much like a billboard: messaging should be short and imagery should have a clear focal point. A Power Point template for digital signage is available on WCU's Brand website.

University Communications and Marketing will assist with the design of digital signage to promote academic programs. Requests for signage designed to promote campus events should be submitted 90 days prior to the event date.
Submit a Design Request

For more information about digital signage, contact wcudigitalsignage@wcu.edu.

myWCU

A secure portal for WCU faculty, staff, students and prospective student applicants, myWCU is designed to make it easier for members of the university community to accomplish tasks and find information. The portal includes sections for announcements and for events. Please note that the announcements section is not designed to announce events, but rather to share important information such as schedule changes, changes in business practices or planned disruptions of services. The events section of myWCU is fed by the 25Live software program.

More Information about myWCU

WWCU-FM

WWCU Photo

 

The broadcast service of Western Carolina University, WWCU-FM reaches listeners not only on campus, but across Jackson and Haywood counties. The station runs public service announcements about upcoming events and activities, reports on events as part of its news coverage and sometimes conducts interviews with special guests to help promote university activities.

For best results, announcements should run at least 15 times beginning at least one week prior to the event. In order to provide time for volunteer student staff to write and produce the announcement, allow another week of advance notification. Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit WWCU from engaging in fundraising for any entity except the radio station and from announcing pricing information. For more information, contact Donald Connelly at dconnelly@wcu.edu.

University Email

Although University Policy 93 (which covers electronic mail) expressly prohibits the use of broadcast (or all-WCU) email message for non-essential matters such as publicizing campus events, you can still use the campus email system to target specific audiences that may have a special interest in your event. For example, news of a visiting speaker hosted by the College of Business could be shared by an email to only faculty, staff and students in the College of Business. In addition, event organizers may use the campus Outlook system to send calendar appointments instead of email messages. Recipients have the option of either deleting the appointment request or accepting it, adding it to their personal calendars.

Social Media

Information about upcoming events may, in some cases, be appropriate for sharing on the university’s many social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Space on the university’s main social media platforms may be limited, depending upon what other strategic marketing and communications efforts are underway at a given time. Requests to share information through social media should be directed to Madison Lovingood. In addition, many departments and programs have their own social media presences, providing another opportunity to share information with a target audience.

Paid Advertising

If you have a budget to help promote your event, University Marketing can assist you planning and placing paid advertisements. This includes advertising in area newspapers, radio stations, television stations and/or outdoor signage as well digital advertising through paid social ads, targeted online display ads and more. University Communications and Marketing will work with you to design a plan to reach your audience. Post-campaign reporting and analyses will also be provided for digital campaigns. To request assistance with media planning and buying, contact Deborah Millican.

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