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New certificate program gives employees tools to tell the Rutgers story better
Thomas Snyder, a business specialist in operations at the Camden Campus Center, signed up last spring for a few pilot workshops being developed for the university’s new communicator certificate program. He didn’t expect to get much out of them.
“I’m a business guy,” Snyder said. “They needed volunteers from Camden, and I was doing someone a favor.” His first course, Communications Resources, gave him an overview of the many departments universitywide that support communications; his next, Planning Special Events, covered budgets, marketing, contracts, and catering, and taught him how to develop a master plan. He found the courses so valuable that he enrolled in several more.
Snyder recently became the first Rutgers employee to complete the communicator certificate program. “I realize now that communication ties in with just about everything I do – advertising sporting events, emails to promote concerts, costing out events. Also, I talk with parents and students all the time, and even though I’ve been around this place for nearly 20 years – there are still many things about Rutgers I didn’t know.”
The communicator certificate program is designed for employees involved in marketing, promoting, or communicating about their units, programs, or the university overall, and is open to any full-time faculty or staff member interested in better representing the university. It is a collaboration among several departments: University Human Resources, the Department of University Relations, the Center for Teaching Advancement and Assessment Research, Mail and Document Services, and the Office of Instructional Research and Technology.
Since its official launch June 25, 105 employees have registered for the certificate program, and seven have completed it. “Out of the box, our classes filled up,” said
Tricia Nolfi, associate director of University Human Resources. Many more employees have signed up for individual workshops since completing the entire certificate program isn’t mandatory, she said.
To earn a certificate, employees must complete the following six foundation courses:
- Understanding the Rutgers University Identity
- Communication Policies and Guidelines
- Communication Resources
- Defining and Serving Today’s Audiences
- Design Basics
- Developing a Communications Plan
Those who wish to pursue a certificate also must complete three elective courses, which range from Developing a Communications Plan to Proofreading and Editing Using the Rutgers Editorial Style Guide to Writing and Design for the Web. To view course descriptions, click here. Employees can enroll in the program by logging in with their NetID, then choosing the communicator certificate program link.
Beth DeMauro, director of strategic communications in the Department of University Relations, who worked with University Human Resources and others to develop the program curriculum, said that the certificate program supports the university’s ongoing comprehensive communications program. This includes the new Rutgers visual identity system, and everything from enhancing communications to students, alumni, and the general public to developing and implementing communication and marketing plans and creating more effective print materials and user-friendly websites.
“The aim of the program is to help people better communicate key university messages to our internal and external audiences, while building individual skills and providing opportunities for networking and sharing resources with colleagues,” DeMauro said.
Mostafa Khalifa, assistant manager of the computer labs on the Livingston Campus, who completed his certificate in August, gives the certificate program high marks in professional development. He found the courses provided ideas for marketing a campaign for National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which he’s working on with Information Protection and Security, slated to launch in October.
“A lot of departments are doing good work, but they don’t have the knowledge and resources to get the word out,” Khalifa said.
Kathryn Neal, an administrative assistant in the Department of Classics in New Brunswick, said she feels “empowered” to be an ambassador of Rutgers after completing the certificate this summer. In addition, her coursework is proving useful on the job. “The classics department is redesigning its website. And we’re trying to market a new textbook to students,” Neal said. “People in my class [Communications Resources] kept giving me ideas – using listservs to reach students, contacting RU-tv to do podcasts, asking other departments to advertise the book. I got my entire communications plan from one course.”