New marketing coordinator talks goals, seeks input

Chadron State can expect an updated president’s webpage, better information access, and increased transparency, Interim Marketing Coordinator Tena Cook said Wednesday.

CSC President Randy Rhine appointed Cook to the position Friday after former coordinator Justin Haag accepted a job at NebraskaLAND magazine. Cook said she is splitting her time between her new post and her former post as director of admissions.

Cook said the revised president’s page will serve as a communications tool for the campus community, and will feature an “updates from his desk,” blog-style format.

“The links, stories, and photos he [Rhine] posts and I help prepare will increase his accessibility,” Cook said. “He’s already accessible, but his goal is to be even more accessible.”

As part of her new responsibilities, Cook will serve alongside members of the College Relations Department in an effort to promote CSC and establish a consistent identity.

The College Relations Department announced in September 2012 that it had contracted with a design firm to design a new logo for CSC; however, the effort failed due to lack of enthusiasm for the new designs.

Cook said that aspect of the college’s identity branding is still on hold.

“We’re not going to revisit the logo this academic year,” she said.

Cook said one of the college’s most formidable marketing challenges is “reading all the different audiences and staying where they’re at.”

To help track where these audiences are at, Cook plans to obtain feedback from a wide cross-section of the campus community, including prospective students, current undergraduate and graduate students, and alumni. Cook said she plans to work closely with each of CSC’s three marketing liaisons to survey these groups about how they perceive the college.

Cook said in addition to tasking the marketing liaisons to poll CSC students via online surveys, she also wants to obtain feedback from each of CSC’s constituents through focus groups conducted by an external agency.

“I think if we work with the right agency, there’d be a way to survey those [populations],” Cook said.

A majority of CSC’s current advertising formats will remain consistent, Cook said.

“We’ll always have TV, radio, and print ads,” she said. “You have to reach the audience where they’re at.”

In addition to traditional advertising, Cook wants to continue pursuing emerging media formats.

“QR codes will be a constant going forward,” she said, noting “the seniors in high school are online.”

Cook named CSC’s social media presence as its greatest marketing return on investment.

“I think Facebook pages that our admissions representatives have been using for each of their districts have been working very well,” Cook said.

Chadron State will continue to using marketing and recruiting software developed by Zinch and Spectrum, Cook said.

Rhine did not respond to a Monday request seeking if the college would conduct a search for a marketing coordinator replacement at the conclusion of the interim period.