EXTERNAL RELATIONS
AND
COMMUNICATIONS
The effective projection of the university or college
into the public arena is an essential
activity for institutions in a competitive situation,
whether they are competing for students
at home or from abroad; for additional
Government funding; for grants or contracts from
business; or for general political and
public support. The increasing use by Governments
of "quasi-markets" as a way of allocating
resources to institutions means that, for higher
education, excellent presentation and
communications are a necessity, not a luxury.
While this projection can be achieved through different
means, the institution must have a clear
external relations strategy part of its wider
strategic plan
- setting out what it wishes to achieve and how,
or there is a danger than conflicting
messages will be sent out. Communication within
the institution is often overlooked, but
is at least as important as communicating
with the outside world.
Universitas has worked with universities and colleges
in developing external relations strategies,
and in training staff in areas such as media
relations, political relations, alumni relations,
advertising, internal communications,
and publication design.
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