Marketing & Communications
Let's share our stories.
Student Affairs Marketing and Communications leads and coordinates projects and strategic initiatives to raise the division’s visibility for its students and other audiences and to elevate our brand as a division.
We will work with you and our campus partners to share your stories, using a wide array of mediums, outlets and platforms, to ensure that the exceptional programs, services and resources of Student Affairs make a positive and lasting impact on our students and the broader community.
Our Mission and Strategies
Student Affairs Marketing and Communications enhances the student experience through strategic marketing and streamlined communication initiatives; engages with our audiences through relevant, inspiring, informational and timely content; and elevates the Carnegie Mellon Student Affairs brand, internally and externally.
To achieve these goals, Student Affairs Marketing and Communications will focus on five strategies:
- Streamline communications across the division to become more effective communicators and to better inform our students and other audiences.
- Create content to reflect and market the DOSA brand, enhance the audience experience, educate students on divisional programming and increase participation, and share divisional stories and news to internal and external audiences.
- Assist individual DOSA units with brand development and strategic planning, from the perspective of a collective DOSA brand.
- Identify internal and external public relations opportunities that bolster pride and school spirit, better inform audiences, share DOSA stories of impact, support an inclusive community and position the division as an industry leader.
- Establish divisional marketing and communications procedures to create content and collect, analyze and distribute information.
Meet Our People
Mandi Semple
Director of Marketing & Communications for Student Affairs
Margaret Morrison Street #5132
412-268-3437
Email
Rachel Latsko
Assistant Director of Marketing and Creative for Student Affairs
Margaret Morrison Street #5132
412-268-4688
Email
Isabella (Bella) Sierra
Life at CMU Content Coordinator for Student Affairs
Margaret Morrison Street #5132
Email
Our Communicators
Representatives from each unit in Student Affairs, as well as partners from across the university, come together a few times a month during Student Affairs Communicators meetings to discuss collaboraton opportunities, review upcoming events, learn about marketing and communications best pratices, identify photography and video opportunities and more. Would you like to be a part of this team? Request to join the Student Affairs Communicators.
Our Expertise
Communications
The Thread
Launched in 2021, The Thread is an inititaive that prioritizes curated divisional communications, question-and-answer sessions with Student Affairs leadership, this Thread internal website and office hours with Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs Gina Casalegno.
As part of The Thread, The Stitch is an e-newsletter sent monthly to Student Affairs staff and includes various types of content, including department updates, divisional news, shout outs to colleagues and/or departments, university information relevant to staff and more.
Ways to Communicate
Student Affairs staff and partners across the university can communicate and advertise information, opportunities and events in various newsletters and digital displays. Our team can help get you connected to these outlets.
Newsletters & D-Lists
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | SUBMISSION PROCESS |
| Announcements | Weekly newsletter sent via Constant Contact to RAs and CAs on Mondays. | Submit content to announce@andrew.cmu.edu by Fridays at 5 pm |
| The Piper | A weekly all CMU community newsletter sent on Thursdays | Submit content to UCM internal communications: piperweekly@andrew.cmu.edu |
| Opt in newsletter |
Submit content to Viviana Ferrer-Medina at vferrerm@andrew.cmu.edu |
|
| DOSA D-List | Sent to all staff within the division on an as-needed basis. |
Submit content to dosa-division@lists.andrew.cmu.edu. Content will be reviewed by Shari Zingle and/or Lorrie Safar before it is sent. |
| Advisor D-list | Sent to college advisors, college liaisons and housefellows on an as-needed basis. |
Submit content to Advisor d-list at advisor-cmu@lists.andrew.cmu.edu |
| Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion Newsletter | Monthly newsletter sent on the first Monday of each month. | Submit content to csdi@andrew.cmu.edu |
| CPDC Newsletter | Bi-weekly(ish) newsletter sent via Handshake on Thursdays. Sent to all students except Tepper master students and Heinz students. | Submit content to Paula Drelick at pdrelick@andrew.cmu.edu by Tuesdays at 5 pm |
| Scotty Scoop (Student Involvement and Traditions) | Bi-weekly newsletter sent via TartanConnect. Sent to student leaders of student orgs. | Submit content to Jack Crone at jcrone@andrew.cmu.edu the last week of the month |
|
Weekly newsletter on civic engagement opportunities sent via TartanConnect. |
Submit content to cmunexus@andrew.cmu.edu | |
| OIE Friday Greetings | Sent every Friday from The HUB/Enrollment Services to all international students | Submit content to Becky Choltco at beckyo@andrew.cmu.edu |
| Graduate Student News | Submit content to Margo Littell at mlittell@andrew.cmu.edu | |
| Be Well Newsletter | Monthly newsletter sent via Constant Contact. | Submit content to Angie Lusk at alusk@andrew.cmu.edu the last week of the month |
Digital Displays
Student Academic Success Center (Visix)
Dimensions: 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 px)
Submit content to Desiree Chronick at chronick@andrew.cmu.edu
Student Involvement and Traditions & Community Engagement and Student Development (Visix)
Dimensions: 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 px) and 16:9 ratio (1920x1080 px)
Locations: Lower and First Floor offices
Submit content to Amy Weston at slice@andrew.cmu.edu
Athletics (Visix & Daktronics)
Locations & Dimensions:
Gesling Stadium (480x264 px), Tennis Court (216x108 px); Soccer Field (352x198 px)
Submit contact to Andrea James at awesp@andrew.cmu.edu
Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion (Visix)
Dimensions: 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 px)
Submit content to csdi@andrew.cmu.edu
Cohon University Center (Visix)
Location & Dimensions: Lee Lobby (1080x1920 px)
- The primary requirement for this digital board is that it must be advertising a specific event, and that event must be occurring in the Cohon Center.
- Images must also follow our standard protocols for posting (policy on our website)
- Submit content to cucinfodesk@andrew.cmu.edu in JPEG, PNG or PDF format
Scotty's Market by Salem's (Visix screen #2)
Dimensions: 16:9 ratio (1920x1080 px)
Submit content to Mandi Semple at msemple@andrew.cmu.edu
Fifth Avenue Neighborhood Commons (Visix)
Dimensions: 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 px)
Submit content to NeighborhoodCommons@andrew.cmu.edu
Margaret Morrison Neighborhood Commons (Visix)
Dimensions: 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 px)
Submit content to NeighborhoodCommons@andrew.cmu.edu
Branding
Branding is how we walk, talk and present ourselves to the world. Our values and beliefs, culture and impact, vision and voice create our brand. Brand is the "why" people choose you.
Our goal is to create and maintain a consistent, compelling and authentic brand experience within Student Affairs and Carnegie Mellon. Our team can work with you to establish a branding process for a department, program or initiative. From here, we can identify opportunities and create assets that will support and communicate your brand, whether that be graphics, copy or video. We're here to help you tell it like a Tartan.
CMU Brand Guidelines
Our Student Affairs brand and its guidelines are a reflection of the CMU brand. Every action — whether visual, written or spoken — is branding. Understanding of and compliance with our university brand standards will ensure that we are all working together to enhance the reputation of CMU.
Learn about CMU's Brand Guidelines
Brand Assets
- Explore University Communications and Marketing's (UCM's) free digital marketing and communications assets, including the DAM, UCM's digital asset management system (DAM) that provides a wide range of photos, b-roll, graphics and other assets available for use by the CMU community for social, web, print pieces, and video.
- Additionally, the CMU brand website is wealth of information about our brand story, traditions, and symbols, as well as where you can download the CMU wordmark, the Tartan, Scotty and more.
- You have access to the CMU and Student Affairs brand assets, including Scotty dog, the CMU color palette, divisional unit marks, program logos, signage templates and vetted photography on the DOSA Shared Drive.
The path to access is: DOSA Shared Drive (S:) > Division Share > Marketing Shared
NOTE: Please email Rachel Latsko for instructions on how to become an internal CMU DAM user.
Peer Health Advocates Rebrand
Peer Health Advocates (PHAs) are a team of NASPA-Certified Peer Educators supporting and encouraging holistic student health and well-being across campus through culturally responsive programming, projects, and one-on-one meetings. The PHA program underwent major structural changes and growth in 2024. To celebrate their growth and increase awareness, we launched a re-branding effort that included: a new visual identity, logo mark, icons, PDF and slide deck templates, web and social media graphics, and social content.
Residential Education Engage Framework
Residential Education has embarked on the Engage Framework within Carnegie Mellon's house communities. This initiative will inspire residential students to participate in enriching experiences, on and off campus, to promote their sense of belonging and emerging sense of self. This branding initiative included developing assets, such as icons and graphics, creating posters, PDF and PowerPoint templates, and more.
Everything we do in marketing for Student Affairs is ultimately about telling our stories.
Written Storytelling
The first step to sharing those stories is knowing about them, then crafting them, and then deciding how we will share them. Student Affairs Marketing and Communication specializes in identifying stories and public relations opportunities that bolster pride and school spirit, inform our audiences, demonstrate impact, support an inclusive community and position Carnegie Mellon Student Affairs as an industry leader.
Media Inquiries Protocol
Student Affairs staff are often approached by media outlets to learn more about our programs and initiatives, student accomplishments or philosophies that guide our work.
What to do if you're approached by media outlets:
- To support and coordinate our efforts as a university, please forward all media requests directly to Mandi Semple prior to participating in any type of dialogue or interview with a reporter.
- You can expect that Mandi will be in touch with you regarding next steps.
Exception:
Requests from local media outlets for scores for an athletic event or general information about a sports team can be handled directly by CMU’s Athletics Sports Information team.
Visual Storytelling
Visual storytelling is a technique that allows people to imagine themselves in an experience and narrative through visual media, like graphic design illustrations, photography and video. They grab our attention, evoke emotion and transport us into the story.
Showing authentic experiences is a crucial part of the Student Affairs and CMU brand. While individual students, alumni, faculty and staff are incredibly important to our storytelling, it's important to show their interaction with others to reinforce the sense of collaboration, belonging and community. We can help you decide how to best tell your visual stories and through what medium.
Graphic Design
Rachel is a graphic designer who can help your team with design of digital signage content, posters, flyers, logos, invitations and social shares. For larger projects, like space design, menu development, or multi-page print pieces, our team will manage the project and work with our partners on the creative team in University Communications and Marketing (UCM).
Video
Videos share information and stories in engaging, transparent and compelling ways and can be used across a variety of platforms. We can help identify the best type of video for your needs, with budget considerations in mind. We are able to offer a limited number of student-produced videos each semester and we also produce professional videos with our partners in University Communications and Marketing and Media Services.
Photography
Student Affairs
Student Affairs has their very own staff photographer, Jeremy Hruska, who you might recognize as the lead IT support technician in Student Affairs. Jeremy is a true testament to the interdisciplinary nature and talent at CMU. He is available for photo sessions at no-cost for our Student Affairs partners if he has the capacity in his schedule. Please contact us to see if Jeremy is available.
University Communications & Marketing
We work with our university photographers to procure high-quality photos for many purposes, from capturing events to visual content for websites, social media and newsletters. You can reach out to their department directly or contact us to coordinate the shoot and get a cost estimate.
Student Affairs Photography
By Jeremy Hruska
Bio Photos
If you are new to Student Affairs and need your bio photo taken for your respective website, follow these simple steps.
- Sign up for a 30-minute timeslot with University Communications and Marketing (UCM).
- Use this Oracle string - 000001.200.000.750100.01
- In addition to filling in your department, please also list Student Affairs as the division; e.g., Wellness & Meaning-Making Programs/Student Affairs.
Photos are taken in the studio at the UCM building located at 4721 Fifth Avenue. There is one-hour street parking on Clyde Street and on Devonshire. Enter through the front door and the receptionist at the desk can let you in and direct you from there. The UCM studio is on the ground level.
Review the style of the photos for what to expect when posing.
Website
Your website is the digital representation of your department and a key tool to inform and engage your audience. Our websites are managed in the University's content management system (CMS).
Our goal is to create a consistent user experience across all Student Affairs sites, from both a desktop and mobile perspective. We work to ensure that all content is accessible and compliant with ADA regulations and that analytics and metric tools are correctly embedded. With the help of our divisional partners, we seek to increase the creation of fresh content in the shape of news stories, photos and videos, as well as a comprehensive Student Affairs events calendar.
If you are interested in a redesign of a current site or the creation of a new site within Student Affairs, we can help you get started.
Our favorite hashtags are #LifeAtCMU, #TartanProud & #CMUsocial
@LifeAtCMU Instagram
Assessment
Before we can improve our communication efforts, we must fully understand what they look like and how they are resonating with intended audiences. Additionally, we must test and experiment with different modes of communication so that we can better determine what works well, what may need some enhancement, and what isn't working at all. This type of assessment will allow us to spend our time most effectively by doing the work that reaches students and eliminating the work that isn't showing the return on investment.
Our team utilizes the following assessment tools:
- Student focus groups or polls, perhaps also engaging Institutional Research and Analysis
- Website analytics
- Social media analytics
Social Media
Our team uses social media to showcase the daily life and experiences of CMU students. "Life at CMU" is the brand for our social efforts. We also collaborate with other divisional social accounts and the main Carnegie Mellon social accounts and channels.
Student Affairs Social Media Guidelines
Operating within a set of guidelines ensures your brand's look and feel, tone, messaging and user experience are cohesive and consistent. As a part of the larger social media brand at CMU, we adhere to central CMU Social Media guidelines.
Here are additional tips and best practices to get you started:
How to Submit Content to Life at CMU
To submit content to the @LifeAtCMU Instagram account, email our team copy and quality images, or better yet, tag us in your content. If the content is advertising an event, it’s best to share that content at least a few days in advance.
Copy should include what is happening, why it is special or noteworthy, when did it happen or when will it happen, where more info can be found, etc. It’s also ideal to send along only a few quality photos for us to choose from.
Content will be shared on the @LifeAtCMU Instagram account either in the feed, which is carefully curated, or in Instagram Story, where most submitted content lands.
How to Submit Content to Central Carnegie Mellon Channels
While we encourage you to submit content to the University Communications and Marketing Social Media team directly, please copy us on your email so we are aware of your collaboration and can support you with photography, copy, contacts, etc. as needed. You can submit stories and content ideas to social@andrew.cmu.edu.