Transcript Marketing Your Program

Best Practices for Marketing
Your Geospatial Program
Emphasizing the integration of
GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS
NSF DUE 0703185
Marketing - On Campus and Off
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To other faculty
To counselors
To administrators
To campus students
To incoming students (high schools)
To workforce
– Current
– Retraining
– User Groups and Advisory Committee
• To the community
Interactive Session
• Please comment, question or provide specific
input
• All comments and suggestions will be compiled
• Any resources you are willing to share will be
posted to iGETT
• Remember, in all materials, we would like to
emphasize integration of geospatial technology:
– including GIS, RS, GPS and emerging technologies
Marketing Elements
• Branding your program – logo and message
– Create a short Message about your Program(s)
• Helps you focus
• Lets other know about your focus
– Think about a “logo” and include on all materials
• Have students help design this if you don’t have other resource
– Your Business Cards – logo and web page to program
– Create a PPT for your program including logo and template
• Getting the word out (more details later)
– Activities
– Paper, Digital, Online or media
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Flyers, posters, catalogues
Web pages about program and student work
Blogs, listserv – create or join
Radio, TV or other media ads and evening news!
– http://www.knopnews2.com/modules/news/artic
le.php?storyid=2625&source=2
• Person to Person
– Be ready to give an “elevator pitch” – think about this and your message
To Faculty
• Do presentations at Faculty Development sessions
• Provide workshops (see NSF ATE Technical Training Tips)
https://www.teachingtechnicians.org/resources_tips.asp
• Create mini-modules for other faculty to use to teach a
concept in their course
– Find out what they teach and point them to outside resources that they
could use to teach that topic
– Tell them about software options open to them (free, low cost, site
licenses)
• Have students as “Interns” or do “capstone” projects for other
faculty that help introduce GIS in their discipline
• Have a lending library of books, teaching materials or other
resources to lend (including GPS or other equipment such as
cameras)
• Create a User Group on campus – either as meetings or
through Blogs, listserv or web site resources
Counselors
• Find out when/where they meet and do a
presentation
• Create a Career Flyer or have some from other
organizations (GITA, URISA, ASPRS, AAG)
– Types of careers, salary range, resources
• Provide each with your “flyer” on the program
• Find out and provide information on student
support options (Title IV, Pell, etc.)
• Provide information about Internship
opportunities (especially those that are paid)
To Administration
• Put a PPT together with possible administrative uses of GIS
– Campus Map, Facilities Management, Student (demographics, profile of
students, marketing), Homeland Security, Room utilization
• Create a one page flyer on PPT topics and include a campus map with
features of interest to administration
– List numbers of students, any grants you have, any other information on
the value of your program including your activities to community and
advisory committee members
• Find out when and where they meet and potential for a presentation
• Look at the “governing body” for the college (local, district, state) and
see when they meet or if they have a “publication” that you could
write/present information to/in
• Find out what other colleges in your state are doing with GIS and let
your administration know about these activities
• Invite them to visit your class, GIS Day or any open house
• See if they would be interested in having an Intern work on a project for
administration use
On Campus Students
• Work through other faculty (presentations in classes,
handouts) to let students know more about Geospatial
technology
– Target most likely disciplines, but almost all may be interested
• Form a Student User Group on Campus
• Have student project posters up about GIS/RS/GPS
during registration sessions
• Advertise any activity – in school news, kiosks, etc.
• Provide flyer about Careers during registrations
• Work with campus clubs, departments, faculty that help
minority, physically challenged or other student focused
groups
Incoming students – high school
• Create 1 page flyers for high school students about
program, careers, salaries, grant support options and
other topics
• Visit high schools and leave materials and post flyers
(both to students and for counselors)
• Invite high school faculty to campus for workshops
• Articulation is an issue – try and set up articulation
pathways
• Provide workshops or other learning activities for high
school faculty
• Suggest Internships or Capstone projects for college
students that mentor or do workshops at high schools
Incoming Students - Workforce
• Flyers for these students can be given or mailed to local users (city,
police, fire, utility companies, dept. of transportation, surveyors,
environmental consultants, etc.)
• Identify what grants may be available (Title IV, Pell, their employers,
etc.) – be sure your program is qualified for these grants
• Work with Advisory Committee to make connections with users
• Work with college counselors to identify potential student
populations – be careful about “computer skills”
• If the college has a Workforce Development office, work with them to
identify possible short courses, extension programs or links to
students
• If you state has continuing education requirements, be sure your
program qualifies to provide those units
• Look for relevant places to place ads or leave flyers
• Attend User Group meetings and encourage current students to
attend these meeting too – good for your program and to interest
employers in these students
To the Community
• Open House events
– Think “Themes” your community may be interested in
• GIS Day Events
• Internships and Capstone projects can be
“community oriented” and provide good press
releases for your program – be sure and let the
leaders of the community know about successful
projects or other needs
• Invite the news media to events or workshops
local newspapers, radio and TV stations
Preliminary work - Resource
Assessment
• What/who are already using geospatial on campus
• What equipment already exists (large format printers, GPS,
cameras, computers, servers, networks)
• What software exists on campus – who owns it, maintenance,
access for your program
• What are your data access options and what data is available (also
think about your local community resources)
• What are your Tech Support options
• What computer labs and specifications are available to you
• What faculty may already have experience
• What adjunct faculty may be available in your region
• What kind of Grant writing support does the campus provide
• What “special needs” programs exist on campus (diversity, minority,
physically challenged) and how can your program serve that
population?
Needs Assessment
• Set up an Advisory Committee including faculty
from local schools, the college and the
community (industry, government, business)
• Determine what local user needs are:
– Type of software, data types, analysis needs, etc. and
be sure that these are covered or used in your
program
• Determine campus needs
• Develop a “network” of people as you look for
information about needs