University Relations leads the brand and communications strategy for the U of A, providing guidance and support across campus while managing the university’s primary news, marketing and communications resources and campaigns.
Building Relationships
All of our activities are designed to help establish, maintain and strengthen relationships with our many stakeholders. We build awareness, understanding and trust to maximize the impact of the U of A. We tell the university’s stories and provide news and helpful information while working to engage and inspire with examples of the positive impact the university is making across the state, nation and world.
Brand Positioning
Showcasing the U of A’s mission, impact, value, strengths, discoveries and unique people and programs helps differentiate the university, attracting students, faculty, staff and support. Our integrated approach to marketing communications allows us to tell our story in compelling and creative ways.
Reputation Management
Clearly and consistently reinforcing the land-grant mission and positive impact of the U of A is foundational to advancing the university’s reputation. We lead this work through thematic messaging, strategic communications planning and guidance, and reputational and crisis management.
What We’re Responsible For
- Leading university communication strategy, policy and support.
- Reinforcing the university’s value and dedication to Arkansas in many ways including Determined feature stories, Short Takes and other videos, and Short Talks podcasts.
- Highlighting the massive positive impact of the university’s research and economic development.
- Disseminating more than 3,000 university news and event stories annually, including news.uark.edu, Arkansas News email and the campus calendar.
- Media relations, including messaging, media releases and pitching.
- Social media strategy and management of primary accounts on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.
- Emergency notifications and crisis messaging.
- UARK Mobile, the flagship mobile application, a one-stop shop on your phone.
- Senior Walk search tool, a resource that makes it easy to search for the names of our graduates and where to find their names on Senior Walk.
- Executive and administrative communications for the university’s primary support units.
- Coordinating more than 250 public records requests/responses annually involving colleges, schools and support units across campus.
The flagship website uark.edu plus digital strategy and governance for more than 500 sites, with full responsibility for the university’s primary websites including:
- ArkansasResearch.uark.edu highlights the university’s research enterprise and its economic development impact.
- Report.uark.edu provides a hub for reporting information and/or concerns to the appropriate university units.
- Safety.uark.edu offers information about crime prevention, emergency preparedness, inclement weather and other public safety issues.
- PublicInfo.uark.edu includes information about public records, statistics, finances and doing business with the university.
- Chancellor.uark.edu and Provost.uark.edu provide information about university leadership, organizational structure, and guidance related to academic and faculty affairs.
- Campusmap.uark.edu is the university’s online campus map to help you navigate campus from your phone or web browser.
- Catalog of Studies provides academic program information for undergraduates, graduates and the School of Law.
Support We Provide for Campus Communicators
- Brand.uark.edu offers brand guidance and standards, unified messaging, and editorial, visual, web and social media guidance.
- ResourceSpace photo library available to university communicators by request.
- News submission and distribution support.
- Media relations assistance.
- Production support for major university events.
- Guidance regarding working with external vendors.
- Web content management, training and support.
- WebFirst resource for the campus web community.
- Regular meetings and professional development opportunities for campus communicators and social media managers.
- Training in compliance with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Learn more about Working With Us.