1. The Women’s and Gender Studies Program Longwood University Public Relations Campaign By Lindsay Smith
2. WGS at Longwood Overview Currently 8 declared minors Required to complete 18 hours of course work with a 2.0 At least 9 of those 18 hours must be at 300 or 400 level Currently 7 professors and 2 department directors Currently no WGS student organization
3. WGS at Longwood Objective To develop a marketing and communication plan geared towards the students, professors, and alumnae of Longwood University not only to increase the number of declared minors, but also raise awareness about issues in the Farmville community and beyond in order to promote social change.
4. WGS at Longwood Research Themes Lack of unified brand identity Lack of communication between: Professors and declared minors The minors themselves The program and the entire student body The program and its alumnae Department and other Longwood professors
5. WGS at Longwood SWOT Analysis Strengths Interdisciplinary: students can tailor Programming Comfort level in classroom among women
6. WGS at Longwood SWOT Analysis Weaknesses Students not aware of interdisciplinary aspects Lack of diversity in classes Strongly held stereotype Lack of unity among minors and professors Weak connections with alumnae
7. WGS at Longwood SWOT Analysis Opportunities Increase diversity in classroom Social change will increase on campus and in Farmville community Receive donations to help improve the program
9. WGS at Longwood Target Audiences Longwood Students Freshmen/Potential minors Declared minors Professors Student body Alumnae
10. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Create a unified brand identity for the WGS program Tactics: Create a mission statement that truly expresses the values of WGS Create a logo that is eye catching and unique Create a tagline to accompany logo
11. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Increase face-to-face and computer mediated communication between minor and professor outside of class Tactics: Hold an advising appointment with each minor every semester WGS newsletter WGS blog Mandatory minors meeting
12. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Strengthen bond between the minors themselves Tactics: Create an organization for the minors to join Iota Iota Iota WGS Club
13. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Increase communication (face-to-face and computer mediated) between the program and entire student body Tactics: Participate in ‘Fall in Love with a Major’ Co-Sponsor event with another organization Facebook Fanpage Add ‘What’s in it for me?’ section on webpage Recruitment during Intro class
14. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Increase computer mediated communication with WGS alumnae Tactics: Semester newsletter Add ‘Where are they now?’ section on website Add donation section on website
15. WGS at Longwood Strategy: Increase communication between Department and other Longwood professors Tactics: Sending out an SOS
27. WGS at Longwood Assessment Recommendations Post assessment surveys to the online networks Assess students feeling of involvement before and after the changes Possible reward The amount of donations/participation by alum Number of declared minors