Marketing Your Program

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Best Practices for Marketing

Your Geospatial Program

Emphasizing the integration of

GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS

NSF DUE 0703185

Marketing - On Campus and Off

• 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

• 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

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