Mandate of the Communications Office

The Communications office assists the university in advancing its goals and objectives by providing dynamic, timely, accurate and engaging communications in a range of areas. Employing a host of communication vehicles and methods, the office strives to convey the significance of the university's teaching and research achievements — as well as the challenges and opportunities it faces — to communities in Calgary, the province and throughout the nation. In addition, it facilitates communication within the university community through a weekly newspaper, daily Web site updates and regular briefings to students, staff and faculty.

In so doing, the Communications office helps ensure the university is received by these important audiences in a way that accurately reflects the U of C's values and positions, leading to greater community engagement, understanding and support for the university's long-term goals and objectives.

The Communications office is a unit in the Vice-President (External Relations) office.

Activities:

As part of the External Relations team, the Communications office works closely with the offices of Government Relations and Alumni and Community Relations to achieve this mandate.

Specifically, the Communications office serves the university community by:

Assisting the media in "unlocking" the often daunting world of academia by providing timely and engaging news stories that appeal to broad audiences and highlight the importance to the public of research universities

The office achieves this by communicating the U of C's teaching and research achievements via the media by developing news releases, audio visual materials, and organizing media interviews and news conferences

It fosters productive relations between members of the university's academic community and the local, provincial and national media by encouraging faculty to publicly comment on issues relevant to their areas of academic expertise

It helps faculty and staff better understand the needs of journalists; and assists them in communicating their key messages accurately and concisely through media training workshops.

The office provides strategic communications planning and support for members of the university's senior administration regarding critical issues that help shape the university and are central to its development

It ensures the university community is kept abreast of key developments occurring on campus through the publishing of the weekly internal newspaper OnCampus, OnCampus Online and a daily news and events page.

For Media:

Media Relations page
A quick summation of the latest news releases and media advisories

News Releases
Read the latest news or search the archives for a past media release.

Experts On-line
Find a U of C expert to comment on a news story.

Events
A complete chronological listing of campus and U of C-sponsored events

For Faculty & Staff:

Tips for working with the media
What you should know about reporters, how to avoid getting "burned" and more 

University Style Guide
Capitalization, abbreviations, punctuation and more

U of C Identity Standards: Coat of Arms, Letterhead and Powerpoint templates
Downloadable only by on-campus clients

Photo Bank
A collection of digital images of the campus

OnCampus
The official print publication of the U of C for faculty, staff, students and friends of the university

UToday
A daily news bulletin highlighting stories of interest and events on campus, delivered each morning to the email in-boxes of all faculty and staff. 

Events
A chronological listing of campus events and U of C-sponsored events