Rutgers Excellence Reach
UCM created 37 unique pieces of Rutgers Excellence content that were distributed across 14 channels. About 47 million readers received our content and 40 million, or 85 percent, of these readers engaged to learn more.
University Communications and Marketing
About Us and Our Work
About Us
UCM is the universitywide communications and marketing office of Rutgers and an essential part of Rutgers’ Department of External Affairs. UCM elevates the public prominence of Rutgers by protecting its brand, advancing the university’s reputation, promoting Rutgers people and programs, and managing initiatives and priorities of the university’s central administration. R-Comm, the communications and marketing office focused on serving the needs of both Rutgers–New Brunswick and RBHS, reports centrally through UCM and External Affairs. This alignment provides opportunities for collaboration, clarity of message, and support of a strategic focus on elevating Rutgers' prestige and reputation.
By the Numbers
Highlights of FY 2021
15.7 million
pageviews
Rutgers.edu
Rutgers.edu
9,000+
image downloads
Rutgers Digital Asset Library
Rutgers Digital Asset Library
42.8 million
social media impressions
@RutgersU
@RutgersU
155,000+
circulation
Rutgers Magazine
Rutgers Magazine
2.5 million
pageviews
Rutgers Today
Rutgers Today
UCM Wins Six 2022 Hermes Creative Awards
About 6,500 entries from around the world were entered in the 2022 Hermes Creative Awards, an international competition for the creative and marketing industry. UCM's work was recognized with the following achievements.
Platinum Awards
- The Inauguration of Jonathan Scott Holloway (Special Event)
- Faces & Voices of Rutgers (Team Achievement)
- Rutgers Magazine Spring 2021 (Print Media)
Gold Awards
- Faces & Voices of Rutgers (Video Series)
- Rutgers.edu (Education Website)
- #HowWeMetAtRU (Social Media Campaign)
Rutgers Excellence Campaign
Excellence happens at Rutgers every day, and the world needs to know. To advance the awareness of Rutgers’ excellence and support a presidential initiative to improve Rutgers' reputation among leaders at peer universities, UCM launched the Rutgers Excellence campaign in 2021. Spotlighting the accomplishments and innovations of our scholars, our multichannel approach to content distribution reached nearly 47 million readers.
Advertising
62 digital and print ads were placed in focused publications including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The New York Times.
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
To reach target-specific audiences of academic leaders and alumni working in higher education, 22 sponsored LinkedIn posts were placed.
22,370 visitors from digital advertising, enewsletters, social media, and direct emails clicked through to the Rutgers.edu/excellence campaign landing page to learn more about campaign topics and facts.
Rutgers Research Newsletter
In April 2021, UCM and the Office of Research launched the new Rutgers Research Newsletter reaching about 9,300 academic leaders and researchers with an open rate of 30 percent.
Direct Emails
Using cultivated lists to reach academic leaders and other higher education influencers, UCM sent 25 direct emails featuring university accomplishments and initiatives, promotional content, and faculty and student achievements.
Rutgers Today
Rutgers Today is the universitywide news center promoting news, features, and videos with daily content additions and updates on all things Rutgers.
Highlights of FY 2021
- 2.5 million pageviews
- 615 daily and special issues published
- 375 stories written or edited
Distribution channels
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Daily enewsletter
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Special enewsletters for targeted audiences: alumni, students, retirees, and others
Rutgers Magazine
Rutgers Magazine is the only universitywide magazine that promotes Rutgers, its programs, and its people through engaging and informative stories that inspire pride, enthusiasm, and support for the institution among alumni, the university community, and friends of the institution.
- 155,000 per issue circulation
- 380 stories produced
- 49,000+ visits
Rutgers.edu
The universitywide gateway site to Rutgers, UCM manages this important channel to the Rutgers digital universe.
- 15.7 million pageviews in FY 2021
- 2.7 million visitors
Presidential Communications
UCM produced three videos: a welcome message to the new president, presidential introductory remarks to the university community, and a long-format conversation with the president as a way to get to know him during COVID restrictions. The videos replaced in-person introductions for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and news media and were shared across university channels.
UCM manages updates on the president’s website adding messages to the Rutgers community, op-eds and media coverage, multimedia, and university initiatives. The site has 303,988 pageviews annually with 128,046 visitors.
UCM wrote and promoted a story on President Holloway's budget address to the University Senate.
62 news stories
1,507 pageviews on Rutgers Today
Envisioning a Rutgers' culture that emphasizes diversity, inclusion, and respect, President Holloway shared his thoughts of Rutgers as a "Beloved Community" and discussed the challenges, considerations, and plans for the university's future in his first interview and feature in the magazine.
In conjunction with the President’s Office, UCM monitors coverage of president Jonathan Holloway in the news, promotes his standing as a leading historian, and facilitates interviews with media. He was mentioned in more than 5,100 stories in print, digital, and broadcast media last year, including an interview wtih CBS News taped at SHI Stadium.
UCM contributed to the communications needs for the inauguration of Jonathan Holloway as the 21st president of Rutgers, including creating a broad range of promotional materials and graphic elements featuring the inauguration theme Rutgers: This Is what Excellence looks like.
The department pitched and promoted the launch of President Holloway’s Rutgers Summer Service Internship Initiative, which welcomed the first 100 students to participate in the program. Our efforts resulted in 20,011 social media impressions, 317 social media engagements, and 1,567 pageviews of the story in Rutgers Today.
Faces & Voices of Rutgers
Faces & Voices, a collaborative video series, tells the Rutgers story through its greatest asset – the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who make it a dynamic place of discovery and enrichment. Through a series of conversations, President Holloway learns about Rutgers from the individuals who exemplify the university's diversity, commitment, and impact. Shared through Rutgers channels, the series also premiered on the Big Ten Network in January 2022.
University News and Media Relations
UCM tracks all news coverage of Rutgers and develops daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual news coverage reports for university leadership and governing boards that capture the breadth and sentiment of the coverage.
Highlights of FY 2021
672,000+
news stories citing Rutgers
578
Rutgers experts in the news
9 out of 10
Rutgers news stories are favorably ranked for the institution
Pitching and Promoting Stories
Rutgers boards voted to divest from fossil fuels. UCM pitched the story to regional, national, higher ed reporters, and a targeted list of media interested in the environment, social justice, and finance.
70 news stories resulted
We pitched Rutgers experts Maria Venetis, Maurice Elias, and Yana Rodgers to speak on aspects of life after the pandemic, including mental health, how we communicate, and the future of work.
71 news stories resulted
UCM worked with Rutgers-Newark colleagues to promote the renaming of 15 Washington Street residence hall to honor the late Supreme Court justice and Rutgers Law School professor. UCM created video assets, B-roll, and provided photos.
350+ news stories resulted
The Scarlet Guarantee was announced as a historical financial aid package that discounts tuition and fees for some Rutgers–New Brunswick students with a multi-channel promotion including media interviews with Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway; a Star Ledger op-ed; and video message shared on social media.
125 news stories
Promoted President Holloway in his role as a leading expert of African American history and author of The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans. UCM pitched national, niche, and regional media and podcasts.
95 news and feature stories generated
School of Arts and Sciences professor Erica Dunbar was an executive producer and consultant on the depiction of African Americans on the HBO series The Gilded Age. The story was pitched nationally.
289 news stories
2,981 pageviews (Rutgers Today)
Rutgers law co-dean Kimberly Mutcherson weighed in on the leaked SCOTUS decision.
491 news stories
12,547 social media impressions
67 social media engagements
4,948 pageviews (Rutgers Today)
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive health and director of the Reproductive Choice Program at New Jersey Medical School Glenmarie Matthews broke down the basics of New Jersey’s reproductive choice law.
35 news stories
4,799 pageviews (Rutgers Today)
Rutgers researchers created the perfect strawberry for dipping.
4 news stories
70,607 social media impressions
1,541 social media engagements
3,205 pageviews (Rutgers Today)
We provided expert commentary to the media which resulted in interviews on the CBS Morning Show, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Huffington Post.
Managing Universitywide Social Media Accounts
UCM tracks, manages, and monitors the five @RutgersU social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.
Highlights of FY 2021
707,090
total social media followers
42.8 million
social media impressions
@RutgersU channels
@RutgersU channels
3,671
social media posts
Monitoring Rutgers across All Social Media Channels
UCM uses social media listening tools to monitor the conversations people are having about Rutgers across all social media to gain insights that inform our understanding of public sentiment regarding Rutgers, its reputation, and its overall brand.
1.6 million Rutgers brand mentions in FY 2021
Mentions are counted across over 100 million data sources, in 50+ languages, and across 25+ social networks and other platforms.
Issues, Emergency, and Crisis Management Communications
UCM coordinates with Institutional Planning and Operations and communication teams across the university to notify the university community of urgent issues, testing, and emergency notifications.
Emergency Communication
767,734
social media impressions, FY 21
109,000+
faculty, staff, and students reached via universitywide emails
COVID-19 Communications
With a focus on providing timely, multichannel outreach to the Rutgers community and media, UCM manages and disseminates COVID-19 related communications and information for the university community.
UCM continues to maintain the primary source of information for the Rutgers community on university operations related to the crisis and the official document of record on the university’s response to the pandemic.
1.4 million pageviews since launch
UCM, in collaboration with Institutional Planning and Operations, highlighted and profiled employees, our essential workers, who kept the university running and served those who remained on campus while most of the university community remained remote.
A peer-to-peer based testimonial effort to encourage vaccination among faculty and staff was supported by web and social media posts.
516,800+ social media impressions
Rutgers was the first university to require students become vaccinated. UCM handled media inquiries and disseminated vaccine info.
6,330 vaccine requirement news stories
81,949 pageviews on Rutgers Today
1.2 million pageviews on rutgers.edu with COVID-19 alert banner and homepage mosaic
66,000 impressions @RutgersU social media channels
Booster requirement for Spring 2022
The university required booster documentation for eligible faculty, staff, and students.
240 news stories
3,807 pageviews (Rutgers Today)
328,549 impressions on social media
39,283 engagements on social media
Recorded and published a new episode of the ongoing podcast series On the Pandemic, which explores the pandemic, its impact, and the recovery across the university. It’s available on all major podcast platforms and was shared via social media.
25,488 impressions
163 engagements
Rutgers University Cannabis Information Campaign
In support of the Cannabis Decriminalization Impact Task Force, UCM created a comprehensive communications plan to inform the university community about the continued prohibition of cannabis on campus. A webpage includes an extensive list of FAQ, resources, the task force report, and information on relevant university policies about the prohibition of the use and possession of cannabis on university property.
Rutgers Pride Campaign, #DYKRutgers
UCM designed a campaign to deliver bite-sized institutional facts and figures to build pride among our strongest brand ambassadors: faculty, staff, students, alumni, and Rutgers supporters. Distributed through myRutgers portal, search.rutgers.edu results, and social media, we use #DYKRutgers (Do you know Rutgers?) to frame the collection of weekly university facts many correlating to major news stories, holidays, or events.
Commencement 2022
UCM successfully promoted and supported Rutgers' 256th Anniversary Commencement ceremony held, in person, on Sunday, May 15, 2022.
UCM created a family of graphics for event collateral material: refreshed Commencement graphic, invites, program book, social media. Promoted graduation ceremonies and highlighted Class of 2022 graduates across universitywide social media accounts.
We created and promoted graduating student profiles, the ceremony speaker and degree recipients, and Commencement events and celebrations through storytelling, photography, and video in Rutgers Today and on @RutgersU social media, garnering over 25,000 pageviews, 259,400 video views, and over 1 million social media impressions.
UCM manages the Commencement website which received 64,000+ visitors and 516,000+ total pageviews from February to May 23. The live streaming of the May 15 event had nearly 6,500 views on the site.
Swag Portal for Rutgers-Branded Merchandise
UCM in collaboration with University Procurement Services created the Swag Portal, an online platform that encourages the strategic sourcing of Rutgers-branded merchandise. Making finding and buying Rutgers-branded merchandise easier, the portal streamlines the purchasing and design process for Rutgers units to secure promotional items: apparel, face coverings, bags, pins, displays, specialty items, giveaways, and more.
359 Rutgers units placed orders
669 total orders placed
$3.5 million in total orders
$4 million+ in savings resulting from competitive and discounted pricing for the university
Brand Management
UCM defines, elevates, and protects the Rutgers brand by managing our brand assets and enhancing the public prominence of the university through communications.
This reimagined resource site, built with the Rutgers Core Component Library, features a new Quick Links section, FAQ library, streamlined brand policy details, and a “I Want Help With” service-focused section to help university communicators find the resources they need.
37,000+ visitors annually
Partnering with Academic Affairs, UCM developed new design guidelines for digital badges that are awarded for demonstrating completion of cocurricular, extracurricular, or noncredit-related learning. Digital templates allow badge administrators to easily create the graphic files needed for the Rutgers’ digital badge catalog.
The ACE program includes outside communications firms with master service agreements in place with the university, making engagement for Rutgers units faster and easier. Last year, nine virtual information sessions were held featuring 47 ACE vendors with 234 Rutgers employees participating.
To help faculty and staff better understand the communications resources available to them and to provide guidance on the correct implementation of the university's policies related to branding, marketing, and communications, UCM launched an enewsletter distributed twice per semester. Issues are opened by more than 5,700 recipients with 1,300 users clicking through to obtain more information.
UCM provides training on communications policies and resources to the university community.
To continue training sessions while staff worked remotely, we created new virtual training sessions with four training modules, held twice each semester, and new asynchronous training modules in Canvas are available for employees to use at their own pace and convenience.
In adherence with Rutgers’ advertising policy, UCM reviews all advertisements, ensuring that Rutgers is presented in a consistent, coherent, and brand-standard manner.
40 departments submitted ads, FY 2021
311 ads reviewed and approved
$4.6 million in total media buys
Marketing
A new billboard was installed on Somerset Street in New Brunswick highlighting the achievements and scholarly pursuits of our students. Continuing the theme of “This Is What Excellence Looks Like,” the billboard is intended to instill pride in Rutgers and our nationally recognized students.
The Rutgers Holiday Store marked a successful second year in 2021 with more than 660 items sold. Launching on November 1 and running through mid-January, the store offered a mix of Rutgers-branded apparel and gifts including ugly holiday sweaters, pajamas, dog hoodies, and socks.
Rutgers Core Component Library
A multi-template, 65+ component building tool for websites that empowers university units to create brand-forward, accessible sites with an improved online presence and better user experience. The RCCL is managed by UCM, R-Comm, and the Office of Research. Using Drupal (and in the future WordPress), the component library will continue to grow to meet the web needs of the university.
Examples of Sites Created by Units Using the RCCL
Website Collaborations with Rutgers Partners
Working with partners at the university and using the Rutgers Core Component Library (RCCL), we created websites with brand-consistent, graphically driven, and engaging content.
Partner Websites Created with the RCCL
Photography and Other Digital Assets
UCM launched the new Rutgers Digital Asset Library to store, organize, and share photos and videos with the university community. Providing access to thousands of images and a growing number of videos, the self-serve asset management tool is accessible to faculty and staff who can create collections and share and download assets.
Highlights of FY 2021
- 17,000+ total assets in database
- 9,000+ assets downloaded
- 3,000+ assets added
- 130 new photo shoots
Storytelling through Video
Telling the stories of Rutgers people and places through video, UCM produces content for Rutgers.edu, Rutgers Today, social media platforms, and other university projects and channels.
Highlights of FY 2021
- 6.3 million total video views, including YouTube and Vimeo
- 45 videos produced for UCM channels
Get to Know UCM
UCM and R-Comm are part of the Department of External Affairs at Rutgers, which is also home to the offices for State Government Affairs and Federal Relations. In all that the department does, communicating Rutgers’ knowledge and values as a top public research university and increasing the university’s prominence is paramount.