University College of Syracuse University recently won six marketing awards, the most in its class, from the University Continuing Education Association’s marketing and publications awards competition.

University College entered the competition in a class of less than 25,000 students, competing with schools such as the universities of Mississippi and Nebraska, which probably have more students and a larger budget, said Lois Gridley, manager of editing and media services at the University College marketing department.

University College is small for its group, with about 8,000 students, and spends less than 10 percent of its overall revenue on marketing.

The University College marketing department entered into eight of the 26 categories in the competition and won six awards, including gold in the ‘single outdoor, transit or other’ category for a sign posted at three Onondaga Community College bus stop shelters, Gridley said.

The sign advertised a program that allows students to transfer their OCC credits to University College after two years, and said, ‘Make SU your next stop.’

‘The awards are based on the entry, but also its implementation and results,’ Gridley said.

University College also won silver awards in ‘mixed media’ and ‘publicity’ campaigns, as well as two more for ‘brochure’ categories. A bronze award was also given to University College in the ‘three or more colors single ad’ category.

Only about 11 students were involved in producing the advertisements, including two writers and two designers, Gridley said.

‘We create, design and place all of our ads,’ said Laurie McCarthy, senior administrator in the University College marketing department. ‘A lot of other schools use outside ad agencies.’

The ‘mixed media’ campaign included print ads, brochures, billboards and television and radio commercials of different lengths. All of the media forms were used to promote the power and reputation of an SU degree, Horsington said.

The ‘publicity’ campaign, which also won a silver award, was produced in association with the Syracuse Crunch hockey team in response to Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s effort to connect the university and the city, Gridley said.

The campaign allowed fans to enter and win a chance to become a part-time coach, general manager or announcer. The campaign also used correlating megaphones, T-shirts, program advertisements and an ice-level banner, which said, ‘Go SU … Part Time.’

The University Continuing Education Association is a worldwide organization for continuing education universities and colleges with 430 institutions and more than 200 members in 16 countries.

The marketing competition for advertisements placed in 2005 had about 400 entries from 200 schools, Gridley said.

Published on March 20, 2006 at 12:00 pm