Syracuse University recently created the position of associate vice president of public relations to oversee the Office of News Services and the university’s communications agenda.

After a yearlong search, Erin Kane of Upstate New York became the first to hold the position at the university. She was hired in early November at the appointment of Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs.

The position was created to further increase the visibility of the university and the outstanding work of students, faculty, staff and alumni, Quinn said. Kane, a resident of Pittsford, N.Y., and graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was offered the position in early November and accepted.

The agenda is designed to raise the university’s visibility among external audiences and core constituents. To execute the agenda, Kane said, she will be expected to work with several professionals on campus.

Quinn said the creation of the position is not associated with the recent allegations against former associate men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine and the resulting media attention on the university. The position and the search to find someone to fill it began about a year ago, Quinn said.

Kane said she hopes to affect the university’s image and SU’s future as positively as she can.

‘With great scholarship, intellectual resources and talented people come all sorts of stories worth telling,’ she said. ‘My job is to get those stories of impact the greatest exposure possible in what’s become an increasingly competitive and fragmented media landscape.’

Most recently, Kane served as the founder and president of the public relations firm EMK Public Relations based outside of Boston. As a communications strategist with nearly 20 years of in-house, agency and consulting experience, she led the communications and public relations efforts for the award-winning PBS news and public affairs series ‘Frontline,’ according to a Jan. 3 SU News release.

At ‘Frontline,’ Kane was responsible for directing national publicity and community outreach campaigns for more than 200 documentary films and investigative reports, landing coverage within the pages of several major marketing papers across the nation, according to the release.

‘My experiences in both public media and academic medical centers should translate well to higher education,’ Kane said. ‘While I’ve worked in PR for 20 years, I’d say it’s my national media expertise and the fact that I’m embracing life in the Finger Lakes region that makes me a fit for SU.’

Kane began her professional public relations career in 1991 by joining the external affairs office at Tufts New England Medical Center, now known as Tufts Medical Center. Later, she went on to manage media relations at Deaconess Hospital, a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, according to the release.

Additionally, Kane has worked on several high-profile PBS productions and specials with co-production partners, such as The New York Times, ABC News, the BBC and NPR. She led the national community engagement campaign for a six-hour report on the intersection of religion and public life in America titled ‘God in America,’ a co-production of the ‘American Experience’ and ‘Frontline,’ according to the release.

‘Erin is really a dynamic individual who brings extensive experience creating and directing national proactive media campaigns,’ Quinn said. ‘She is going to serve us well as we continue to raise our visibility across a wide range of constituencies.’

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on January 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri