Updates from the Office of Communications - September 2019

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As the first semester of our third century is now underway, the Office of Communications would like to share a few updates about some of our exciting projects and initiatives that have either been completed or are now in development. 

With the Third-Century Plan in mind and doubling down on Colgate’s commitment to academic excellence, the Colgate viewbook has been completely redesigned and reimagined— moving from a 28-page overview to a 63-page narrative of the Colgate experience, complete with a bookmark. The publication draws on Colgate’s new visual identity and reinforces the distinctive elements that make this institution stand out among its peers: its size, scale, and beauty; academic rigor; personality; community; and ambition. 

On July 17, we launched a new Colgate.edu. This rollout included training for 75 content managers on campus, and addressing 637 help tickets. As a reminder, if you wish to make your contact information publicly visible in the directory, you must change your settings in the Colgate Portal under the My Contact Information section.

In addition, the University catalog has been synched to the websites of individual department academic pages, and an updated student handbook is now online. We are currently working on a new weekly email for campus events and the email signature generator has been updated to replace last year’s Bicentennial-related signatures. Website-related questions and issues may be sent to website@colgate.edu.

We are also proud to announce the launch of a new online presence for the Third-Century Plan. This site will be updated in the months ahead with status reports and metrics on how our community is implementing this ambitious undertaking.  

In coordination with human resources, communications launched Inside Colgate, a new approach to the University’s campus newsletter — formerly known as Open ’Gate. This new format is in keeping with other publications produced by the institution. 

With the recent release of the summer issue, Colgate Magazine has completed a full year in the redesigned format. Reader feedback has been extremely positive, and we know that 84 percent of alumni consider the magazine to be their top channel for receiving Colgate news. Please send us your ideas for future content at magazine@colgate.edu, and let us know about new research or other projects you're working on, what your colleagues are up to, and interesting students who are excelling in the classroom. 

In addition, we've been updating Colgate's editorial style guide. The new guide is now online, and we'll be distributing print copies to those who wish to receive them this fall. 

Faculty and staff interested in media outreach, either as an expert source, writing opinion pieces, or seeking media training and advice, are cordially invited to a Media Support Mixer from 3–5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, at Merrill House. New faculty will also have the opportunity for professional headshots at that time.