USU works on marketing image
Editors note: This is the second on a series of articles regarding Utah State University’s new plans for recruitment and admission.
Because the value of a degree is based on an institution’s reputation, image is vital and Utah State University’s needs improvement, said Eric Olsen, director of Recruitment and Enrollment Services.
Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for undergraduate education, said many students say it is too easy to get into USU and feel their education’s value is compromised, but USU is actually very competitive.
Olsen said USU has the same requirements for admission as the University of Utah and BYU, but because USU hasn’t actively done marketing in the past, people are not aware of that.
“We sit up here in the cold and fog and even though we have great things to offer, people don’t know because no one has marketed that,” Olsen said.” Even our own students don’t realize what a great institution they’re attending. A lot of it is telling our story.”
A new marketing director, Renee Payne, was hired in September to tell that story, and Olsen said he thinks exciting things are going to happen.
“Marketing is a key factor in helping us as an institution,” Olsen said.
All of the other schools have been advertising, but USU has not had the money or the administrative authorization in the past to initiate this marketing, Olsen said.
USU is known for its space programs, engineering and natural resource departments, but other areas of the university have excelled nationally as well, according to the 2001 President’s Report.
Accounting students at USU pass the national CPA exam at twice the rate of the national average, and the art department is one of nine throughout the country invited to join the Society of Illustrators, a prestigious professional organization.
The report also states five of the last seven Utah Professors of the Year have come from USU, and USU has the 16th-most-productive research faculty in the country.
“We are at least as good, if not superior to other Utah universities in many of our programs. USU is a terrific institution with high-quality research and the best space program in the country,” Olsen said. “We just need to tell people how good we are.”
Internal marketing is important, Olsen said, so students will understand the value of their institution, and external marketing is vital to improving USU’s reputation.
Kinkead said USU is planning on more aggressive recruitment of National Merit Scholars, but the university currently offers some of the best scholarships in the state for those students. Olsen said the main reason people feel USU is at all inferior is because of their perception of the school.
“For me, one key is continuing to go after top scholars, but what will really help is when our image and branding are improved,” Olsen said.
Improving this image will benefit USU’s reputation, he said, and as a result will also increase the value of its graduates’ degrees, ensuring they will always be proud of being an Aggie.