University of San Diego

My current role at USD gives me lots of freedom to create.  I’ve learned a ton in the five years I’ve worked here and continue to expand my horizons.  I was able to earn my Master of Science in Global Leadership – a business leadership degree with a global focus, offered as an alternative to the one-size-fits-all MBA that “everyone” has.

Here are some of the fun things I’ve been able to create while working at the university:

MS in Global Leadership Student Blog – leveraging the interesting life stories of our students, I’ve been able to create a blog that is student-written and full of great stories.  This blog serves a couple of specific purposes – first, it helps our students and alums reflect and put into words their own experiences.  The blog is also a great place to send prospective students when I hear, “so what do people do with this degree?”

MS in Global Leadership Blog – this blog is really more of a news and events posting blog, but includes some interesting, on-the-spot accounts of things happening on campus.  It’s just another window into the MS in Global Leadership world for those who are interested.

MS in Global Leadership website – using Adobe Contribute, I’ve been able to edit and create content within some specified boundaries (USD branding standards).  Always a work in progress.

One day while brainstorming ideas on how we can capitalize on the number of military (specifically Navy) officers we had in our master’s program, I came up with the tagline “From the Wardroom to the Boardroom.”  The director of marketing immediately sent that to the university’s general counsel to trademark for our exclusive use.  We built a print campaign around the idea of officers in transition – going from military service to the business world.  Here are a couple of examples of the artwork we created for those print ads.

At first glance, this print piece might seem a little wordy – but we wanted to tell enough of Bronston’s story to get folks to visit the custom landing page to get the rest of the story.  Next year’s version will likely include a QR code that will take you to a mobile optimized landing page, possibly a video for more on the story.

Each of these platforms has given me a ton of experience in finding ways to engage alumni, current students and prospective students – all in an effort to increase the quality and quantity of student applications (which has happened consistently).  More importantly, Google Analytics has provided valuable insight into what works and what doesn’t work.  I’ve also been able to promote these platforms and engage others through MS in Global Leadership LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

Joan Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, University of San Diego