Randolph Community College Public Relations Procedures

It is the responsibility of all employees to maintain excellent public relations with everyone we serve. However, all public news releases and other forms of public information should be submitted to the director of communications for final composition and distribution. The procedure for preparation and approval or press releases and other public notifications is maintained by the director of communications and available in the Office of College Marketing and on the RCC Web site. The following procedures have been established to handle public information (news releases, feature stories, and other events that warrant contact with the media). The director of communications will work with each department to maximize our opportunities for positive publicity.

(1) Prepare a written account of what is happening, who is involved, when it is happening, where, etc. When you bring the information to the director of communications, distribution, photos, release date and other details will be discussed.

(2) The information needs to be submitted at least three weeks prior to the event or class in order to assure maximum distribution. Many radio and TV stations and publications that run public service announcements require the information four weeks ahead of air time or publication.

(3) When the release has been written, usually it will be returned to the department for a quick review. If you definitely want to review the release before it is submitted, please tell the director of communications as he/she can reserve extra time for a longer review process. Copies of the release will be provided for the departments at their request and copies will be kept on file in the Office of College Marketing.

(4) The Office of College Marketing maintains photos and slides for publicity purposes and welcomes any contributions to that file.

(5) The director of communications will maintain a loose-leaf notebook with releases filed in chronological order. Please feel free to check it for background information, ideas, etc.

(6) Calls coming into the College from representatives of the media will be given to the director of communications unless someone else is asked for by name. The director of communications will then refer the call or request for information to the appropriate person or department. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that all press contacts are followed up without the media representative being transferred all over the campus, to have one person whom the media may call on with requests, and to enable the College to keep a record of these contacts and the results of them. To help accomplish this goal, please let the director of communications know if a department or personnel has been contacted directly by a member of the press and the results of that contact.

(7) Be sure to let the director of communications know about new programs, personnel, etc.; any particularly interesting projects; honors and awards; or anything else that might provide positive publicity for RCC. Even if a department is unable to prepare a story on one of these subjects, someone else may be able, or the director of communications can alert the media. Suggestions for feature stories will be sent to the media regularly.

 

Contact the director of communications at (336) 633-0208 or e-mail cdhefferin@randolph.edu.