Ithaca College

Dear Campus Community,

I am writing to share with you that the senior leadership team and I have recently made an adjustment to the communications office’s placement within the institution. The Office of College Relations and Communications is moving out of the Division of Institutional Advancement and is being re-named the Division of College Communications. Associate Vice President Jennifer Campbell, who has led the communications team since arriving at Ithaca College at the end of 2015, now reports to me and has just joined the senior leadership team.

This change does not modify existing approaches to budgets, staffing, or core responsibilities for either communications or advancement. Rather, it represents an acknowledgment of the role that our communications team has already been playing at Ithaca College. The senior leadership team and I feel that it is important to recognize the proven value and growing importance that communications leadership brings to the whole college when it partners equally on critical initiatives and decisions. As many of you may know, the communications office has only been part of the advancement division since 2015, and for some years before that was part of the enrollment management division. However, the office’s focus has always spanned communications priorities across the entire institution, and will continue to do so. Their scope will continue to cover enrollment, advancement, strategic leadership communication, brand and visibility, emergency and crisis communication, and institutional initiatives.

We are continuing to evaluate the ultimate best placement and structure for college communications. In the meantime, the senior leadership team and I feel that adjusting the reporting structure is a timely first step. As we move through the strategic planning process and look toward kicking off implementation efforts next year, both advancement and communications will be strong partners in facilitating that critical work. For this reason, we felt it was important to make this reporting adjustment now to allow both teams to focus fully on their specialized roles and expertise.

I hope you will join me in thanking Chris Biehn, vice president for advancement, for his dedication to leading and supporting the communications office over the past four years, and commending Jennifer Campbell and her team for making a positive impact on so many aspects of the college in the midst of constant change.

Sincerely,

Shirley M. Collado
President