South Snohomish News

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last two months, our consultant, Campbell & Company, has held a series of sessions with various shared governance and other groups across campus to listen deeply to develop a brand anthem for Central Washington University. The branding work is essential for us as we elevate our recruitment efforts, marketing, and storytelling.

The work is unfolding through a series of milestone projects. The first engagement with the university provided Campbell & Co. the opportunity to ask a series of questions to elicit the heart and soul of Central—who we are at our core, why our work matters, and what difference we make in the world. Please remember that a brand is different from a marketing tagline; a brand is something that will not be seen explicitly or directly in marketing but will guide that work.

During this first engagement, representatives met with leadership of our exempt employees, classified employees, faculty, and students, as well as leadership teams from the various divisions, faculty and staff of color, a community group, student success personnel, athletics, our centers, the foundation board, alumni board, board of trustees, and many others. The next step in this process is to convene again with many of these groups in larger sessions to share back what they have heard and listen, again, to feedback and direction.

In the month of May, they will conduct smaller sessions with many of these same groups to begin to share our brand anthem and again get feedback and input. This will conclude with a meeting with the Board of Trustees to finalize our brand.

Campbell & Company has also been listening to and utilizing the work we have been doing developing our Vision and Mission statement and they are simultaneously using these sessions to develop a comprehensive campaign case statement. We expect all of this work to conclude in the coming months.

If you have questions, please let me know.

Be well,

A. James Wohlpart

President

Original source can be found here.