Job Description

Communications Specialist

Job Description Summary:

Reporting directly to the AVP of Strategic Marketing and Communications, the Communications Specialist serves as primary writer and editor for internal and external communications including press releases, newsletters, news stories, social media content, and event calendars to raise awareness of the university to internal campus community, regional audiences, and local media. This role writes, edits, and distributes campus community announcements, including but not limited to, the alumni magazine (Voice), campus community updates, and social media content. This role prepares background materials for university spokespeople and pitches faculty as experts to media outlets at the local, regional, and national levels to support reputational branding efforts. Additionally, the Communications Specialist is expected to manage and update the faculty experts guides, media lists, and media placement reports.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 5 years of experience in news and feature writing.
• Knowledge of regional news media and what constitutes a story of media interest.
• Familiarity with AP/Chicago style.
• Sound professional judgement and decision making.
• Sound news judgement.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and respond appropriately to time-sensitive issues.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to connect faculty excellence and research and university initatives to news trends
• where La Verne faculty/staff can be quoted/referenced.
• Ability to stay up-to-date on developing higher education trends and communication
• strategies.
• Availability to work occasional nights or weekends.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines while also being flexible enough to multitask and quickly
• address unanticipated media inquiries or events.

Specific Duties:
Duty: Serve as the primary writer and editor for a variety of communication materials, including press releases, newsletters, news stories, social media, and event calendars. Craft engaging and informative campus community announcements for the alumni magazine (Voice), social media content, campus community updates, and other strategic communications initiatives as needed. Engage internal and external audiences by responding to inquiries and answering questions. When needed, route questions to appropriate members of the university community for follow up. Assist in maintaining a social media content calendar in project management system (Wrike) as posts and campaigns are developed.
Percentage of Time: 35

Duty: Develop advertorial and advertising copy to support university marketing initiatives and campaigns for the recruitment of undergraduate and graduate programs. Collaborate with Marketing team to align communications efforts with broader college initiatives and promotional strategies. Assist with editing recruitment materials, including emails, flyers, brochures. etc.
Percentage of Time: 20

Duty: Manage and utilize Pluralytics software to align the university’s content with its brand voice. Refine software benchmarks as needed to be reflective of the different audiences, messaging, value propositions, and tone as our voice evolves. Analyze content across different communications pieces and identify updates. Support website content communications to facilitate updates as needed. Review content across all webpages to ensure brand continuity and value proposition/messaging alignment.
Percentage of Time: 20

Duty: Prepare comprehensive background materials to spokespeople to enhance media interactions. Actively pitch faculty as subject matter experts to media outlets at local, regional and national levels. Manage database of media placements and media lists. Manage and update faculty experts guides to facilitate easy access for media inquiries. Maintain accurate and current media lists and produce media placement reports to measure the effectiveness of communication efforts
Percentage of Time: 10

Duty: Oversee and manage Campus+ platform for article submissions from faculty and campus contributors. Ensure an active cadence that is reflective of all colleges for video and published articles. Manage content on Inside Higher Education Campus+ university profile.
Percentage of Time: 5

Duty: Be a culturally competent employee who attends/completes diversity and inclusivity trainings as provided by the university.
Percentage of Time: 5

Duty: Other duties and responsibilities as assigned
Percentage of Time: 5

Salary Range
Maximum: $70,000
Minimum: $68,640

Benefits Summary:

Applicants, please note that actual compensation is determined by several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, certifications, relevant education or training, and specific work location, among others. The offered wage or salary is only one aspect of an employee’s total compensation

Benefits include a comprehensive health and wellness plan, tuition remission program for employee, spouse, and dependent children, a generous contribution to the University’s 403B retirement plan, and a generous time off plan.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion and clearance of a background check and employment verification.

Location: La Verne Main Campus
Close Date:
Open Until Filled: Yes

To be considered for this position please visit our web site and apply on line at the following link:

Institutional Profile
Located in Southern California, the University of La Verne offers a distinctive and relevant educational experience to a diverse population of students, preparing them for successful careers and a commitment to lifelong learning across the liberal arts and professional programs. The academic units of the not-for-profit university include the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, and the College of Law. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate programs, including degree programs tailored for working adults. The university's central campus is located 30 miles east of Los Angeles in the historic Old Town section of La Verne, a city with a population of approximately 35,000 at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The university also has eight regional campuses throughout California and the College of Law campus in Ontario, California. The university is classified as a Carnegie Doctoral Institution with moderate research activity. Core values are reflected throughout all curricular and co-curricular programs, its emphasis on close professor-student interaction, personal support of its students, and its diversity.

The University of La Verne prides itself in being reflective of the diversity of Southern California. Approximately 80 percent of its nearly 8,500 students come from diverse backgrounds and the U.S. Department of Education has designated the university as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). With 80,000 alumni, the university fulfills a critical community function in educating students from underserved populations, many of whom are the first generation in their family to attend college.

The University of La Verne is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against employment or employees on any basis prohibited by state and federal law. University of La Verne hires and promotes individuals based on their qualifications and is consistent with applicable state and federal laws, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, disability, medical condition a or sexual orientation

Job Tags

Full time, Local area, Flexible hours, Night shift,

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