Copy and share everything - examples of publications and products. 

Let's face it: No one who works in communications and marketing wants to design flyers or write email copy every day. These professionals crave inventive yet impactful projects that will propel the school, college, or university they serve. But too often creative people devote their workdays to cranking out uninspired deliverables for Director So-and-So's upcoming event. When a marcomm team functions as a service-level agency, its members live in reaction mode. Its agenda is set by urgent requests from other units rather than the institution's strategic goals.

Building a university brand is not like painting a house, but both pursuits require similar preparation.

To Nikki Sunstrum, director of social media at the University of Michigan, social media channels shouldn't be viewed as "shiny" but rather as strategic communications platforms. Since Sunstrum joined U-M in January 2014, the university has become a leader in using Snapchat to engage with prospective and current students as well as young alumni. "If you're not going to put the most valuable content in that space, it's a missed opportunity," she says. Sunstrum will chair the 2017 CASE Social Media and Community Conference, which will be held March 13–15 in Los Angeles.

If you work in media relations at a college or university, that sentiment has likely been a takeaway from some interactions with faculty members and administrators.

What members are thinking and sharing

What's the essence of your institution's brand? When Heather Swain, Michigan State University's vice president for communications and brand strategy, presents on branding in higher education, she includes a slide displaying ice cream cones with various flavors of ice cream. Why? "Our job as marketers is to project our university's flavor out into the world," she says.

Educational institutions famously undervalue the annual fund, perceiving it merely as a means to unrestricted funds, according to Lori Yersh, senior advisor to the vice president of advancement and external relations at Concordia University in Canada and an annual giving expert who has consulted at more than 120 educational and health care institutions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Rory Green is a second-generation development officer—both of her parents were fundraisers—and the founder of Fundraiser Grrl, a cheeky crowdsourced blog about the rewarding, frustrating, and downright outlandish things fundraisers experience. Through the GIF-driven posts, fundraisers both celebrate and gripe about their professional lives. Face palms, snark, and funny tales abound.

Social media is changing not only how people live but also how they grieve. In 2016, fans of David Bowie and Prince flocked to Twitter and Facebook to mourn the music icons' deaths—the artists became trending topics on various social channels—and to start the collective grieving process.