Key Messages

To identify topics of emphasis for the Be remarkable campaign, University Relations has developed a series of key messages organized around priorities described in The Iowa Promise, the University's strategic plan for 2005-2010. Key message topics include:

• Undergraduate education
• Graduate and professional education and research
• Diversity
• Vitality
• Engagement

Links to key message topics also are available on the home page of the Be remarkable campaign web site. In developing key messages, we focused on the following:

• Areas where the University can claim achievements or attributes that objective observers would agree are remarkable.
• Demonstrable benefits to University stakeholders, the citizens of Iowa, or people everywhere.
• Themes with broad application across campus.
• Topics that appeal to multiple audiences.
• Statements that can be supported with concrete examples, statistics, and other information.

The key messages and the examples they cite are by no means comprehensive, but they may help external relations directors and other campus communicators select themes to highlight, particularly in projects aimed at off-campus audiences. We encourage colleagues to contribue additional messages and examples—please send us your ideas.

Campus communicators may choose to use these messages in various ways. The key messages summarize institutional strengths and priorities, and they can be used practically verbatim if you're looking to describe the quality and distinction of the University as a whole.

These messages also may be adapted for use by particular colleges, departments, and programs to highlight unique strengths. For example, the undergraduate education message on "remarkable options" could provide a springboard for talking about variety within a given department's curriculum, off-campus learning opportunities, interdisciplinary study, and other choices available to students.

Finally, the key messages may provide guiding principles for identifying the kinds of stories you want to tell. Consider the "remarkable partnerships" message within the engagement section. How do your faculty, students, and staff connect with communities? Are there individual examples you can explore? How about alumni who exhibit this dedication to community needs?

Like the campaign as a whole, the Be remarkable key messages are deliberately general and flexible. We hope they provide starting points for developing the messages you want to convey.