Public Relations Highlights
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The mission of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies’ public relations office is to promote a favorable environment for student and faculty recruitment, private giving and public funding by raising awareness of the college and its accomplishments among essential constituencies. It supports the Andrew Young School goal of becoming the highest rated policy school in the South and one of the highest ranked in the nation by 2007 (AYSPS 2002-2007 Strategic Plan). The office advocates the use of planned and purposeful marketing communication ideas, strategies and tactics. Cynthia Pembroke coordinates external communications activities for the college, and Avani Raval coordinates publications and events.

The AYSPS audience is widespread. It includes potential students, alumni, and parents; potential faculty and research associates; members of the State Legislature; peer researchers; government, non-profit and business leaders in the Atlanta, regional, national, and global arenas; decision makers at national and international development agencies such as USAID and The World Bank, as well as the leaders in foreign governments with whom the AYSPS works; the media; and the community at large.

The Andrew Young School mission to “inform the debate” on local, state, national and global policy, hinges on its research being widely known. The public relations office strives to reach its many audiences via its media relations, event management, and publications efforts.

Media Relations

The Andrew Young School was often cited in 2004, including media hits in such places as The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Detroit News, and The Scientist. The Atlanta Business Chronicle, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the hometown daily newspaper whose influence drives much of Metro Atlanta and North Georgia’s media decisions, are important media outlets for the School, and often include expertise from the Andrew Young School.

Topics range widely. Samples include: taxation of the wealthy, the effectiveness of school vouchers, health insurance tax credits, regional transportation, the economics of sports, obesity, foreign-born scientists, and gay spending power. See the Media Hits section for a list of media hits from 2004.

Georgia State University's Department of University Relations assists in Andrew Young School media relations. A designated public relations specialist works with the School, writing and distributing press releases on college research, programs and events and proactively pitching experts who can discuss newsworthy topics. Reporters from local and national media outlets often contact University Relations seeking commentary for their news stories, and the department matches them with faculty members in the Andrew Young School who have the appropriate expertise. Many of the school's professors are frequently sought for interviews on a wide variety of subjects. Media hits in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution are tracked daily, and distributed to the School. Similarly, Bacon’s news clippings are sent periodically from the University Relations office.

Publications

The Briefing. A key component of the school’s visibility efforts is The Briefing, the Andrew Young School's newsletter showcasing research, teaching and outreach by the School’s faculty, students, alumni and friends. The Briefing is sent three times a year to 12,000 constituents (4,800 alumni and 7,200 friends, about half of which are colleagues, deans and department heads, and many of which are government officials), and is featured on the School Web site. Feedback is impressive regarding the content and presentation, and the sheer magnitude of activity that the School consistently achieves. Jennifer Echols continues to write The Briefing, bringing clarity to the issues, and setting stories in context with what is happening in the world. The publication’s annual highlight is the Research Issue.

Annual Report. Each year the School conducts a thorough accounting of what it has done, producing an approximately 200-page report. Hardcopies of the report are distributed to select peers and are available for distribution throughout the year, and announcement cards of the annual report’s availability on the Web are sent to 12,000 alumni and friends of the school.

Academic Brochures. Academic brochures are available for each of the Andrew Young School programs. In 2004, updated brochures were made for the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. in Economics, for the M.P.A., and for the Bachelor’s and Master’s in Urban Policy Studies. An updated brochure for the Ph.D. in Public Policy was underway at the turn of the year.

Viewbook. The Viewbook is a full color brochure with broad overview of the School. With a pocket in back, it is useful for a wide array of events, in which specific information targeted toward each event is placed. Plans were underway in late 2004 for a new edition of the Viewbook in Spring 2005 to incorporate the new visual identity of the School, as well as to reflect new faculty and research associates, and the new building.

Web site. The Andrew Young School's Web site (www.andrewyoungschool.org) offers a wide array of information about the School. “Expert pages” are maintained for AYSPS faculty and research associates, including contact information, vitae, bios, and photos. “Story ideas,” news releases, and the online experts guide provide assistance for the news media. An active calendar site and informational intranet area prove useful for faculty and staff. Information on academic programs, courses and syllabi are popular with current and prospective students, as well as those that advise them. Availability of working papers online continues to grow. Stories from The Briefing are featured prominently throughout the site. The core AYSPS site moved to a new server in 2004, allowing growth in interactivity, traffic reporting, and systems security. The Web site averaged about 12,000 visitors per month in 2004; it finished the year with 12,286 visitors, 22,362 visits, and 78,012 pages visited in the month of December.

Dean’s e-News. The Dean’s e-News occurred quarterly in 2004, serving as a vehicle for sharing achievements within the School, and for identifying news to be distributed to external audiences. Robin Steinbrenner oversaw the Dean’s e-News. Plans are in progress for a move to a weekly Dean’s e-News in 2005.

Georgia State Magazine and The Villager. The Georgia State University Office of University Relations promotes the Andrew Young School along with other colleges on campus through its publications, including Georgia State Magazine, a 40-page glossy magazine published quarterly for alumni, donors, legislators and the university community (circulation: 110,000), and The Villager, the university’s official faculty/staff newspaper, which is distributed biweekly to all employees (circulation: 3,500).

Advertising. The Andrew Young School advertised its programs in the Fall 2004 edition of the Eastern Economic Journal, and the October 2004 edition of the Southern Economic Association Journal.

Additional materials are created as needed, including event brochures, job placement announcements, and others. PowerPoint templates with AYSPS identity are offered to researchers; publications are in adherence to the University's identity guide. Georgia State University's professional photographers are often used. The research centers produce a wide array of publications, including working paper series, fiscal research notes, child policy brochures, and conference brochures.

In planning for an updated Viewbook in early 2005, plans are underway to work with the centers in establishment of a new and more defined branding mechanism across the many AYSPS public relations outlets. At year’s end, consideration and evaluation of an Alumni Electronic Newsletter was underway, with the objective of fostering a sense of greater connectedness between alumni and the Andrew Young School.

Events

The Andrew Young School is a vibrant place, with a busy calendar of events. (See the routinely updated Calendar on the AYSPS Web site.) Each of the academic departments and centers within the School has a wide array of research and outreach initiatives, with a corresponding lot of events. The Dean’s office coordinates events within the college to ensure minimum overlap and maximum attendance per event. Avani Raval oversees scheduling of rooms, coordination with University photographers and audio/video production crews, catering, and event promotion for AYSPS events.

Event highlights in 2004 included:

Honors Day. Honors Day is an annual, special day in the life of the college. Exemplary students are recognized in a formal reception, dinner and awards ceremony. See the “Student Awards, Honors and Scholarships” section of this report for further information.

Commencement Receptions. Three commencement receptions were held in 2004. With the move to the new building in July, the receptions moved from the Student Center (Spring) to the lobby of the new building (Summer and Fall). The new building’s two-floor lobby with wide open views of the 5 Points streetside, glass-railed stairs to the Vault student area, prominent AYSPS signage and the glass railing of the mezzanine above provide an exciting atmosphere for the receptions.

Academic Department and Research Center Seminar Series. The academic departments and research centers of the Andrew Young School keep their calendars full of activities that benefit both the School and the broader AYS audience. Lecture series include: The Child Policy Speaker Series, Dan Sweat Lecture Series, Applied Econometrics Workshop Series, Environmental Policy Program Seminars and Environmental and Experimental Economics Seminar Series, Fiscal Research seminars, Health Policy Center Conference, International Studies Program lecture series and conference, Microeconomic Theory Seminar Series, Nonprofit Executive Roundtable and seminars, Public Administration and Urban Studies seminars, Research Atlanta Forum, and the Roundtable for Atlanta- Area Experimentalists. Seminar speakers came from such places as Harvard University, Purdue University, the University of Michigan, and the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

Units within the School host a myriad of events, including those off-site. For example, the Department of Economics hosted a reception for peers and alumni at the American Economics Association annual conference in San Diego in January. For further detailing of these events, see the research center sections of this report.

The School participated in Georgia State University’s yearly reception for the State Legislature. Due to budget constraints, the event occurred in 2004 in the morning at the Capitol, rather than in the evening at the Freight Depot. Krispy Kreme doughnuts were available, the college's work was featured on displays, and key faculty responded to lawmakers' queries.

Coordination between the AYSPS and other units on campus occurred in 2004 via monthly PR Council and PR Executive Roundtable meetings, hosted by the Office of University Relations, to review events underway as well as major publications and media initiatives. AYSPS also works in conjunction with such offices as the Office of Development, routinely providing materials and assisting these offices in their work for the AYSPS, and working groups such as the College Webmasters Group, which assisted the University in selection of the Google search tool on its Web site.

Measuring Success

The efforts of the Public Relations office of the Andrew Young School continued to pay off in 2004.

U.S. News Rankings. The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is again among the top institutions that offer a public affairs degree in the 2005 Edition of U.S. News & World Report's exclusive rankings, “America's Best Graduate Schools.” In just six years, the school's overall ranking jumped 10 places, from 36th in the 1999 Edition to 26th in 2005. More than 250 public affairs programs were considered in the rankings. Even more exciting, the School now ranks among the top ten percent of these schools in four specialties: Public Finance and Budgeting (5th), City Management and Urban Policy (12th), Public Management and Administration (16th) and Public Policy Analysis (21st).

The School also measures its effectiveness in reaching its audiences by other “rating systems.” In a School with a focused mission on “informing the debate,” it is important to look at the “rate” of such things as invitations to present, citations, number of requests by government and nonprofits for task force membership and reliance on AYSPS research, and number of requests to speak for public forums on policy topics of import to the community at large. AYSPS continues to track these indicators in its yearly annual report. Measurements in 2004, such as faculty working in over 33 countries, over 170 papers delivered at other universities and professional meetings, 4,174 students taught, and many requests for expert advice from the Georgia General Assembly, showed that the Andrew Young School is reaching its audience, and continues to achieve its mission to “inform the debate” on local, state, national and global policy.