Public Relations Highlights
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The mission of Andrew Young School of Policy Studies’ public relations 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. Our public relations efforts use planned and purposeful marketing communication ideas, strategies and tactics. Avani Raval coordinates public relations, 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, nonprofit and business leaders in the Atlanta, regional, national, and global arenas; decision makers at national and international development agencies such as USAID, The World Bank, and IMF, 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.

New Identity

With the move to the new building and the school's ten-year anniversary on the horizon, the Andrew Young School created a new identity with modernized logos and a uniform look for all publications and materials. Each center and department offered input on the identity, and the final product was officially adopted in Fall 2005. Avani Raval spearheaded the identity project.

Media Relations

The Andrew Young School was often cited in 2005, including media hits in such places as San Francisco Chronicle, ABC Nightly News, Savannah Morning News, Augusta Chronicle, Athens Banner-Herald, Oxford Press, The Beaufort Gazette, Gwinnett Daily Post, Boston Globe, MSNBC.com, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and more. 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: tax allocation districts, tourism, tax holidays, regional transportation, the economics of sports, obesity, and disaster preparation and response. See the Media Hits section for a list of media hits from 2005.

The Andrew Young School relied on an outside firm in 2005 to handle much of its public relations needs. Georgia State University's Department of University Relations also 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 13,000 constituents (4,800 alumni and 8,200 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. The 2004 Annual Report was the first to be placed on mini-CD, which allowed the Andrew Young School to distribute it easily with other promotional materials. Bonnie Naugle continues to coordinate this effort.

Academic Brochures. Academic brochures are available for each of the Andrew Young School programs. In 2005, updated brochures were made for the Ph.D. in Public Policy. In addition to the brochures, Wanda Cooley and members of the PAUS and Economics departments worked with Bonnie Naugle to design flyers for undergraduates, as a way to encourage majoring in AYSPS programs.

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 are underway for a new edition of the Viewbook in Spring 2006 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 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.

Dean’s e-News. The Dean’s e-News occurred weekly in 2005, serving as a vehicle for sharing achievements within the School, and for identifying news to be distributed to external audiences. Shannon Omisore oversaw editing, publishing and distribution of the Dean’s e-News.

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 Delta's inflight Sky: A Traveling Magazine, the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management's conference program, Association for Public Policy and Management's conference program, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and in The Economist.

Additional materials are created as needed, including event brochures, job placement announcements, and others. PowerPoint templates with the 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.

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 2005 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 2005. The receptions were held in the lobby of the new building. The 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.

A View From Five Points: An Andrew Young School Dialogue on Global Policy. During April 2005, the Andrew Young School hosted a series of events for both students and the community in celebration of its move into the new building at Five Points downtown. Former President Jimmy Carter joined Ambassador Andrew Young for a discussion led by Dean Bahl on April 13. The school's new partnership with The Usery Center was inaugurated with the first W.J. Usery Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Richard B. Freeman of Harvard University. A reception was also held marking a new chair, the W.J. Usery Professor of Labor Policy. Other events included four seminars, the annual Nonprofit Roundtable and the unveiling of Andrew Young's portrait in the building lobby.

Distinguished Visitors and Lecturers. The Andrew Young School hosted several important figures for lectures and receptions during 2005. On September 16, Rwandan President Paul Kagame visited the school, met with key Atlanta leaders, was awarded the Andrew Young Medal for Capitalism and Social Progress, and gave a lecture to a full auditorium of students and faculty. First Lady of Cape Verde Islands Adelcia Pires lectured at the school and met with students on September 21. Walter Russell Mead, the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and one of the country's leading students of American foreign policy, lectured on October 11 on "Power, Terror, Peace, and War: America's Grand Strategy in a World at Risk." Former Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of Arizona Bruce Babbitt visited the school on October 25 to present on land use policy in the U.S., and discussed policy during a reception afterward.

Legislative Reception. The School participated in Georgia State University’s yearly reception for the State Legislature on January 10, 2005. During the Georgia State University Legislative Day held at the Capitol, the college's work was featured on displays, and key faculty responded to lawmakers' queries. Next year's Legislative Day is planned for January 10, 2006, at the Georgia Railroad Depot.

Coordination between the AYSPS and other units on campus occurred in 2005 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.

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 AYSPS audience.

Lecture series include: The Child Policy Speaker Series, Dan Sweat Lecture Series, Applied Econometrics Workshop Series, 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 the International Monetary Fund, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and -Greensboro, Auburn University, Harvard University, U.S. Treasury Department, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and more.

The list of speakers and events for 2005 includes: