The Office of Strategic Communications

As part of Penn State’s central public relations and marketing division, we strategically advance and protect the campus and the University’s reputation in ways that drive recognition and support; attract outstanding faculty, staff, and students; and build upon our strong reputation for research and educational excellence.

We are marketing and communications specialists, web experts, content creators, designers, writers, developers, media professionals, accessibility liaisons, photographers, social media strategists, and more, each bringing our individual expertise to achieve our shared goals. We communicate the best of Penn State, Penn State Greater Allegheny, and the difference our community is making in the world.

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Our Services

Through graphic design, photography, video, and other visual strategies, we show how the Penn State brand is visually represented. Our team uses best practices for visual storytelling, which includes the visual elements with-in the Penn State Brand Book, producing engaging content, and acting as design consultants to individual units, as needed. We are also responsible for maintaining the campus’s web presence, working with colleagues across the campus and the commonwealth to bring content to life online. 

Use our request form to get support with campaigns, media outreach, web updates, or creative projects—our process is designed to be fast, clear, and collaborative.

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Social Media and Advertising

Our office supports and communicates campus priorities, research discoveries, and initiatives. The common threads throughout all of our social media platforms are educating our audiences about what Penn State and Greater Allegheny campus has to offer, and celebrating Penn State’s people and successes. 

As part of leading social media efforts, we work with communicators across all campuses, colleges, and units, as well as with faculty, staff, and student organizations on social media best practices, campus and University-wide initiatives, and more. 

We also manage high-impact advertising campaigns and collaborate with partners across the campus and University. This includes working with Admissions and Student Aid to produce targeted enrollment advertising that increases awareness and drives applications to the campus.

We manage Greater Allegheny's official social media accounts:

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Penn State Brand Book

We leverage the Penn State brand by developing and testing audience-centric messaging, strategies, and positioning that tell our stories in active and compelling ways. This includes enforcing the Penn State Brand Book and collaborating to ensure a steady flow of content is delivered to core audiences through key media channels.

Penn State Brand Book
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University Brand Review (UBR)

The University Brand Review (UBR) process leverages toolkits and best practices designed to empower University communicators to serve as brand stewards, who are charged with upholding brand, editorial, and accessibility standards within their units.

These updated guidelines replace the previous University Editor (U.Ed.) process and address branding and editorial standards in all current formats (e.g., print, web, digital, social, etc.). They also provide more clarity about the review process.

Learn about UBR's
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We approach everything we do with a clear purpose, and seek to represent the full diversity of our campus community through inclusive and culturally responsive communications that reflect the needs and experiences of all our campus community members. 

Collaboration across each of our functions—from web content to social media—is essential to telling our stories in the most engaging ways possible while maximizing our reach across channels.

Contact Strategic Communications