The VPERC is a newly created position that will merge the responsibilities of the previous vice president of communications and marketing and vice president of government relations. In this role, Lewis will lead all university efforts in strategic communications, government relations and external relations with state and federal sponsors, partners and regulators. This includes oversight of communications and marketing across all campuses, including the university’s centralized efforts in branding, advertising, internal and executive communications, crisis communications and issues management. He will collaborate with other senior university leaders to cultivate and strengthen relationships with state and federal government legislators, agencies, trustees and other internal and external audiences; and establish the overall strategy for advocacy programs to shape the university’s image and advance strategic plan goals.

“With his deep expertise in community and social services, Riggs is a powerful advocate poised to make a significant impact for the University of Louisville,” said UofL President Kim Schatzel. “His work will be instrumental in advancing UofL’s priorities across its campuses, academic medical centers and regional laboratories.”

Lewis has more than 30 years of experience in public affairs, state and federal government relations and business litigation. He established and served as the inaugural board chair of the Louisville Medical and ����ֱ�� District and is an esteemed UofL alumnus with a Doctor of Law degree from the .

“I am deeply grateful to return to my alma mater and join President Schatzel’s leadership team,” said Lewis. “It is a distinct honor to represent this prestigious, cornerstone institution of our commonwealth. I look forward to helping advance its mission to educate and serve the community through teaching, research and engaged service.”

After three years of research and planning, colleges and some non-academic units have begun the process of moving their web presence to our new Drupal content management system (CMS) as part of the .��

A new interim homepage was unveiled last summer, giving the community a glimpse of the new digital experience. By June 2024, most colleges and units will debut on the new system. The end product will be a modern, dynamic, user-friendly web presence that upholds our commitment to current and future students, faculty and staff and the greater community.

The new web presence will consolidate over 400 websites into roughly 100 to prioritize the needs of UofL’s audiences. With the help of digital agency , UofL is implementing new website designs, content and structure based on months of student and competitor research, and extensive auditing of all sites. All of this will culminate in an audience-focused system that makes it easy for university departments to get their information in front of the right users.

Most importantly, the updates coming this June will help UofL better serve prospective and current students with the help of a centralized CMS. This is a major improvement over the siloed approach used over the past 10 years, said John Drees, vice president of communications & marketing.

“Students are the heart and soul of the institution, and we have a tremendous opportunity with this website project to connect with them in a more meaningful way, to communicate to them what makes UofL so special and to help them decide if we are the right fit for their future,” Drees said.

The backbone of this effort on the college and unit level are , designated by deans and VPs. Since September, content leads have been auditing their sites to weed out old information and identify the most relevant sections for their audiences. Technology leads identified the complexities their websites already used so that accommodations were made in Drupal.

Their work culminated in a library of reusable components, workflows, guidelines and other features that will make it easier to build pages that align with our brand standards and voice. Site URLs and structure were also based on extensive keyword research and user experience best practices to help each department perform better in search engine result pages (SERPS). The project team also reimagined admissions tasks to make it easier for students to discover and apply for programs, no matter which college site they’re navigating.

A small group of stakeholders tested these features in the first Drupal demos from Feb. 27-29. Over the course of several sessions, the Mighty Citizen, ITS and OCM teams guided them through a series of exercises, presentations and Q&A sessions to learn and improve the CMS. Stakeholders and their teams will continue to train on the new system throughout the spring.

Also attending were each unit’s success managers – marketing professionals in OCM who already work with each strategic area. Building on prior relationships, the success managers serve as the primary point of contact between the project team and content and technology leads, ensuring timely communication and project management.��

As we move into the content integration phase, content and technology leads will begin to appoint content creators, subject matter experts, asset managers and digital analysts to form the .��

In addition to clearly defining responsibilities, the new governance framework will formalize a system of improvements to the web through a Digital Experience Board, consisting of representatives from web responsibility committees and other institutional bodies, like and . Requests from users or administration will be considered based on alignment with university strategic goals, budgetary constraints and other board-identified requisite metrics for the collective benefit of all users.

“This project has been a long time in the making, but presented an opportunity to pull together the people on campus who have been working diligently for years to make things better,” said Amber Peter, director of web and digital strategy for OCM. “With these new tools, designs, processes and training, we hope to finally be able to not only better serve our audiences, but also support the staff and faculty who contribute to our web presence behind the scenes. That is something I hope will last well into the future.”

The new sites making their debut in summer of 2024 include Admissions, a new Student Services site, Financial Aid, Campus Safety and most schools and colleges. The sheer scale of this endeavor necessitated a phased approach, prioritizing student recruitment and services – the areas requiring the highest degree of customization and journey mapping. After the initial wave of student service and recruitment sites, the remaining departments at UofL will begin moving to Drupal following a similar, repeatable process.��

Websites that don’t serve an external marketing purpose will move to an intranet, where students, faculty and staff can perform internal tasks, like purchase parking tickets and register for classes. Staff and faculty are currently invited to weigh in on the intranet by completing a .��

For more information on the Web Improvement Project, visit the list.��

The are lofty and as varied as the people who learn at, work for and provide support to educational institutions across the globe. Career readiness and higher lifetime incomes. The knowledge and ability to adapt to a changing world. Improving the economic and societal wellbeing of our communities.

But how, exactly, does the University of Louisville ensure these benefits are delivered and realized? What are we, the Cardinal Family, working to accomplish? And why should people care?

These are questions the Office of Communications and Marketing aims to answer through the brand evolution initiative now being shared with the campus community and slated to launch to external audiences via an integrated marketing campaign beginning in early 2022. At the direction of the Office of the President and in support of the university strategic plan, UofL has refreshed its identity to include the addition of a and messaging guidelines to complement the existing core brand .

“People want to engage with brands — with organizations and businesses — that stand for something. In order to remain competitive, we need to differentiate UofL and help people better understand who we are, how we’re unique, and what we stand for — our ‘why,’ ” said Kim Butterweck, executive director of brand and marketing for OCM. “Our brand framework is the roadmap for expressing UofL’s noble purpose in a memorable way and ensuring the experience we provide to our students and other constituents aligns with that ‘why.’”

Through extensive market research, OCM and creative partner uncovered the emotional core of the UofL brand and then articulated the primary benefit the university provides. This forms the foundation of the brand communications framework, and aligns with the university’s mission and vision: UofL is a vital ecosystem that creates thriving futures for students, our community and society.

There are three primary message points, or pillars, that support this brand positioning and highlight our competitive advantages:
• Redefining Student Success: UofL invests in the whole student to unleash their potential and prepare them for the careers, workplaces and complex challenges of tomorrow.
• Research and Innovation Powerhouse: UofL creates and applies knowledge that improves lives.
• Premier Metropolitan University: UofL is dynamically connected to the local and global community.

“We are one university and we should be speaking with one voice,” said Erica Walsh, OCM’s director of marketing. “Our new communications framework and messaging guidelines will ensure a consistent voice, tone and personality across university communications moving forward. It also allows us to more easily show what sets UofL apart and helps create meaningful connections with our audiences.”

Throughout the summer and fall of 2021, OCM hosted several workshops to share UofL’s new brand positioning and messaging with key faculty, staff and students. These sessions also included the rollout of phase one of an extensive across campus and coincided with the formation of the UofL Brand Council. Comprised of the top-level communicators in each school/college and key administrative units, the Brand Council is responsible for developing and managing communications and marketing strategies to improve overall brand awareness, perceptions and engagement.

“The power behind the UofL brand lies with those on campus making things; creating brand opportunities that reflect and amplify the values of the institution,” said Brian Faust, creative director for UofL. “Unit marketing needs are really diverse, so we worked to find commonalities among those needs to develop a roadmap for branded templates and assets. We have been fully committed in this process to providing more tools, training and resources for the folks doing this difficult work. In the end, it helps all of us — as well as the university.”

Information sessions are available for faculty, staff and students as the brand evolution initiative continues, leading to the launch of the university’s new marketing campaign, “Here and Beyond,” early next year. Virtual sessions are scheduled for , and . Visit the listings on the  for more information and to register for a session.�� 

Last year, University of Louisville officials began an of the 28-year-old , offering students more than 112,000 square feet of additional or renovated dining, retail, meeting and office space.

As part of that project, there will be a new campus visitor space in the SAC – the Herman and Heddy Kurz Visitors Room – where potential students will meet admissions officials, pick up campus information and embark on campus tours. For many potential students and their families, this space will be their first impression of UofL.

Project directors envision placing two murals on walls there that creatively represent UofL’s personality and traditions, while generating a sense of pride and excitement.

UofL is issuing a request for submissions for mural concepts from the creative minds who know the institution best: our own. Artists and designers who work at UofL, are currently enrolled or have graduated from UofL are encouraged to submit concept proposals.��

“We hope to highlight the talent and creativity of our alumni working within the fields of art and design and bolster ties to the community,” said Kim Butterweck, director of communication initiatives. “If designed by UofL students or alumni, then the murals become an interesting talking point for our tour guides. Our hope is the campus visit area in the SAC becomes one of UofL’s most unique and often-photographed spots on campus, while also contributing to our city’s public art offerings.”

One goal is to harness the power of social media with one of the murals. It’s envisioned as a ‘selfie wall’ – a backdrop that will inspire students and potential students to take their photos and proudly share them to their social media accounts.

As currently conceived, the two interior murals will be two-dimensional and printed on vinyl, with UofL vendors handling installation. However, project directors are open to other, more innovative types of murals, installations or materials that achieve project goals.

If interested in submitting a concept, click here to request the official Request for Submissions, which contains additional project information and guidelines. The project is a paid opportunity.��