After winning more than 30 awards in this year’s CASE regional competition for communication, marketing and development efforts, UC Davis has now earned recognition in the international round of the contest.
In all, four departments won a total of six Circle of Excellence Awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE, triple the number UC Davis earned last year.
The awards:
- Unfold podcast, from the Office of Strategic Communications — two gold awards, in the categories “podcasts (series)” and “podcasts (single).” Judges called the podcast “indistinguishable from podcasts being produced by the big names in podcasting” and said it “did not sound like a ‘higher ed’ podcast, just a good podcast.” Its debut episode, about whether the environmental impact of cattle has been overblown, was honored in the category for individual episodes. Amy Quinton, senior public information representative, co-hosted Season 1 with Alexa Renee Tijerino, a social media specialist who has since moved from Strategic Communications to UC Davis’ CLEAR Center (CLEAR stands for Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research).
- Dean’s Big 3 e-newsletter series, by the Graduate School of Management — gold in the category “external audience newsletters (digital).” Judges said this newsletter series featuring Dean H. Rao Unnava was presented in a “fun, short, informative format,” praising its accompanying videos for being “engaging and easy to watch.”
- Matching, Batching and Dispatching: Give Day at UC Davis, by Development and Alumni Relations — silver in the category “advancement services improvement.” This award highlighted the behind-the-scenes work done by Advancement Services during the 2019 Give Day, moving the day’s proceeds — more than $2 million from 4,454 gifts — where they needed to go.
- International Student and Scholar Handbook, by the Office of Global Affairs — bronze in the category “promotional publications.” This publication aimed at introducing new members of the international Aggie community to Davis earned praise for both its presentation and the way it was created: “Judges really liked the involvement of students, faculty and staff in the creation of this publication. … Using student and staff recommendations on places to shop, visit and eat provides a nice sense of community for the reader.”
- Building Trust Between Students and Chancellor May Through Social Media, by the Office of Strategic Communications — bronze in the category “social media (public relations and marketing).” This entry highlighted some of the efforts that have been made to build authentic relationships between Chancellor Gary S. May and the broader community, from the time he took office in 2017. Judges saw the initiative, with tactics that include the chancellor’s Thursday Thoughts Instagram videos, as successful in both hard metrics (like follower counts) and in other ways, such as “the fact that Chancellor May is becoming more deeply ingrained in campus culture,” the judges said. “Love that students now stop him to pose for selfies!”