University of Northern Iowa
In my past role as the communications + marketing manager for the Office of Admissions at UNI, I wore many hats. The primary focus of what I did was the recruitment of prospective student audiences (freshmen, transfer and international) through marketing. Coming off a recent rebrand, I spent the five years overseeing and completing the creation of a variety of deliverables, including seven yearly publications, hundreds and hundreds of CRM-driven emails (+ 15 journey communication flows), a new admissions-specific website, multiple self-mailers and postcards, dozens of handouts and more. The work wouldn’t have be completed without collaboration with the Director of Admissions, Marketing Cloud specialist, other graphic designers, photographers/videographers, the visits team and fellow marketers across campus.
/ Direct Mail / CRM Emails / Social Media / Publications / Handouts / Web
ROLE:
+ Art Direction
+ Design
+ Marketing Planning
+ Copywriting
+ Project Management
DIRECT MAIL
I oversee all mailer efforts related to admission and enrollment to UNI. This includes mailers related to visiting campus, applying for admission, accepting an offer of admission, financial aid and scholarships, orientation registration and more. Audiences include students (high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, transfers, and international) and their respective parents.
Why UNI Mailer
This particular mailer was to students admitted to the university. It included a variable information spread that included specific major information. For this project, I designed 17 academic “theme” spreads, alongside the three static spreads and wrote copy for the 90+ majors featured.
Invest in You Postcard
This particular postcard was focused on the value of a four-year education and the ways UNI strives to make an education at our university affordable.
Push-To-Commit Postcard Series
Focused on a student’s upcoming next steps and deadlines, these mailers encourage students to take the first step and accept their offer of admission.
Personalized Out-of-State Scholarship Postcards
Sent to students from neighboring states, this postcard specifically highlighted the student’s home state and the automatic $5,000 scholarship available to them as an out-of-state student.
Targeted Yield Mailer Series for Admitted Students – Wilson College of Business
Sent to students admitted to the university who had indicated one of the fourteen Wilson College of Business’ programs as their intended major. Mailers highlight why UNI is the ideal place to pursue each specific major, sharing unique opportunities, faculty expertise, and career pathways.
Fall Visit Kick-Off Mailer
The fall visit season included the flagship Panther Visit Days, along with three specific college or major-related visit day options as well as daily visits. To capture all the visit options available to a student, this fold-out mailer was created.
Why UNI segmented postcards
A push-to-apply postcard series were created for various audiences with the messaging of why UNI might be the university for them. Versions included freshmen (perfect size), transfer (transfer friendly), out-of-state (affordable).
Admissions Website
A small sampling of the webpages at admissions.uni.edu. I served as the manager of the Admissions webpage for the university, creating and maintaining all the pages. I oversaw the navigation strategies, content, layout and more within our Drupal platform.
Why UNI and Student Testimonials pages
In addition to direct mail, I led the development of Admissions print materials, including visit guides, viewbooks, and specific guides for transfer and international students. My role included concepting the visual and written themes that guided each piece, writing copy, and overseeing design development through production. I also managed a range of supporting flyers to ensure consistency across all Admissions communications.
Transfer Student Travel Guide
Flyers
A small sampling of Admissions emails developed for prospective students. I wrote, designed, and managed all email content using Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This included creating mobile-friendly graphics, GIFs, and email layouts, as well as determining messaging topics, send frequency, and overall journey flow. The technical build of email journeys was executed by the CRM team.
Prospect/Art Design Major + Extracurricular: Outdoor Recreation and housing emails
DIGITAL + SOCIAL MEDIA
The Admissions Facebook account, including posts, events, stories and events were all managed by me. I also contributed to a private Instagram account for admitted students. Any recorded video footage/reels or student takeovers are managed by a fellow admissions employee.
Next step post graphics + Facebook Live event graphics + Event Branding + Various story graphics
EVENT BRANDING
Visual Identity for UNI Admissions Visit Days
To support a wide range of campus visit experiences—including Daily Visits, Admitted Student Visits, flagship Panther Visit Days, and specialty events like Health & Human Sciences Visit Day and Made to Teach—a cohesive and instantly recognizable visual identity was developed. This flexible branding system was applied across all event touchpoints, from email and registration graphics to social media promotions, lanyard tags, and day-of agendas, ensuring a consistent and engaging experience for prospective students.
