SIUE turns heads at CCAS Conference

October thirty first through November third the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences met for their annual conference. This meeting of deans from arts and sciences institutions focuses on advocacy for the liberal arts and sciences, as well as providing networking opportunities for participating institutions.

Dean Aldemaro Romero represented SIUE at the conference and was featured on a panel for communicating the value of a liberal arts education. The panel focused on how liberal arts educations are frequently ignored or misunderstood by audiences within and outside of academia and what efforts can be made to address this problem.

Romero showcased the efforts being made by the SIUE College of Arts and Sciences including media outlets like This Week In CAS and Segue as well as our outreach efforts through the Intelligencer and documentaries produced by the Department of Mass Communications. Attendees were impressed by the sophistication of SIUE’s approach, the variety of media being used, and the amount of media being generated on a regular basis.

“They said that what we are doing is precisely what needs to be done,” Romero shared, “in terms of variety and intensity we are far ahead.”

SIUE’s approach of using resources within CAS was of great interest as it keeps cost of these efforts low and maintains the focus on academics. SIUE’s model is unique in that it utilizes the staff and equipment of SIUE’s Department of Mass Communications instead of relying heavily on marketing departments or outsourcing.

“What I’ve heard from other deans is that when they approach their marketing department the focus is on sports and branding,” Romero said, “Because at SIUE this is all in the College of Arts and Sciences the focus is on academics, that makes an important difference.”

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