UNC Charlotte’s Web redesign effort and the 2012 Giving Green campaign were presented Special Merit Awards at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Southeast District III conference held recently in Atlanta.
“UNC Charlotte is staking its claim to excellence in all areas across the campus, and to be recognized by our peers in the fields of advancement and communications is an honor,” said Stephen Ward, executive director of University communications. “These awards distinguish the efforts of the professionals in University Advancement as well as the collaborative, collegial, campus-wide relationships that produced these award-winning results.”
The Web redesign award, in the category “Total Website Design and Organization,” recognized the work of the project team for its comprehensive redesign of the entire UNC Charlotte website. This effort, begun in 2009, was led by the Office of University Communications in the University Advancement Division, including Richard McDevitt, director of marketing, and Cindy Jones, Web communications manager. Along with the ITS Web Development team and vendor partner VisionPoint Marketing, project members "migrated" more than 230 university websites into a secure, ITS-supported Drupal content management system environment.
Web communications now trains and supports more than 350 site administrators across campus. The redesign project, spearheaded by University Communications in collaboration with ITS, academic affairs and business affairs, was a particular priority for Chancellor Philip L. Dubois, and it has created a more agile and responsive Web process on campus, according to McDevitt.
In the philanthropy category of subunit campaigns, the Giving Green fundraising drive, under the direction of Stacie Young, director of annual giving, received a Special Merit Award. The honor recognized the campaign’s operational tactics and communication plan, developed by Young and Phillip Brown, internal communications manager, Office of University Communications. The Giving Green campaign also involved input from co-chairs Tina McEntire, associate provost for enrollment management, and Dustin Read, director of the Center for Real Estate in the Belk College of Business; Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and the Cabinet; divisional champions; and other University Advancement colleagues.
At the CASE district conference, Betty Doster, special assistant to the chancellor for constituent relations, and Ward, presented “A Nominating Convention in Our City: Converting Opportunity to Legacy” about the University’s 49er Democracy Experience. McDevitt and Tony Poillucci, vice president of strategy and creative at VisionPoint Marketing, delivered “Winning the Web Battle: A Hero’s Journey through Large-scale Website and Migration.”
According to its website, CASE District III advances and supports educational and professional institutions by enhancing the effectiveness of the alumni relations, fundraising, communications, marketing and other advancement professionals who serve them. The district has more than 3,500 members from two- and four-year institutions throughout the southeastern United States.