Marketing and Communications

Marketing and Communications (M&C)

Marketing and Communications advances the visibility and reputation of UMSI. One of the primary roles of the Marketing and Communications unit is to raise awareness of faculty research within the school, around the university, among our colleagues at other information schools, and to the world at large. We are always interested in hearing about what you are doing: the grants you've received, papers you're about to publish, conferences at which you will be speaking/presenting, courses where you're doing innovative or topical teaching, and any milestones or awards you've achieved.

How to contact us

Web

Sharing news

The News section of the UMSI site is updated frequently, and is home for a wide variety of announcements, features and reports. 

Stories

UMSI has a full-time writer (our public relations specialist) devoted to faculty and research promotion. Please reach out when you have something accepted for a conference or publication, have other news, have been contacted by a reporter or have any other questions.

Photos and videos

UMSI has a photographer/videographer to help tell our school's stories visually. We sometimes produce short videos (:60-:90) of faculty talking about their research, for use on the website, the UMSI YouTube channel, UMSI social media, our newsletters and other platforms. 

Bringing attention to your work and research projects

UMSI produces an email newsletter (Research Roundup) highlighting this work; please let us know when you have something that should be included. A section of the UMSI website is also dedicated to faculty research. We can do stories and reach out to the media when you're getting close to done with your research, and we work with journals and conferences where you've been accepted to prepare publicity IN ADVANCE of that publication, to run in concert with its posting. Please let us know when you've received an acceptance (even if further edits are yet to be done.) This pre-publication timing is important. Contact M&C as described above.

Updating your UMSI website profile

Media

You, the expert

In 2024, we established the UMSI Media Center, which connects journalists and public officials with UMSI experts. We work independently with the media, and also in close collaboration with our partners at Michigan News, the university's omnibus public relations outlet.

We maintain a record of faculty who are willing to speak to the media as experts in their area of research. Our faculty are frequently quoted or cited in national media and we are often contacted by reporters looking for an expert to comment on a particular issue in the news. 

If you are contacted directly by a member of the media, please let Marketing and Communications know. If you need assistance in preparing for an interview, we can help. We will also keep an eye out for when your piece is published and push out the word on social media and UMSI's lobby screens.

We provide media training sessions for faculty several times each year. These can help you handle any media encounter with confidence -- before, during and after the interview. Our tipsheet for working with the media is available on the intranet. Additionally, we can provide 1:1 coaching upon request. 

Identifying yourself to media

Please ask media to identify you as working at the "University of Michigan School of Information," rather than just the "University of Michigan." U-M is a big place and reinforcing the identity of UMSI helps us all.  

Conference presentation materials

We maintain a collection of resources you are welcome to use in putting together conference presentations:

Many of these materials are on the UMSI intranet, or you may contact us directly. If there is something you would like to have and we do not currently supply, please let us know.

Primary communications channels

Internal

Lobby screens

External