Communiversity Honored for Excellence

Donna Burns, program director for the university’s Communiversity program, announced that the program is being honored for excellence in generational marketing by LERN for its revised catalog of classes.

LERN’s press release begins – “The University of Cincinnati has been honored for excellence in Generational Marketing by the Learning Resources Network (LERN), an international association in lifelong learning.”

The Communiversity catalog is published quarterly and serves as the primary marketing vehicle for the program. Communiversity offers more than 100 classes quarterly that are attended by upwards of 4,500 adults each year. Communiversity classes span a variety of topics and appeal to all adults whether they are college students, young marrieds, empty nesters or retirees.

LERN’s release continues – “The University of Cincinnati is being recognized for research, concept development and the resulting design for a brochure targeting a specific generational market for its Continuing Education Communiversity program. The new design approach brought about double-digit growth rates in both enrollments and net revenues.”

Creating a single catalog of classes with appeal to all of these groups, is a true marketing challenge. Donna addressed this challenge first through extensive research into the demographics of the Communiversity student population and their preferences. She then gained additional input from consultants, including LERN President Bill Draves and his staff, and once candidate covers were created, focus groups were used to gain additional input.

With this mountain of information and advice reduced to a set of conclusions, Donna sought the assistance of Beth Hess and Angela Klocke of UC’s Creative Services Department to develop a new cover concept and design for the Communiversity catalog. “Our creative team at UC is so wonderful to work with – their imagination and experience always seem up to whatever challenge we throw their way. They did a superb job in turning our concepts into really effective catalogs,” affirms Donna.

Hundreds of hours go into the formation of classes, their scheduling, and the recruitment of high quality instructors. All of which is lost effort without students. Communiversity’s success depends in large part on an effective catalog of classes – one that is sought after and read by an interested audience. Significant increases in class attendance over the past year attest to the success of Communiversity.

LERN’s release concludes – “LERN’s primary criterion in selecting exemplary programs was the quality of being at the leading edge of the field of lifelong learning. … The University of Cincinnati’s program was selected from a field of more than 100 entries from four countries.”

LERN Press Release

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