SA Comm Insights: March 2021
Each month in the SA Insider, Student Affairs Communication and Marketing (SA Comm) will share insights from the previous month that include key messaging, social media highlights and more from across the division.
SA Comm is proud to support and collaborate with division departments and campus partners on strategic, engaging and timely marketing and communication. We hope these monthly insights help demonstrate the impact and reach of our work together, while also sharing comprehensive campus campaigns and responses.
Response to the March 6 disturbance on the Hill
Messaging was quickly pulled together to address concerns and conduct, provide resources and highlight positive actions taken by students and staff. These included:
- An email from Acting Vice Chancellor Banks: Unacceptable student behavior and what it means to be a Buff
- This email was sent to all undergraduate and graduate students students on March 8
- The email had a 70% open rate (opened by 26,000 students)
- A CU Boulder Today article: Buffs show up to clean up the Hill, support community
- This article was sent to students, faculty and staff in the March 9 editions of CU Boulder Today to highlight the group of students and staff who helped clean up the Hill after the disturbance.
- Thank you to those who provided quotes, details and photos in order to send this out so quickly after the weekend’s events.
- Buff family communication: March 7 email. This email had a 50% open rate (opened by 15,410 family members).
St. Patrick’s Day reminders and events
Thank you to those who submitted events happening around St. Patrick’s Day! Events were featured on the Student Events web page, social media and in CU Boulder Today articles. Additionally, we sent an email to residence hall students highlighting events happening around St. Patrick’s Day. This email had a 60% open rate (opened by 2,912 students).
Other reminders were shared in CU Boulder Today leading up to St. Patrick’s Day:
COVID-19 vaccine education
As vaccines are distributed across the country, we are rolling out an educational campaign to provide information about why it’s important to get vaccinated. So far we’ve launched a new page on the Medical Services website, CU-branded “I got my COVID-19 vaccine!” stickers and two CU Boulder Today articles: 4 reasons to get the COVID-19 vaccine and 4 things to know about vaccine side effects.
Support for our campus community
After the tragic events in Atlanta and Boulder last month, we worked with division and campus partners to quickly provide consistent messaging to share support resources and encourage our campus community members to take care of themselves and each other.
- Campus support resources: Traumatic event resources and support available
- Articles for CU Boulder Today and social media:
- Buff family communication
- March 22 email to Buff families. This email had a 55% open rate (opened by 16,857 family members).
- Buff Family Newsletter article: Ways to support your student and yourself through a traumatic experience
Top 5 Student Affairs CU Boulder Today articles in March
Social highlights from @CUBoulderLife
Did you know…The @CUBoulderLife channels aim to promote all aspects of student life through the Division of Student Affairs? Our Instagram account currently has over 10,500 followers.
Residence Life Neighborhood Instagram Reels:
- Central Campus: viewed over 5,900 times
- Williams Village: viewed over 6,100 times
- Kittredge: viewed over 7,400 times
Instagram Giveaways:
- We host regular, themed giveaways on the CUBoulderLife channel to encourage community and prompt students to share advice, experiences or opinions and tag fellow Buffs/friends.
- On average, each giveaway reaches around 11,600 unique Instagram accounts and averages over 2,500 engagements (likes, comments, shares, etc.).
- In February, we asked students to share how they’ve shown kindness. For a dose of positivity, read their responses!
A look ahead at April and May
With about four weeks left of the spring semester, we are working to promote finals events and support resources, share end-of-year reminders and celebrate our students as they finish strong. If you are planning any events around finals, please submit details through the spring events submission form by April 12.
As we wrap up the spring semester, we are simultaneously getting ready for fall 2021 move-in and Fall Welcome. Review this week’s announcement for faculty and staff with move-in dates and other information.
Recent videos
We partnered with various SA departments to create short, educational videos that share tips and information on a variety of topics:
Check out more videos on our CUBoulderLife YouTube channel.