When it comes to driving innovation, fueling the economy and addressing community issues, the University of Pittsburgh is more than a leader in the region — it’s a leader among public universities nationwide. Now, other institutions are looking to Pitt as a guide for telling effective stories that showcase a university’s role as an engaged community partner.
Lina Dostilio, vice chancellor for external relations, and Rachel Decker Richelieu, vice chancellor for communications and marketing, lent their expertise on exactly that to a recent playbook from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ (APLU) Commission on Economic and Community Engagement and its Council on Strategic Communications.
The playbook, titled “Deeply Engaging Communities and Communicating Shared Public Impact,” uses Pitt’s four vital roles framework as an example of excellent institutional communication around collective impact. The Public Impact site makes it easy to see the University’s work in action via statistics and stories, sorted by Pitt’s four roles: an engaged partner in public problem solving, an economic anchor, an engine for lifelong learning and workforce development, and a responsive and committed neighbor.
This strategic approach to classifying and sharing stories of the positive influence Pitt has on the city, region and state is visible in communication efforts around the University — including the latest edition of Pitt Magazine, which tells stories of impact in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Learn more about the APLU’s recommendations in this PDF of the playbook. And discover more stories of Pitt’s Public Impact.