Guidelines for a CMU story
Great things happen at CMU all the time. Students learn new skills to help them launch exciting careers. Faculty conduct vital, world-changing research. Well-known speakers and performers illuminate and entertain the campus community.
We want to share all those stories. They tell people who we are and how we make a difference. Those stories tell prospective students that their journeys will start on the right foot with a CMU education. They make our alumni flush with pride. They raise our reputation and help our faculty secure research funding. They excite people about what “We Do.”
Stories from campus partners
Our partners across campus are the first line in telling CMU’s story. Each college, division, office, and department knows best what is happening within it. Campus partners know whose research is going to change the world, what students stand out as academic leaders, and who was the most recent to secure a prestigious award.
News and Events Contributors embedded in units across campus play an active role in telling their areas’ stories.
University Communications empowers News and Events Contributors to tell these stories with basic news writing and advanced storytelling training, best practice guides and resources, and even a handbook on how to write in CMU’s specific take on AP Style. We also provide resources to show campus partners the impact of their work.
Once written, stories can find a home on the CMU News website, department/program pages, social media, newsletters, and whatever other formats are available. University Communications staff also review those stories to find new, innovative ways to find a larger audience for them.
Stories from University Communications
University Communications’ stories support the university as a whole and deliver on our brand promise, “You will learn to lead in life.” They highlight our brand pillars of exemplifying a fired-up attitude, lifting each other up, setting the leadership standard, and focusing on real-world results.
We look for stories with broad appeal to news media, prospective students and parents, alumni and donors, community partners, local and state leaders, and more. We look for stories that can be told in many ways on many platforms – this may include photos, videos, social media posts, and more.
Finally, we look for stories that align with the vision of our university leaders. We partner with deans and division vice presidents to identify the key priority areas for their areas, and we direct our efforts to address those high-level goals.
Share a story tip
If you have a suggestion for a CMU News story, please share it using this online form. The University Communications team will work with the appropriate News and Events Contributor to determine the best way to share the story, and we’ll make sure you know how the idea will be used.