Can You Make It Pretty‪?‬ NCMPR

Lisé Freking oversees the marcom staffs at two different Minnesota colleges: Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College. She's also NCMPR's 2024 national Rising Star of the Year. Lisé shares project management and multitasking tips, and how to get a seat at your college's leadership table. We also meet the new cohost of "Can You Make It Pretty?", Emily Ray, with Hopkinsville Community College in Kentucky.

St. Philip's College in Texas is the nation's only Historically Black College and Hispanic-Serving Institute. Adrian Jackson, St. Philip's director of marketing and strategic communications, shares how the college stays prepared to deal with a crisis – and how it jumped into action when it received a racially motivated bomb threat last year.

Virginia Moreland has been with Tennessee Board of Regents – The College System of Tennessee since 2012, and she attended her first NCMPR national conference the following year, in New Orleans. In 2025, the conference will return to New Orleans, for NCMPR's 50th anniversary – with Virginia as NCMPR president. In this Meet the President episode, Virginia shares why she's focused on getting new members involved, her love of pop culture ... and that time she was a McDonald's mascot.

One way Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) in New Jersey is keeping employees engaged and boosting morale is through its annual report. It’s an important document, but not always the snazziest. Greg Volpe—RCBC’s executive director of strategic marketing and communications—discusses why the college has turned its annual report into a puzzle ... and tarot cards ... a calendar ... a cassette tape ...

Community colleges are full of great stories that represent a diverse student body. How can the college's marcom team find those stories? How can they tell those stories without falling back on tokenism, tropes or stereotypes? Sally Cameron, an NCMPR president emeriti and former vice president of college communications at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts, and Liz Cooper, associate director of public relations at MassBay Community College in Massachusetts, share how they do it. They'll also present on this topic at NCMPR's national conference in Seattle this March.

Chelsea Hayes is the marketing communication specialist at New Mexico State University Alamogordo, and she's a staff of one. She shares her tips for small teams, including how to set boundaries and advocate for more help.