Committee chair Peter Elias '69 introduced Justin Anderson, Vice President for Communications, for his presentation. Justin discussed the roll-out process that was conducted by the Office of Public Affairs in collaboration with other offices on campus to announce the results of the Moving Dartmouth Forward (MDF) efforts conducted by the Presidential Steering Committee and President Hanlon's plan that resulted from that work. He said that the MDF website is transitioning to the College's presidential website for updates about the plan. The Presidential Steering Committee was very appreciative of the work that the Alumni Council did to collect feedback and their assistance with communications during the MDF working process and at the time of President Hanlon's announcement about his plan. The Office of Public Affairs is changing its name to the Office of Communications. It is divided into three different sections which are Media Relations, Editorial Services, and Creative Services. The mission of the Office of Communications is to tell Dartmouth's story in a multi-dimensional way. They are making a concerted effort to increase the numbers of people contacted through social media.
Tricia McKeon, Managing Director of Alumni Relations Communications, made a presentation titled "Leveraging Social Media to Strengthen Alumni Engagement". The Office of Communications oversees the Dartmouth College Facebook and Twitter sites, andTricia oversees the Dartmouth Alumni Facebook and Twitter sites. Recently, she collaborated with the Alumni Liaison Committee/Communications Committee working group, led by Jack Steinberg ‘88, to pose three questions on the Dartmouth Alumni Facebook and Twitter sites. Each question began with "Alumni Council Asks" and they focused on collecting feedback from alumni on topics related to professional development, the Alumni Day of Service, and the upcoming 25th Anniversary of the Women in Science Project (WISP) at Dartmouth. The WISP question was the most successful and produced some very thoughtful comments and feedback from alumni.
The committee elected Cheryl Abbott '96 to serve as vice-chair. Jack Steinberg '88 will serve as chair of the committee.