Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>>Theresa Bierer: Here is Mason Gerety, the vice president of university Advancement,
in the Spotlight. >>Mason Gerety: University Advancement is
a relatively varied group; we are not only Northern Arizona University Foundation and
the fundraising arm of the university. We are also university marketing and branding,
we're KNAU, and we are the outreach arm of the institution. It's really our role to position
the university in such a way that people understand what we are about and want to support us.
Well the three words we are focusing on for the next couple of years really begin with
the concept of difference. The concept is around that NAU is the difference that matters,
that we provide the kinds of things that Northern Arizona needs, that Arizona need, that impacts
the nation and the world. Along with that are the ideas of excellence, excellence that
we already have in this institution and the fact that we are poised for prominence, that
our next step is really that worldwide leadership. Marketing comes in a lot of difference ways,
for example, you might think about marketing as a billboard or a poster or a radio spot.
And those are important because it's important for us to get our name out, to be able to
attract students, to be able to tell people the story of Northern Arizona University.
But there is also a piece that really comes in a branding campaign and so on top of an
underneath marketing campaign is an overarching branding campaign which talks about what it
means to be at Northern Arizona University, what it means to be a faculty or staff member
here, and what it means to be a student and the kinds of things that our faculty, staff
and students do that are the difference that matters.
Donors are a very important part of what makes NAU the difference that matters. It's through
their support and through their time and treasure that they give to Northern Arizona University
that allows us to have that margin of excellence that we already have. Donors are the life
blood of an institution particularly in a situation where we are in Arizona, where state
funding is just not there. And with the reduction in state funding, it's going to have to be
private support that provides that margin of excellence that moves us to a level of
prominence. You know it's a fascinating place Northern Arizona University and I've been
here 17 years, Northern Arizona University is the kind of institution that people have
cradled grave relationships with. It's the kind of place where families come and their
kids are here now, and parents were here and grandparents were here. It's like the Kauzlarics
in Gallup, where there is seventeen members of the family who have graduated from Northern
Arizona University. Those are the kind of relationships that really speak to the heart
of a place like NAU. One of the most important things about a university
like Northern Arizona University is its sense of place. And its sense of place is all about
the fact that we are embedded in the community of Flagstaff and the community of Northern
Arizona. Without support from the local Flagstaff community, Northern Arizona University would
not be the kind of place that it is now. It would not have the excellence that we have
been talking about. And without Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff wouldn't be the kind
of place that it is and so the integral links between the university and the city, the university
and the chamber of commerce, the university and for example the downtown business alliance.
The critical relationship of us being a major economic driver in Flagstaff and the support
that we get from this community was fascinating; I was having a great conversation with the
chair of the Northern Arizona University Foundation Board, Chris Bavasi and he said, and he's
been here about 30some years and he said he's never seen the relationship between Flagstaff
and Northern Arizona University be as strong as it is right now. It's about employees at
Northern Arizona University giving back in the community and it's about the way the community
supports the university. I can't imagine a better relationship than what we have right
now.