Holy Cross Earns Top Honors for New Admissions Website and Publications

The College of the Holy Cross has received top awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District I Communication Awards committee for its newly designed admissions publications and enhanced admissions website. The College’s admissions viewbook, a 48-page booklet titled “Being Holy Cross,” earned a gold award.  The entire suite of new admissions publications combined with the redesigned website received a silver award, which was the highest award given in the category of admissions recruiting packages.

The winning entries are the result of a collaborative marketing effort by the College’s Office of Admissions and the Office of Public Affairs, along with creative partners kor group, the Boston-based design firm; digital marketing agency Pixelgroove of New York; copywriter Susan Geib of Written Work in Durham, N.H.; and Boston photographer/videographer Greg Hren.  The new materials, introduced in August 2010, included complete redesign of the suite of Holy Cross student recruitment publications.  The vibrant new designs, dynamic campus photography and compelling text are enhanced by an interactive approach that drives readers to online videos and slide shows, all serving to bring the Holy Cross experience “to life.”

“We are thrilled with this recognition from our peers in education,” said Ellen Ryder, director of public affairs at Holy Cross. “We all know that teens live online, but print publications are still critically important vehicles to communicate what’s special about a college and why it may be the right fit for a student. Telling the story of Holy Cross in a way that worked in both print and on the web was definitely a challenge.  We were very fortunate to have creative partners who understood our challenge and were committed to finding solutions.”

The new publications and enhanced admissions website were developed in response to comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research conducted by Widmeyer Communications among high school students and their parents.  The research findings, which included information about how prospective students gather information in their college search, helped provide Holy Cross with a strategic communications blueprint.

Ann McDermott, director of admissions, said that a distinguishing aspect of the new material was that the print publications and website enhancements were conceptualized, developed and deployed simultaneously.

“Our new publications—including the viewbook, poster, financial aid brochure, and visit guide with a campus map—are all designed to work together with our online presence. We wanted prospective students and their parents to be able to easily move between media for information and detail about the College’s faculty, students, academics, athletics, and cocurricular offerings.”

Since the debut of the new publications and website in August 2010, page views of the new admissions site are up 35 percent over the same period last year, and views of the College’s home page are up 40 percent. Views are also up for the “Visiting Holy Cross” page (34 percent), financial aid site (25 percent), and “Contact Us” page (22 percent).

Holy Cross will be honored, along with other award winners, at the CASE District I conference in Boston on January 27-28.

CASE is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas. CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with their alumni and donors, raise funds for campus projects, produce recruitment materials, market their institutions to prospective students, diversify the profession, and foster public support of education. The CASE District I awards program recognizes the communications work of educational institutions located in the Northeast and parts of Canada.

View the new admissions site.