Annual Report

2025 was a year of progress and adaptability for UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) — and CAHNR Communications played an integral role in bolstering that momentum. We continued to share the College’s achievements across platforms, telling stories that highlight the full range of CAHNR’s strengths in teaching, research, and extension engagement. As new institutional priorities emerged, including major web projects and expanded digital accessibility requirements, our team’s responsibilities grew significantly. Even with a lean structure, we remained productive, strategic, and focused on delivering high-quality communications that elevate the College’s visibility across news, web, and social channels. Through collaboration and creativity, we sustained the strong momentum of past years while laying essential groundwork for the College’s communications future.

Websites

In 2025, CAHNR Communications devoted significant energy and resources to high-level web projects that will shape the College’s digital landscape for years to come. These efforts not only enhanced our own online presence but also established a framework to support future unit-level improvements.

The most transformative effort was the complete redesign of the CAHNR website, launched in late September 2025 to coincide with the national search for the College’s next dean. The redesigned site incorporated user feedback to modernize CAHNR’s web presence with a refreshed look, content, and structure. It emphasizes undergraduate programs to bolster recruitment while continuing to highlight graduate education, research, Extension, and other strengths in a user-focused way.

This year also marked the strategic decoupling of the CAHNR and UConn Extension sites —an intentional step to better serve distinct audiences while maintaining visual and brand cohesion. Federally mandated digital accessibility requirements remained a major focus, with supplemental workshops and one-on-one remediation support to departments lacking the time or expertise to manage accessibility updates independently. The team also launched faculty sites, assisted with accreditation updates, and provided ongoing troubleshooting and guidance across the College.

The 2025 CAHNR website redesign represented a major leap forward in the College’s digital strategy. The project began with a full content audit and stakeholder consultation process, ensuring that every page reflected CAHNR’s mission, priorities, and audience needs.

Developed on Cynder — the University’s new content editor — the refreshed site streamlines navigation, modernizes design elements, and reinforces CAHNR’s visual identity while better aligning with UConn’s Out of the Blue campaign. By centering on the undergraduate experience, the site positions CAHNR more competitively for student recruitment while preserving the integrity and visibility of research and extension efforts.

The launch was carefully timed to support the national dean’s search, offering an engaging, contemporary representation of the College to prospective leaders, students, and partners. The redesign also established templates and best practices that departments can now adapt for their own sites, ensuring cohesion, accessibility, and consistent user experience across CAHNR’s web ecosystem.

News & Media

Impact Through Strategic Storytelling

In 2025, CAHNR Communications remained focused on ensuring the College’s work continued to reach wide and relevant audiences, even as platforms, processes, and institutional priorities evolved. With growing University mandates in areas like web accessibility and content management demanding additional attention, our team worked intentionally to sustain CAHNR’s strong news presence within UConn and across external media. We adapted to changing editorial workflows, evolving media environments, emerging AI-driven discovery tools, and shifting communication priorities while continuing to deliver meaningful coverage that highlights the College’s leadership in research, teaching, and community engagement. Through steady collaboration with University Communications and proactive outreach to journalists, CAHNR maintained high visibility and credibility in a rapidly changing media landscape.

Leveraging UConn Today for Greater Visibility

In 2025, CAHNR Communications shared diverse stories through UConn Today, reaching hundreds of thousands of stakeholders across Connecticut and beyond. These stories showcased the full scope of the College’s work. UConn Today continues to be a powerful platform for amplifying CAHNR’s visibility and connecting our faculty, students, and programs with key audiences, including university leadership, policymakers, alumni, and prospective students.

As the digital landscape evolves, CAHNR continues to adapt its strategies. The rise of AI-generated responses in search results and new editorial workflows within UConn Today have changed how stories are featured and discovered. Even within this shifting environment, CAHNR maintains strong organic engagement and sustained visibility, reflecting the continued interest and credibility our stories command.

Local, National, and International Coverage

CAHNR Communications continues to expand the College’s visibility through proactive media engagement at local and national levels. In 2025, we facilitated interviews and features that positioned faculty and staff as trusted experts on topics spanning health, environment, agriculture, and community well-being. To strengthen readiness, we offered media training to help faculty communicate with confidence and clarity. Performance is tracked continuously, with biweekly reports shared across departments and leadership to highlight earned media success and emerging opportunities — ensuring CAHNR remains visible, credible, and engaged in the public dialogue.

Sensitive Communications Support

While we are grateful for positive earned media coverage, we also have to be ready to address media hits that may pose reputational harm to the College or University. CAHNR Communications plays a key role in managing sensitive incidents with customized responses. When issues arise, we work closely with the affected department to assess the situation, coordinate messaging, and determine whether to elevate the matter to University Communications. Our office helps develop clear, timely responses and, when necessary, follow-up messaging to maintain transparency and reinforce trust with internal and external audiences. This collaborative, thoughtful approach ensures that CAHNR communicates consistently, protects institutional credibility, and supports faculty and staff through complex media situations.

Social Media

In 2025, CAHNR Communications continued to grow its presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok — platforms central to engaging prospective and current students, alumni, and the business community. Each channel demands a distinct approach, so we formed a social media team that meets regularly to plan and produce content that reflects CAHNR’s energy and impact. The group includes CAHNR Communications executive director, multimedia specialist, an undergraduate student, and an administrator from the dean’s office, ensuring balance between creativity, authenticity, and coordination. This collaborative structure led to steady increases across all key metrics, including follower growth, impressions, and engagement, while reinforcing CAHNR’s voice as a vibrant, student-focused, and forward-looking college.

Spotlight on TikTok

In its first full year of activity, CAHNR’s TikTok channel has become a cornerstone of our student engagement strategy. With roughly two-thirds of teens using the platform, TikTok remains an essential way to connect with prospective and current students through authentic, engaging content that showcases life in the College. Despite ongoing uncertainty around the platform’s future, CAHNR will continue to prioritize TikTok given the strong engagement and visibility it delivers among key audiences.

Fans: 837
Posts: 149
Reach: 248,529
Views: 325,162
Engagement: 30,906
Top Post: Paige Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin, and faculty from the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine helped young athletes learn at Injury Prevention. The workshop included personal injury assessments with 3D motion capture technology 🏀💙 (20,965 views; 5133 engagements)

*First full calendar year of data

Initiatives

In addition to our core priorities, CAHNR Communications also led and/or supported the development and implementation of several college-wide initiatives in 2025. These projects supported both near-term goals — such as student and alumni engagement — and longer-term needs, including improved workflow and professional standards across departments. Our team continued to balance daily communications activities with broader strategic priorities, using collaboration, data-informed decision-making, and creative storytelling to extend CAHNR’s reach and reputation. Through close coordination with faculty, staff, and University partners, we delivered work that not only elevates the College externally but also enhances internal alignment and consistency, all while advancing specific strategic goals.

Student Engagement

In 2025, CAHNR Communications expanded its student engagement efforts with a stronger emphasis on digital strategies and cohesive messaging to support department recruitment efforts. The team produced a robust suite of photo and video assets highlighting student experiences, academic programs, and community impact. These materials supported print and digital campaigns, departmental websites, and event promotions designed to engage prospective students and families. By partnering closely with department faculty and staff, we ensured content authenticity and alignment with CAHNR’s program offerings to effectively communicate with target audiences:

Strategic planning support, including helping several programs launch and maintain effective websites and social channels
Print and digital promotional materials at the College and department level
Content strategy to improve navigation, content uniformity, and SEO
Targeted photo and video production for several academic programs/units, including the newly launched Equine Science and Management major
Expansion of the CAHNR tour through Lodewick Visitor Center

Advertising and Sponsorships

This year, CAHNR Communications played a central role in shaping university-wide standards for advertising and sponsorship, participating in a working group to develop shared policies and best practices. Alongside this policy work, we executed several projects that combined digital and print deliverables to promote academic programs, showcase CAHNR’s expertise in key areas, and support partnerships with strategic organizations. These efforts reinforced the College’s brand consistency across diverse platforms and audiences while helping ensure advertising investments were aligned with institutional goals and measurable outcomes.

Helped establish and enforce processes for review and approval
Provided professional, cohesive design support
Collaborated with departments to improve strategic ad opportunities focused on ROI

Alumni and Donor Engagement

In 2025, CAHNR Communications focused on amplifying stories of generosity and impact, with particular attention to transformative gifts that advance the College’s research and teaching missions. A highlight was the George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center, which we supported through website development, strategic guidance, and multimedia storytelling. News features, social media coverage, and video assets celebrated donor contributions while underscoring the significance of philanthropy in driving innovation and engagement within CAHNR. These efforts aim to celebrate our supporters and also strengthen relationships with alumni and partners who are invested in the College’s future.

Workflow and Standards Improvements

To enhance consistency and efficiency across the College, CAHNR Communications led a comprehensive update of our standard operating procedures in 2025. This included refining existing workflows, developing new documentation where needed, and expanding training opportunities for departmental staff involved in communications activities. The process clarified expectations, improved turnaround times, and reinforced best practices in writing, design, digital, and multimedia projects. By creating a stronger foundation for collaboration, these updates ensure CAHNR’s communications remain cohesive, professional, and aligned with university standards and make expectations and standards more transparent for colleagues within the College.

Looking Forward

As we look ahead to 2026, CAHNR Communications will continue balancing our core responsibilities with several large, multi-year initiatives that will shape the College’s digital landscape for the long term. Website transitions and student engagement will remain central areas of focus, requiring sustained attention and coordination across departments. These efforts are complex by design, and completing them thoughtfully over multiple years ensures that CAHNR’s digital presence and storytelling remain strong, strategic, and aligned with evolving university standards.

At the same time, our team will stay responsive to new initiatives emerging from departments and College leadership as CAHNR navigates a period of significant transition — including state and federal budget uncertainty, shifts in UConn’s budget model, and the organizational needs assessment underway with the Segal group. Even with a small team and expanding expectations, we remain committed to delivering high-quality communications that serve the College’s mission. As priorities continue to evolve, aligning expectations with available resources will be essential to ensuring sustainable progress and continued momentum.

Websites

CAHNR Website Analytics

Project Spotlight