Objective

To raise awareness of CAHNR faculty, programs, strengths, etc. through news coverage either through UConn Today and/or working directly with external media. This SOP will serve to 1) confirm the responsibilities of the CAHNR Office of Communications and the CAHNR unit requesting services/working with the media; 2) determine the scope of services to be provided; 3) and establish the standard timeline for scheduling, coordinating, and executing articles/organizing coverage.

Scope

This SOP applies to all articles created for UConn Today provided by CAHNR’s Office of Communications and earned media with external outlets. Articles written by other UConn units or individuals outside of CAHNR’s Office of Communications are out of the scope of this SOP.

Roles/Responsibilities

CAHNR Executive Director of Communications: The CAHNR Executive Director will evaluate the story and develop a coverage plan (e.g., UConn Today, earned media, or other option), will assign a writer to work on the article, and/or will seek external media coverage. The assigned CAHNR writer will be responsible for developing a timeline for completion and confirming it with the Executive Director.

For UConn Today stories, the CAHNR Executive Director will either edit the subsequent draft and coordinate publication on the University’s news site directly or ask the assigned writer to complete these tasks. If photos are needed, the CAHNR Executive Director will assign a CAHNR Publicity/Marketing Coordinator to schedule/shoot/edit, following the CAHNR SOP for Photo Processing (Internal).

For external media, the CAHNR Executive Director will coordinate with journalists and prep faculty, staff, and/or students for interviews, as needed OR they will assign this function to the CAHNR Publicity/Marketing Coordinator.

Please note, CAHNR Communications is typically responsible for organizing interviews with external media, in collaboration with University Communications, per University Policy. If a faculty member connects independently with a journalist, they should notify CAHNR Communications for awareness, documentation, and sharing on CAHNR channels.

CAHNR Writer: The assigned CAHNR writer will independently interview, research, and write a draft to highlight the work. They will share the draft with the Executive Director for internal review before sharing the draft for feedback with the Requestor.

Timeline

The CAHNR Office of Communications will respond to a request for news coverage within two (2) business days upon receipt of the project submission form. The completion of the final UConn Today article will be determined by many factors, such as journal embargoes, UConn Today publication schedule, and timeliness of review/photos/etc.

Deliverables

The CAHNR Office of Communications will produce an article for UConn Today and/or seek external media coverage.