By Audrey Iffert-Saleem, Special Advisor, Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the EVPAA / SCC Co-Chair
Stella Liechty, Sr. Organizational Change Manager & Process Analyst, Strategic Planning & Process Analysis, UIT
Emily Thoures, Communications Coordinator, University Connected Learning

On June 4, the Student Communications Council (SCC) gathered for its quarterly meeting to share updates on the next phase of student communications work and begin the process of documenting how communication currently happens across the university.

Over the past year, the SCC has worked to better understand student communications challenges through student research, benchmark interviews with peer institutions, workshops and discussions with stakeholders across campus. Those efforts clarified the challenges students face when navigating communications from multiple offices and platforms and helped inform the roadmap that will guide the work moving forward.

A Roadmap for Implementing Change

To guide future decisions related to student communications governance, platform strategy, workflows/processes, and organizational structure, the university will follow a five-stage process:

1. Define the problem: Understand student and institutional challenges. (Completed)
2. Analyze the current state: Document how student communications operate today.
3. Design the future state: Develop recommendations related to governance, platform strategy, workflows, and organizational structure.
4. Pilot and refine: Test proposed approaches with a small group of units and make adjustments based on feedback.
5. Implement at scale: Expand successful approaches across the institution over time.

The meeting slide deck, with a more detailed view of the activities planned within each phase, can be accessed here. Review our blog post summarizing the roadmap workshops here.

Beginning the Work to Understand the Current State

Before making decisions about governance or platform strategy, the university first needs a clearer understanding of how student communications operate today. To begin building that understanding, SCC members participated in an activity designed to document:

• Who units communicate with
• Why those communications are sent
• What happens if students miss them
• Which tools and platforms are being used today

This effort will continue through an online form that will remain open through Thursday, July 2. We encourage units to contribute their information so that future decisions are informed by a more complete picture of how student communications operate across the U.

Building the Structure for the Next Phase of Work

Feedback from the roadmap workshops reinforced the need for both broad stakeholder engagement and a smaller group focused on moving the work forward. Over the summer, the project team will begin building the structure needed to support the next phase of work. Additional details, including membership and roles, will be shared as they are finalized. The following changes are intended to create clear pathways for implementation and ongoing stakeholder engagement.

• Transitioning the SCC. The SCC has played an important role in helping define the problem and shape the roadmap for the work ahead. As the project moves into implementation, the SCC will sunset in its current form and transition to a model that combines a smaller implementation team with ongoing opportunities for broad campus engagement. To support transparency and continued feedback, the implementation team will host town halls each semester to share updates and gather input from former SCC members and other interested faculty and staff across the university.
• Launching an implementation team. A smaller implementation team will be established to drive the day-to-day work of developing and testing future-state recommendations. This team will focus on moving work forward across governance, platform strategy, workflows and organizational structure, while helping prepare for pilot efforts.
• Establishing a steering committee. A steering committee composed of leaders from across the university will provide guidance and feedback as recommendations are developed. This group will help review draft proposals and ensure key institutional perspectives are considered before major decisions are made.
• Identifying pilot units. The project team will also begin identifying pilot units interested in helping test future approaches before broader implementation. Pilot units will play an important role in refining governance, platform strategies and workflows by helping the university understand what works in practice and where adjustments may be needed. Units interested in learning more about pilot participation should contact Audrey Iffert-Saleem.

Supporting the Community While the Work Continues

This effort will take time. While governance, platform, workflow and organizational decisions are being developed, several resources will provide immediate support to the campus community.

• Student Communications Guide. Building on work initiated by the SCC Message Prioritization and Consistent Standards subcommittees, a Student Communications Guide will provide practical guidance and resources for communicating with students. A beta version of the guide is expected to be available before the start of the 2026-27 academic year.
• Communication assets. During the roadmap workshops, participants emphasized the importance of helping units communicate about this work internally. In response, a set of communication materials is available here for SCC members to use and share with their teams.

Looking Ahead

The summer months will focus on completing our current-state analysis and establishing the implementation team, steering committee and pilot units that will help advance the next phase of the work. We will continue to use our blog to share updates and create opportunities for feedback as the work progresses.