PR/Marketing

University breached advertising rules by claiming its arts and humanities research was ‘number one’ in UK, says regulator

Fracturing audiences and commercial priorities are diverting resources for science communication and leaving expertise unrewarded, says Helen Jamison

Marketing should include data on dropout rates and graduate outcomes, English institutions told

‘Essay mills are now illegal entities, and you should not carry their advertising,’ says minister’s letter to sector

Canadian campus aims to trade reminder of indigenous abuses with branding that signals modern sophistication

Fifth of respondents to major global survey said universities were ‘unimportant’ in fight against Covid-19

Decision by top court means another rebrand will be needed to help outsiders understand who’s who among republic’s reassembled universities

Official censure comes amid claims that pioneering institution is only ‘a Chinese college that bears Nottingham’s name’

Regulator extends existing awards, with results of reformed evaluation not due to be published until 2023

A podcast constructed and targeted well can amplify faculty expertise and build public trust, says Paul M. Rand

Why shouldn’t marketing staff have ongoing input into the brand perception they work so hard to cultivate among prospects, asks Victoria O’Malley

Adam Batstone has been making podcasts for more than 20 years. Here he chooses the best university podcasts out there and, with the need for online engagement growing by the week, provides tips on how to do it yourself

Higher education consultancy to continue operating independently under its own name

Liverpool John Moores asked staff to consult communications team before expressing support for movement on institutional social media accounts

New study shows strong link between headlines and citations, but scholars say more research needed on causality

Students tell Australian survey that institutions struggle to find right balance between offering ‘too much and too little’ information

English regulator’s chief executive sets out priorities for year ahead, including admissions and recruitment review

A report offers academics advice on the increasingly vital – if daunting – business of sharing their expertise via the media

Revelations that a Chinese university suspended an academic for ‘moral misconduct’ provoked weeks of online controversy

Recent ASA rulings show that students are still potentially being misled, says John Bradley

Can sharing a city with a more prestigious neighbour make it easier or harder for an institution to realise its value? Jack Grove examines the competition

Teenagers from deprived areas with slow broadband may be less likely to use internet for studies, and hence less likely to see academically orientated promotions

Some awards are unfortunate, but abolishing this time-honoured practice would throw out the baby with the bathwater, says Richard Willis

Glasgow’s new vice-principal for external relations discusses what administrators can offer senior teams in higher education, overcoming impostor syndrome, and why you should never perm your hair

Paper calls for scientific organisations to monitor platforms ‘known to spread false and misleading’ information about research and ‘respond quickly’

NUS vice-provost on crusade against built-in obsolescence

Consumer group’s concerns follow last year’s Advertising Standards Authority crackdown

New guidance responds to concerns that much hyperbolic science reporting can be traced back to university communications teams

The dawn of the digital age means universities must rethink how they respond to negative headlines, according to a new book

Charles Hymas said meeting over new campus was ‘more akin to a Roman amphitheatre where any slave felt to be worshipping the God Mammon was going to be bayed down’

The brains behind some of higher education’s most successful public relations drives share the secrets of their trade

Sexual harassment allegations and Paradise Paper revelations among negative headlines

Study reveals how higher education institutions’ responses to executive order were shaped by local circumstances

Higher education regulator moves to correct confusion over status of specialist institutions

Advertising Standards Authority upholds complaints about assertions from six institutions

Ningbo campus provost threatens legal action over ‘deliberate misrepresentation’

Research suggests that most brands are instantly forgettable – but what can universities do to stay memorable? Max du Bois takes a look

Divide between academia and public feels ‘dangerously wide’, says Oxford communications chief

Students are being hoodwinked into enrolling on ‘trendy’ new degree programmes that are, according to one concerned academic, little more than a marketing exercise

Study shows that a quarter of UK alumni under 30 have donated to their university

Leading higher education scholar warns that the sector will ‘shut down’ if institutions do not report their value

President of VU Amsterdam says it is not enough for institutions merely to say they are valuable

New paper finds that effective social media does help to attract and retain students

Max du Bois on how to avoid cultivating a bland, un-engaging brand, ahead of THE event on university branding

Event will take place in Berkeley, California, ahead of the THE World Academic Summit

They can cause confusion about qualifications and embarrassment for institutions, so why are they awarded? Malcolm Gillies investigates

Twitter may be a medium for academic vanity, but it also serves some very useful scholarly purposes, argues Les Back

Some of the factors that turn your alumni into marketing assets are not as obvious as you might think, says Holger Bollmann

Negative stories including collapse of Kids Company appear to be making the public more wary of major research funders

Analysis of seven prominent medical journals finds randomised controlled trials are far less likely to receive a press release than weaker observational studies

Claire Taylor challenges the absence of distinctiveness and diversity in an increasingly homogeneous HE landscape

The best forms of public engagement tend to be ‘dirt cheap’ and profitable, says author

A Russell Group tagline rap is further proof that we need to reform the academy’s approach, argues Philip Moriarty

Institutions also ordered to establish press offices and publish “authentic” university news

Incoming vice-president of international operations at Case says that UK fundraisers are ‘wildly talented’ but that the talent pool is ‘still very small’

Scholars have asked university communications departments to publicise their birthdays and businesses as well as academic conferences

A petition to “halt the rebranding of the University of Warwick” has attracted over 4,000 supporters.

As King’s College London drops a controversial name change, Harriet Line details the dos and don’ts of institutional rebranding

Plans to rebrand itself as ‘King’s London’ have been dropped, principal has confirmed

Students and alumni of King’s College London have reacted with horror after the university announced it will change its name to “King’s London”.