On-brand examples

The following examples are not meant to be prescriptive; rather, they demonstrate how the UW brand may be applied to various communications. Use these as a source of inspiration for developing your content.

Sample story (for an e-newsletter, annual report, etc.)

Partners in collaboration

UW consulting center strengthens small business

The Foster School of Business at the University of Washington is reaching beyond the classroom and into the community to bolster small businesses around the state — from wholesale fish marketers to hair salons — with consulting services.

What began two decades ago as a class that assigned students to help business owners in lower-income neighborhoods is now the Consulting & Business Development Center (CBDC). Today, student consultants assist about 300 businesses in low- and moderate-income communities each year.

“We’re trying to create jobs in underserved areas across the state of Washington,” says CBDC director Michael Verchot. “We do that by engaging our students in consulting projects and our faculty in teaching small business classes.” The strategy seems to be working. The Foster School estimates that the CBCD has generated more than $85 million in new revenue and created and retained more than 10,000 jobs across Washington state.

Last winter, a team of student consultants brought its expertise to A.J. Ghambari’s Seattle Bagel Bakery, a wholesale operation in Tukwila. A gregarious 2007 UW grad, A.J. is a natural at marketing and networking — skills he acquired working alongside his extended family of Iranian-American retail entrepreneurs.

But when it comes to wholesale budgeting and finance? “It was a brand-new ballgame,” says AJ. Diving into his spreadsheets, AJ’s student consultants cranked out cost analyses for everything from wheat buying to shipping. “Their work helped me to be more disciplined,” says AJ. In a bakery that produces up to 15,000 bagels daily, he learned, every sesame seed counts.

The decision to collaborate with the CBDC came easily. As an undergrad, AJ sat on the other side of the table, serving as a marketing consultant for the Garlic Garden specialty shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. “It was one of my most memorable experiences at the UW,” he says.

In July, AJ opened a second retail location in Seattle. With business in the black, 200 wholesale customers and a new gluten-free line in the works, he’s optimistic: “All our bases are covered and we’re ready to step up our game.”

Sample social media posts

Facebook: Scientists have long thought that life began when the right bases and sugars happened to mix and produce RNA. But innovative UW researchers questioned the answer and found that these life-triggering combinations might not be coincidental. Don’t miss their visionary discovery: http://ow.ly/nvqoi

Twitter: Talk about tenacious: Visionary UW researchers assist surgeons by putting the power of telerobotics at our fingertips bit.ly/UO5LlM

Sample ad

Dare to do
Using robots to improve disaster response

You never know when a natural disaster may strike. That’s why electrical engineering students at the University of Washington are developing innovative telerobotic technologies and working with community organizations to make disaster response faster and more efficient — and, ultimately, to save more lives.

We can’t change the way of Mother Nature. But we can be better prepared.

How will your ideas inspire action?

Sample executive communication

Dean’s Letter: Boundless? You bet.

Those of us on UW campus have noticed the Be Boundless tagline emerge all over the grounds during recent months. It’s everywhere – purple wristbands and huge bus banners. Taglines like this don’t simply emerge from a quick engagement with a marketing firm. For the past year, UW did research, taking a good, hard look at what people value about their experiences here. Boundless emerged as the word that captures how people experience that intersection of personal opportunity and societal impact that, in the end, makes you feel that you can a make a difference in the world.

Personally, I like “boundless” because it captures my own experiences going way back to the 1980s when I was a Ph.D. student in the then College of Forest Resources. I came to UW eager to understand the emerging issue of global climate change and in particular how it would impact mountain ecosystems. The personal opportunities offered by UW were indeed boundless: an engaged CFR faculty coupled with expertise across the campus in atmospheric and earth sciences. The Quaternary Research Center was a hotbed of interdisciplinary inquiry where the big “so what?” questions were debated at weekly seminars where graduate students were always welcome.

More recently, I have used the Be Boundless tagline as a lens to view the work of our College. Where are we embodying the optimism and determination that propels us to take actions to create a better world? This month’s Dean’s letter would be extremely long if I described the many, many ways we manifest the Be Boundless spirit. Instead, I want to call out a particular boundless moment I witnessed last month because it afforded me an “aha!” moment. Boundlessness is as much about social process as it is about our scholarly work. It is found when we seize emerging, less conventional opportunities.

Here’s what that less conventional opportunity looked like. Several of our scientists participated in the Arctic Encounter Symposium 2015 organized last month by the UW Law School. The Symposium’s goal was to challenge a very broad range of participants to tackle the shared interests and concerns of the United States and the global community regarding changes in the Arctic. When I walked into the Symposium I knew I was not at a normal science meeting. I did not need to read the participant list to recognize the formal attire of industry leaders and high level policy makers, the impeccable military bearing of senior officers, and the presence of regional stakeholders, many wearing traditional Native dress.

On the final day, Dr. Jody Deming (Professor, School of Oceanography and Director of the Future of Ice Initiative) moderated a panel discussion called “Our Rapidly Changing Arctic: The Current Status and Continuing Need for Science-informed Policy.” The panelists represented some of UW’s leading scholars: Dr. Jamie Morison (APL Polar Science Center), Dr. Ian Joughin (APL Polar Science Center; Affiliate Professor, Earth and Space Sciences), Dr. Tom Leschine (Professor, School of Marine & Environmental Affairs and Adjunct Professor, School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences) and Dr. George Hunt (Professor, School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences). Jody had quietly confided to me that she was concerned that talking about science during the last session of the last day of the Symposium might not draw many people. On the contrary, non-scientists were there in force and dominated the questions for the panelists.

Afterwards, Jody reflected that our scientists contributed significantly to the conversation at the Symposium by demonstrating to key leaders that we are ready partners in building an interface for science and decision making in the Arctic. Associate Dean Bruce Nelson (Professor, Earth and Space Sciences) noted that at most conferences and meetings, discussions between scientists and policy makers are still not occurring in a substantive way—they each go to their own breakout sessions. The session led by UW scientists broke that mold by creating dialogue between the scientists and non-scientists alike.

Boundlessness is not just a tagline. It happens when we communicate with people and groups who are not part of our normal sphere of influence and may be just outside of our comfort zone. In the end, this is a very human experience that requires both confidence and humility. For all of you who manifest the UW boundlessness, I thank you for what you do. And, I am curious as to what boundlessness means to you. How do you cross boundaries in your work?

Lisa Graumlich
Dean, College of the Environment
Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor