The university’s Office of Alumni and Development and Office of Communications and Marketing have won top awards in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence international competition.
The communications and marketing team captured a Gold Award for their work on rebranding the T transit system in partnership with the Office of Parking and Transit. From the sharply designed buses, signage, and maps, to the creative “prize ride” event, the team’s work helped draw attention to the new student transit experience. UT established a new vendor relationship with First Transit and relaunched the system last fall. The new buses and ability to track routes through the university’s mobile app have been well received by students; ridership is up 11.4 percent for fiscal year 2014 through the end of April, representing nearly 100,000 more passengers this year. The new buses have carried more than a million passengers in just ten months.
The Knoxville campus alumni and development team won a Silver Award for last fall’s Big Orange Give campaign. The 125-hour online giving event raised more than $250,000, double its original goal, and recruited more than 714 new or lapsed donors. This competitive category—Best Uses of Social Media—had seventy-two entries from across the nation and abroad. UT shares the Silver Award with the University of California’s Research Tumblr. Alumni and Development leaders worked with many volunteers and coordinated with the Office of the Chancellor, UT Athletics, and the Office of Communications and Marketing, along with college-based communications staff and many others across campus on the successful first-time initiative.
Earlier this year, the T transit system branding won a Gold Award in the Region III CASE competition. The university’s “Big Orange. Big Ideas.” halftime video received a Special Merit award.