The Office of Public Affairs has resumed publication of our monthly Talking Points newsletter, which is designed for KU Communicators like you. We hope you find it useful as we work together to communicate all the great things happening at KU.

To suggest content for upcoming editions, contact Joe Monaco.
 

The KU Event Calendar is a powerful tool to promote your events. You’ll recall the Event Calendar was upgraded last year to include terrific new functionality, including RSS and iCal feeds.

We encourage you to use the Event Calendar for all your events — lectures, conferences, performances and exhibitions — not only because it helps your unit, but also because it helps your colleagues see what’s happening on campus before scheduling their own events.

For assistance creating your unit calendar, contact Wendy Bridges.
 

The Kansas Legislature amended the Kansas Open Records Act so that, beginning July 1, 2016, the text messages on your phone and emails in your private email account that relate to university business will be subject to requests made to KU under KORA.

You can read the full update from our Office of the General Counsel.
 

Our master integrated calendar, which includes messaging themes for the upcoming year, is now available as a Google doc. After signing in, choose "Make a copy" under the “File” menu, which will allow you to edit and make your own file. As always, we encourage Communicators like you to use the calendar to organize your marketing content so we can all be in sync throughout the year.

This year, each theme will be four weeks long, a departure from the three-week cycles we’ve used in past years. We’ve also decreased the number of themes in order to focus on our core mission and recruitment. The themes are: “Building Healthy Communities,” “Educating Leaders,” “Making Discoveries That Change the World,” “Best of KU," and "Why Choose KU.”

For details, email Katie McCurry.
 

Earlier this year, Governor Brownback announced allotments to higher education that will result in a $10.7 million cut to the University of Kansas in Fiscal Year 2017. The attached charts show the trend in state appropriations for KU over the past 15 years.
 

KU has finalized a Minors on Campus Policy and launched a new Youth Programs, Activities, and Camps website to help guide employees who coordinate youth programs, camps and clinics on campus. The policy and website were created by the Office of Event Management and Protocol in conjunction with Human Resources, General Counsel and the Provost’s Office.

Event Management and Protocol will serve as a resource for KU units that host youth programs, facilitate third-party program provider requests to access university facilities and services, and act as the “registrar” for youth programs and camps so we are aware when groups are on campus.

For details, contact Charlie Persinger or Wendy Bridges.
 

Marketing Communications has wrapped up work on brand positioning and has been testing campaign concepts in Lawrence, Chicago, Dallas, Hays and Kansas City. Testing and development will continue through the summer with plans to roll out a new campaign in spring 2017.

For details, contact Gerald Holland.
 

On June 22, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little was featured in a New York Times story titled, “How Public Universities Are Addressing Declines in State Funding.”
 

Please email Emma Cornish if you have changes to the KU Communicators directory.