Provost Marie Lynn Miranda announced that 10 faculty members have been named to the new Rice University Academy of Fellows, which was created as part of a new strategic initiative to raise Rice's research competitiveness and will include distinguished postdoctoral fellows from around the world. The academy was featured in Rice News and on rice.edu.
Rice had a record 39,259 media mentions in 2015 — an increase of 7,384 from 2014.
For a list of our November-December media stars, please see the last section of this report.
University Relations
Rice United Way Campaign sets record
For the second year in a row, the Rice United Way Campaign has placed the university in the Chairman's Division, the United Way's top tier of institutional donors. This year's record-setting campaign total of $283,588 is 12 percent above last year's and reflects the first time that the campaign achieved 100 or more lead donors (those contributing $1,000 or more) and 1,000 or more total campaign donors. Campuswide, 19 of the university's 21 campus campaign divisions increased their giving total, participation percentage or both. In the last 10 years, the Rice campaign has more than quadrupled its annual contributions.
Government Relations
If you haven't already, please join the Rice Community Action Network (Rice CAN), a grassroots effort that encourages our community and friends to advocate for the policies and initiatives that will help win governmental support for Rice's priorities, and which also equips them to serve as ambassadors for the university. We'll keep you informed about what's going on at the Texas Legislature and in Congress. You can read our recent student updates and talking points about Rice at http://staff.rice.edu/CAN-home.aspx.
Creative Services
Ken Kennedy Institute flyer
Creative Services provided design assistance for lectures, events and a speaker series for the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology. The template is part of the institute's brand identity and is used for printed flyers and posters as well as digital communications.
NEWT kickoff event
Creative Services designed and edited materials for the kickoff event at the opening of the newly formed NEWT (Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment) Systems research center. Rice was chosen as the home base for the center, which will develop technology with the potential to protect global health, enhance human capacity and improve quality of life. This modular and mobile technology will provide water to billions of people, including 43 million Americans without access to municipal water systems. Partner schools include Arizona State, Yale and UTEP. Materials produced included pull-up banners, programs and schedule posters.
Moon tree invitation
On Jan. 31, 1971, the crew of Apollo 14 launched their nine-day mission to the moon. One of the crew members, command module pilot Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forestry Service smoke jumper, took several hundred seeds from five different tree species on the mission. Many of the seeds were germinated and planted following the crew's return, resulting in the so-called "moon trees." As a longtime partner of NASA, creator of the first-ever academic space science department and proud home to 14 alumni and faculty astronauts, Rice will be given a moon tree to be planted on campus. The tree will be officially dedicated Feb. 9, 2016. Creative Services designed the invitation to the event.
The "Interwebs" dashboard
Total reach This number reflects how many people potentially were reached through Rice websites and social media during the months of November and December: 96,039,116
Passive viewers This number reflects people who have read or been exposed to Rice via Web efforts in the months of November and December: 506,668
Web advocates This number reflects people who have actively shared Rice Web and social media content during November and December: 70,840
More than 70 Latino high school students and their chaperones attended a college readiness conference Nov. 7 at Rice. Students involved with the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice (HACER) talked about college life and provided a campus tour. Sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which works to cultivate community leadership skills in young Latinos, the all-day event included Rice speakers Juliet Stipeche, associate director of the Richard Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity, and David Medina, director of Multicultural Community Relations (MCR).
Alison Weaver speaks to Houston arts groups
Alison Weaver, executive director of Rice's Moody Center for the Arts, presented her plans for the arts complex Dec. 3 to a group of 25 leaders representing various Houston arts organizations. Her presentation was part of MCR's quarterly community dialogue luncheon, which brings community leaders together to discuss social issues that affect all sectors of society. Among the participants were Phoebe Tudor, a board member with the Houston Ballet, and representatives from the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Symphony, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Menil Foundation, the Community Artist Collective, the Japanese American Citizens League, Talento Bilingue and the University Museum at Texas Southern University. Several guests requested that MCR host more meetings at Rice to discuss improved collaboration among the various arts groups in Houston.
Journalists gather at Rice
Some 100 journalists and Rice faculty members gathered Dec. 16 for a holiday party at Rice. The event was sponsored by MCR and seven journalism groups: the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals, the Houston Association of Black Journalists, the Asian American Journalism Association, the Houston Press Club, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, El Gato Media Network and the Society of Professional Journalists. Bill Fulton, director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research; Stephen Klineberg, sociology professor and founding director of the Kinder Institute; Richard Stoll, the Albert Thomas Professor of Political Science; and Tom Kolditz, director of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders, were among the Rice contingent. Attending from the media were representatives from the Houston Chronicle, KRIV-TV, KHOU-TV, KTRK-TV, KUHT-TV, ESPN, Telemundo and Univision.
Outreach efforts highlighted in Rice at Large
The 29th issue of Rice at Large highlights Rice's outreach efforts throughout Greater Houston. The front page features a story about Karen Capo, director of School Literacy and Culture at Rice's Center for Education, and her efforts to encourage students to read and become lifelong learners. Also on the front page is an article about a Kinder Institute program that will attempt to solve big-city problems. Inside the quarterly newsletter are stories about a diverse journalism conference, an urban planner, a math program for teachers and a program intended to acclimate foreign students to Houston. For a copy of Rice at Large, contact David Medina at x6753.
Marketing
Unconventional Wisdom marketing campaign reaches more than 41 million
The Unconventional Wisdom marketing campaign completed the first half of FY16 with ad placements in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed and publications targeting high school counselors. From inception to date, the campaign has reached an estimated target audience of more than 41 million. One of the campaign goals is to build a national brand presence for Rice University. In support of this effort, digital advertisements have reached out to audiences across the country. Traffic to the Unconventional Wisdom landing page continues to increase, with visitors from California making up 22 percent of site traffic, along with New York at 11 percent and Illinois at 10 percent. Visitors from Massachusetts and Georgia make up 6 percent of the nationwide traffic.
Rice Public Affairs receives video awards
The AVA Digital Awards honor excellence by creative professionals responsible for the planning, conception, direction, design and production of digital communication. Rice Public Affairs won three AVA awards this year for videos shot and produced by videographer Brandon Martin. As more videos are produced, competitions like this provide the opportunity to test content against the best. They also help ensure that we are up to date on technology, messaging and marketing execution. See the two videos below that together won three awards.
"The hour for change and challenge is still here"
Award level: Platinum
Category: Education/College/University/Trade To view the video, click https://youtu.be/6Q-dRLC2V14
Top media star for November-December and for 2015: Mark Jones
Mark Jones had the highest number of media mentions – 521 – during November and December, mainly for his comments on the results of the Houston mayoral election. Jones also had the highest number of media hits for the year: 2,227. He is the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, a professor of political science and a fellow in political science at Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Below are the Rice experts who were mentioned in the media five or more times during November and December.
