I was employed at the Notre Dame Office of Recruitment and Communications from summer 2016 – summer 2017. I worked both under the Associate Director of Communications to create print pieces and provide a student perspective to the department, as well as under the Assistant Director of New Media as a member of the New Media Team. Through that role, I primarily created digital work, such as social media content, blogging, and a new website for our student team.
Social Media
For the Notre Dame Office of Admissions, I have created content for the Instagram and Tumblr accounts, as well as blogging. In addition to creating illustrations for these platforms, I also post photography from around campus several times a week on the Instagram account. Because our target audience is high school students, Instagram is also used to interact with viral trends. Orchestrating an intern "Mannequin Challenge" in the fall and creating an Onion-style "April Fools" post are examples of how I have used internet culture to engage with our younger audience.
I also set up and post to the Snapchat account, which was made in the summer of 2016. I branded the "Takeover Tuesday" initiative, a weekly program where a prominent member of the Notre Dame community takes our followers around a day in their life. One year after I created it, the account had grown to over 4,000 followers.
Our Golden Years
Notre Dame Admissions previously relied on Tumblr to connect prospective students with student interns to give them an authentic insight into the Notre Dame experience. As fewer high schoolers use the platform, the department has decided to adapt to a new website where we could have a better opportunity to engage prospective students. This piece also connects the content posted on Tumblr and on the official Admissions blog pages together in one place. The name references the "Golden Dome" and "Blue and Gold" Notre Dame is known for, as well as conveying the romanticized idea of being in college.
The creative challenges of this website included using Google Sites, the mandatory application for having a .nd.edu URL. It was also important to balance the existing ND brand standards with something aimed at a younger audience. I also created a promotional teaser trailer for the project, using only found footage from real Notre Dame students.