Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News

Michelle Searer, the second of four candidates to visit campus for CMU's associate vice president of public relations and marketing, speaks Friday in the Bovee University Center's Lake Huron Room. She currently works as the director of marketing and communications for Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Ind. [Click to enlarge]

Michelle Searer believes a new logo or Web site is not the solution to Central Michigan University's marketing troubles.

"It's very easy to say, 'Let's create a new whatever,'" Searer said. "But you need to do a lot of base-line research to drive marketing strategies."

Searer, director of marketing and communications at Indiana University Northwest, is the second of four candidates for the position of associate vice president of marketing and public relations to have open forums at CMU.

Searer said the university needs to focus on its external image.

"The primary audience you need to serve is external," Searer said. "Prospective students need to find what they're looking for (on the Web site)."

Another mission Searer said she would have if hired is deciding out what makes the university unique.

"We need to figure out what sets CMU apart from the other 14 universities in Michigan," Searer said. "We must be able to carve out a niche. There's so much to promote … (but you) can't send out different messages and still be effective."

Searer has a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Indiana University, and an associate's in communication from the College of DuPage.

Crisis management also is something Searer stressed during the open forum Friday at Bovee University Center's Lake Huron Room, using the noose incident as an example.

"It's really important universities have a crisis management plan," Searer said. "If and when something were to happen again … be upfront and honest with the media. Discuss diverse programming, really tout those programs."

Cheryll Nordin, associate director of University Recreation's marketing and business, attended Searer's forum.

"(She has a) strong knowledge of marketing and public relations," Nordin said. "(She will) bring experience to CMU, and a metropolitan perspective."

Indiana University Northwest is located in Gary, Ind., which has a population of nearly 100,000.

Marcy Weston, senior associate athletic director, also attended the forum.

"I was impressed by her energy," Weston said. "She seems to have done her homework, and seems very positive. I like that she comes with university experience."

The next forum will be 2:15 p.m. Thursday with Robert Quakenbush. Patrick Crowley will have a forum at 2:15 p.m. Friday. Both forums will take place in the Lake Huron room.


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