News & Media Relations

Falcon Digest (formerly the Falcon Flyer) is Fairmont State’s event newsletter and is currently sent Monday, Wednesday and Friday (if needed) to employees and students. A community version will begin this fall.   

Fairmont State News serves as the primary news and information source for Fairmont State University. When visiting Fairmont State News, you can expect to read about the latest stories being told around the state, nation and world. News stories are distributed through email, social media, and Fairmont State websites.   

Fairmont State News is updated throughout the week and aims to be an informative and user-friendly news vehicle sharing the stories that make the Fairmont State community a great place whether you are studying, working or visiting. In addition to written stories, the site contains videos, photos, and announcements.  

Many of the news stories that highlight Fairmont State University are distributed Thursday the "In the News" newsletter.  

Fairmont State shares employee celebrations on the first and third Thursday of the month. Send your employee celebration to cmcs@fairmontstate.edu .

A communication plan is necessary to create a strategy for delivering information to your target audiences with measurable results. CMCS can help develop a plan that will ensure clear, specific messaging across multiple media. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. CMCS will offer insight and expertise to make your communications task easier and more effective. CMCS can help you organize, construct, and execute your communication plan, whether you don’t know how to start or you’d just like a second opinion.  

Typical Projects and Timelines 

• Communication plan construction | 3 weeks 

Get Started  

1. What is the process for creating a communication plan?   
2. Identify your project's purpose and audience  
3. Determine a concept  
4. Identify dependencies  
5. Choose your media  
6. Set up your plan  

Identifying your project's purpose and audience  

• Why is this project necessary?  
• What is the most important message for you to communicate?  
• Who are your primary and secondary audiences?  
• What, ultimately, do you want to accomplish? How can this be measured to ensure you were successful?  

Determining a concept  

• What is the primary goal of the communication plan?  
• What can your office commit to doing?  
• What can CMCS commit to?  

Identifying dependencies  

• What outside entities or extenuating circumstances could have an effect on the prompt and timely execution of this communication plan?  
• How will you communicate these dependencies with everyone?  
• Will you have a backup plan if these circumstances threaten your timeline?  

Choosing your media   

• Fairmont State News article and/or news email  
• Press releases for local, state, regional, and/or national media  
• Event on the University Events Calendar   
• Social media post  
• Video  
• Posters, fliers, or other designed and printed materials   
• Designed digital displays   
• Other materials from CMCS  

Setting up your plan  

Putting your plan in writing helps you organize your tasks, assign deadlines and responsible parties, and include any notes or reminders. This can be a simple table (set up in Excel or Word) or a more detailed, written document that describes responsibilities, expectations, and methods of execution. Draft your communication plan in a way so that anyone new to the project, or joining the project mid-stream, can easily understand and participate in executing the communication campaign.  

It is important to remember as you construct your plan that a communication plan can be considered a living document. Changes and updates can and should be made to the document as they are necessary during the course of the project. Make sure to share any changes with all involved parties and mark each revision to the document with the date.  

CMCS will send out a media advisory to all media contacts. This advisory includes a description of the event along with its time, date, and location. Please note that media attendance is not guaranteed when advisories are sent out. 

Press releases are shared on Fairmont State’s news website, Facebook page, and LinkedIn page. They are also sent to all media contacts, where they will publish them at their discretion. 

University-wide emails are for items deemed to be of great importance or urgency to many members of the Fairmont State community. We suggest that you think critically about your target audience and when possible, send your email to a more specific group of Falcons.  

Information for a broad Fairmont State audience can be disseminated as a news story or social media post. We can also work with you on a communication plan or marketing strategy to share your message, and offer options for including your message in our regular university-wide emails.   

Please contact Information Technology to inquire about access to email systems — help@fairmontstate.edu.   

CMCS creates and executes communication plans for our internal audiences: current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The goal of a communication plan is to spread a message.   
 
We establish and employ marketing and advertising strategies to reach external or potential audiences, like prospective students or donors. There is an element of persuasion involved with marketing and advertising.