LOOKING TO preserve and protect Ateneo’s image as an institution held with esteem and respect, the University Communication and Public Relations Office (UCPRO) was separated and established independently from the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations (OUDAR) to “better serve the needs of the university.”
“By God’s grace, we [Ateneo and its community] are known. We want to keep that, we want to protect it, [and] we want to bring it up to a level where people will really see what are the good things that are happening in the university,” said UCPRO Head Sonia Araneta.
Impression management
UCPRO will serve as the hub and gatekeeper of information.
Araneta said that their main job is to disseminate information about the university. “We are looking to be as consistent and as wide-ranging as we can so that we can come up with news and stories about the Ateneo that speaks well of the university,” she said.
“It’s not just communicating. It is also managing the image of the university—how we can raise our level where we work to a level where we can do better,” Araneta added.
Proper time
Events and Donor Relations Group Head Ma. Josefa de la Rama Mendoza said that it was about time that the office became independent.
“They hope not only to serve the purpose of the [OUDAR] but [also to respond to] the concerns of the whole university, so I think it’s just very logical that they spin-off,” Mendoza said.
Director for Alumni Relations Jun Dalandan agreed. He said that perhaps the biggest series of events that led to this detachment is the whole period of the sesquicentennial celebration, “That [event shows] that it [UCPRO] had more responsibilities to the rest of the outside communities…so it requires a more defined structure.”
Also, the separation of the office from OUDAR was to answer the growing concerns of the students and the alumni, not only every school year but every semester. “The role has grown…[we have] to serve, to be of better service to the members of the community,” Dalandan added.
Support office
There will be no difference on how the UCPRO previously functioned, as the information hub of the university; the changes will only be organizational.
“We have to add more people. We’re getting an assistant [and] an associate editor writer. We really need to get more people in,” Araneta said.
The office would continue to assist OUDAR and the other offices despite the separation.
Araneta said that UCPRO will remain a support office to different units.
Mendoza agreed with this and said that UCPRO would have a broader scope since it has been separated to fulfill the function of bringing university information to different people. However, the Araneta and her office will still work with other offices.
“We’re going to be working with them…but their focus is going to be a lot wider because of the demands of the university,” said Mendoza.
Trying new ways
The office is looking forward to their expansion through the use of technology, particularly through the Ateneo website.
“[We want to] make sure that this [information] comes out. We are looking at better developing the Ateneo website,” said Araneta. “So that it can respond to information inquiries, better, faster and more organized. We are finding ways to be able to reach out to the members of the Ateneo community.”
According to Araneta, new media will be useful for the UCPRO, especially proven during disasters like Ondoy when people disseminated information via social-networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook.
“We want to see what else is out there so that our larger community would be able to know what are the things that are happening in the Ateneo [like] the awards, the accolades and the things [that are] moving forward at the university,” she added.
