ROBERT A. EVANGELISTA
MARKETING THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
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Printed Material Development
The primary tool to market an academic program is printed materials to give to prospective students. When I arrived at the Southwestern College (SWC) Environmental Technology (ET) program, the only written material about the ET program was a statewide generic brochure that did not even have the school phone number or address. I had to glue my college business cards to these brochures! I obtained funding and co-designed a new brochure specifically for SWC's ET program.
Each semester, I created two card-like handouts called the Environmental Management Course Offerings and Occupational Health and Safety Course Offerings, for the two ET program emphases. Now college counselors could provide prospective students current information about ET course that would be available the next semester. I could give prospective students up-to-date information that fit inside the brochure when “on the road;” and current ET students had a “quick look” at future ET course offerings.
Lastly, I co-designed a flier (or handbill) that was designed to look like a college degree certificate. These were distributed around the campus and throughout the SWC region.
Outreach to High School Students
I did direct marketing of the ET program to graduating high school seniors and their academic counselors regarding the environmental industry, the types of environmental jobs, the salary range, and the ET program at SWC. Schools visited included: Bonita Vista High School, Castle Park High School, Mar Vista High School, Chula Vista High School, Coronado High School, Hilltop High School, East Lake High School, Sweetwater High School, Mission Bay High School, and University of San Diego High School.
Outreach to Military Bases
I gave a presentation to the Navy and wrote a proposal to establish a memorandum of understanding with the Naval Campus Education Center to put in place a service provider agreement between SWC ET program and the Navy.
I also made presentations to enlisted Marines stationed at the Mia Mar Naval Air Station regarding the ET program.
College Academic Counselors
I made a presentation to the academic counselors to reacquaint them with the ET program, introduce program changes, and discuss strategic goals. Futhermore, I would regularly update the one academic counselor who had “adopted” the ET program.
PETE, Partnership in Environmental Technology Education
I maintained membership in Partnership in Environmental Technology Education (PETE), attended monthly regional meetings, and attended the annual symposium. PETE provided coordination, training, and materials for the ET programs nationwide.
South County: Defining Our Future Forum
I was on a panel of academic, governmental, and business leaders chosen to examine, in a public-forum, South (San Diego) County Regionalism. The purpose was to facilitate and catalyze civil dialogue and identify critical regional information in the binational San Diego-Tijuana area. My presentation addressed regional environmental issues and offered the college as a lead in implementing the potential solutions.
Environmental Technology Advisory Committee
I assembled an Advisory Committee upon joining Southwestern College as a “think tank” for environmental education at SWC. I selected those individuals from both government and industry who understood the environmental industry and its regulations, are stakeholders from the San Diego-Tijuana regions, and were enthusiastic and committed. Meetings, held on picturesque San Diego Bay, provided quality food so committee members could use the opportunity to network. Here are my 1998 and 1999 presentations to the advisory board.
Environmental Conference
I, along with non profit partners, assembled a weekend conference on sustainable development and permaculture at Southwestern College as an exploration into sustainable techniques to preserve the US-Mexico border region, including: the balance between environment, economy, equity, population, business and technology; home building technologies; organic gardening/farming; problems and opportunities to build community; and environmental technologies in the US and Mexico. The conference attracted over one hundred attendees.