For eight years (2012-2020), I helped advance all aspects of marketing, communications, and design that supported the internationalization mission at the University of Oregon. I was responsible for the packaging of numerous international advancement proposals, acted as a steward of the UO’s brand, produced several immersive narratives, and led all key web development needs for the UO Division of Global Engagement (formerly known as the Office of International Affairs).
Assisting the Division of Global Engagement was a process that required some degree of business analysis, systems development and integration, and teaching best practices in a highly fragmented environment.
There were plenty of technical and branding achievements, but one of the greatest achievements of the branding process was simply amassing a visual language and library of assets for an office that had none.
An important achievement was the development of quality immersive narratives with a focus on successful international students. An important example was the immersive story highlighting the experience of Nepalese architect Dristi Manandhar, who survived the 2015 earthquake that devastated her homeland. After the earthquake, Manandhar immediately joined rebuilding efforts with a team of friends. The young architects formed a design team called Aashraya, which delivered more than 2,300 emergency shelters across Nepal within weeks of the earthquake. As the first recipient of UO’s Nepal Scholarship and a UO College of Design graduate, she hopes to return home to help rebuild Nepal.
This video and the story on Manandhar became part of the traveling exhibit Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience at the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Read the complete story, Remembering Nepal in Around the O.
Another important storytelling achievement was the effort to elevate the quality of conversations around international research. The APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscape Research Hub has been set up in response to the increasing concerns about the sustainability of cities due to worldwide rapidly increasing population and resulting urbanization.
Learn more about UO’s APRU Sustainability Hub.
One of the most successful projects I helped brand and promote from inception was GlobalWorks, an international internships program created and sponsored by the Global Studies Institute.
Since its creation in 2015, I supported the program in all aspects of its branding, marketing, and communications; from the creation of its wordmark logo and promotional items, to the creation of their website. This program achieved 100% growth per year, four years in a row—and it continues to grow!
Finally, one of the most fun and rewarding exercises my team and I undertook, was finding creative ways to document and tell the story of study abroad through the eyes of our students. Our Ducks Around the World (a.k.a. 360 project) received plenty of kudos at NAFSA 2016. This project became one of a select few to be part of the UO 360 Recruitment Project in 2017. This video alone has garnered more than 45k views on UO’s Vimeo channel over time.
The work of our team garnered the 2015 Silver CASE Award District VIII for Best Interactive Website (Global Research Map) and the 2016 Silver CASE Award District VIII for Best Website Redesign (Global Education Oregon).
Chakris Kussalanant 