Learn how I made some simple yet effective changes in how I approached communicating to grad students.

1. PRESENTED BY Daniel pimentel
Marketing coordinator | Florida International University
4 Grad students log into
a bar

2. 8,000+ grad
students
FIU at a glance
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
No.1 in nation in awarding masters degrees
to hispanics
Over 120 grad
programs
2/3 are full-time

3. THREE main points
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
Understanding the key differences
between communication at the
graduate level vs undergraduate.
Undergrad vs. grad
Grad student profile
matrix
Communication
strategies
How we assess our specific
graduate community and learn
basic grad student psychographic
profiles which allow us to better
tailor communications, content, etc.
How we effectively used grad
student profiles (GSP) to better
communicate to our grad student
community based on their unique
personality and structure.

4. undergrad vs gradCommunicating to two different communities

5. Undergrad = grad school? no
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
diversity
Larger % of enrolled grad students are
international at the graduate level than at
the undergraduate level.
Time & obligations
Larger % of grad students have a full-
time job in addition to grad school. Also,
larger % have children, generally leaving
little free-time compared to undergrads.
Generational gaps
The age range for students at the grad level
is wider than at the undergrad level, often
between mid 20's & late 40's.

6. Grad student profilesAcknowledging 4 key types of graduate student psychographics to better create
communications that encourage engagement and maximize the grad experience

7. Grad student profiles (GSP) matrix
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
Prolonged
undergrad
Extrovert + Low Academic Involvement
Super star
Extrovert + High Academic Involvement
Hermit Crab
Introvert + Low Academic Involvement
Notorious PHD
Introvert + High Academic Involvement
Prolonged Undergrad Superstar Notorious PhD Hermit crab

8. Understand your graduate
Ecosystem
Every college, department, and program communicates differently. Accommodate.
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
Engineer
ing-and-
Comput
ing
Civil
new
s
blog
soci
al
med
ia
hom
epa
ge
Intl.
and
public
affairs
Events
listing
Home
page
Communication Distribution (by importance)
Glob
al
studi
es
Media wall

9. Grad student appreciation week
(GSAW)
How we effectively reached all 4 grad student-types during a week-long event

10. Example: grad week for sipa
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
Visually relating to
students
High-traffic area for grad
students
SIPA students = more
extroverted

11. Example: grad week for engineering
Eng. Students = Digitally
driven
Grad highlights of fellow
students
Academically competitive
personality
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications

12. Gsp's: generate>assess>apply
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
o Create network of
deptartment-level
Communicators
o Analyze their comm.
o Attend their events
o Interact with students
o Look at demographic data
o Assign dominant gsp to
program/department
o Accent event features that
most appeal to gsp
o Ex. Engineering vs.
International Relations
o Map the graduate ecosystem
o Diversify your channels
o Coordinate with News
o Custom content for each
website, dept., program, etc.
o Leverage with university’s
social media channels
Incorporating gsp into
comm.
Content strategy
How we generated
gsp

13. My contact DETAILS
Daniel pimentel: graduate student communications
dapiment@fiu.edu
954.203.2199
@pimentelgators
/ugsgradschool
EMAIL:
TELEPH
ONE:

14. THANK YOU FOR
YOUR TIME