09/18/14
Melissa Dixon is Fort Hays State University's new social media coordinator, joining the university's communications team as its first member dedicated to presenting the university's message across an array of social media networks.

She will work out of the Office of University Relations.

"My goals are increased awareness and engagement with potential students, current students, alumni and friends of the university -- and, eventually, increased enrollment," said Dixon. "We need to make sure that FHSU's story is easily accessible for all groups, no matter how they are accessing their information."

With Dixon on board, University Relations will begin using specific social media strategies to market FHSU across multiple social media platforms. Dixon moved to Hays from Starkville, Miss., where she spent the last nine years as owner and creative director of Blufish Design Studio, a full-service graphic design and marketing agency that originated in Tempe, Ariz. Her experience in social media includes account management and training for a wide range of clients, from real estate companies to event venues.

"Email is no longer a dependable way to communicate with students," she said. "But the vast majority of them are actively engaged -- continuously engaged, all day long -- with Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and others."

These media, she said, are how students get news and information and engage with the wider world around them.

"By increasing our presence on social media, we will be able to broadcast our news to a much larger audience much faster, as well as compete with other schools who are already using social media for communication and recruiting," said Kent Steward, director of University Relations.