The University of Arkansas' J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recently won recognition in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) 2019 Circle of Excellence awards for its Fulbright REVIEW digital publication and newsletter.

Each year the international awards program honors innovative, inspiring and creative work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing at colleges, universities, independent schools and affiliated nonprofits.

The awards "acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results." In 2019, CASE received 2,856 entries for consideration in 100 categories by 611 member higher education institutions, independent schools, and nonprofits from 20 countries.

The Fulbright REVIEW won the Gold-level award in the publications category for external digital newsletters. The publication launched in August 2018, as a revival of the college's former semi-annual digital magazine, which was also previously a print magazine.

"Ultimately, what we wanted was for our 'Fulbright Family' to be able to go behind the scenes and connect more deeply to the college and all who are its heart and soul through the new Fulbright REVIEW," said Todd Shields, dean of Fulbright College. "It's also become such an amazing way to honor and feature many of our incredibly talented students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends."

The publication now consists of two components — a blog-style website with new content posted weekly, and a monthly roundup newsletter of the content that is distributed to more than 35,000 subscribers.

This new format was intended to help the college reengage its alumni, donors, constituents and community members with more frequent communications, and provide more balanced coverage across the college's four major areas of academic discipline — natural sciences, social sciences, fine arts and humanities.

"We've tried to do this by focusing on highly-engaging first-person stories, Q&As and in-depth features," said Andra Liwag, director of communications for the college. "We also wanted the Fulbright REVIEW to amplify the excellent stories in Newswire and other campus publications, so we highlight those, too, and include multiple guest writers from across campus."

Team members who created the relaunched Fulbright REVIEW include Liwag, who serves as its managing editor, writer and copy editor; Morgan Bibbs, the college's former director of creative services, who served as its art director, website and e-newsletter designer; Olivia Chivers, the college's communications project manager who serves as a content contributor and its editorial project manager; Tommye Koontz, communications intern, who serves as its website developer and provides website maintenance; and former communications intern Cody Jendro, who served in the same capacity.

The Fulbright REVIEW editorial team also works closely with University Advancement and the Arkansas Alumni Association to maintain the publication's distribution list and ensure its monthly dissemination.

To subscribe to the monthly newsletter, please sign up here.

About the Circle of Excellence Awards: Each year the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards recognize hundreds of institutions whose talented staff members advanced their institutions through innovative, inspiring and creative ideas. Winners are selected based on overall quality, innovation, use of resources and the impact on the institution or its external and internal communities. Made up of several of CASE's long-time recognition programs, the Circle of Excellence awards program, in its present configuration, was introduced in 1994. It is CASE's largest and most popular awards program.

About CASE: The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) believes in advancing education to transform lives and society. As a global nonprofit membership association of educational institutions, CASE helps develop the communities of professional practice that build institutional resilience and success in challenging times. The communities include staff engaged in alumni relations, fundraising, marketing, student recruitment, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications and government relations. CASE is volunteer-led and uses the intellectual capital of senior practitioners to build capacity and capability across the world. CASE has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Singapore and Mexico City. Member institutions include more than 3,700 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and nonprofit organizations in 82 countries. CASE serves nearly 88,000 practitioners. For more information about CASE, please visit www.case.org.

A version of this story also appeared in the Fulbright REVIEW.