The Office of Communications is responsible for providing strategic communications support for the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Working with both internal and external audiences, our staff tells the exciting and important story of UCLA Luskin to the general public and our campus community. By working with local, regional, national and international print and electronic news media, the office strives to generate media coverage of UCLA Luskin and of the people, programs, events and activities that distinguish the School. In addition to its public information and media relations functions, our staff maintains the School’s social media channels, manages the UCLA Luskin website, creates digital and print marketing materials, and produces the biannual Luskin Forum magazine. If you’re looking for an expert to comment on issues involving Public Policy, Social Welfare or Urban Planning, please contact our office.

For the Media

The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs has faculty experts in a wide array of topics. To request an interview with any faculty member, please contact us.

For Faculty

The UCLA Luskin Communications Office offers personalized counseling for all faculty who are seeking media attention for their research. Assistance is also available for anyone contacted by the media for comment in their areas of expertise.

Research and publications

When your research gets published in a journal or you are nearing completion of work that is likely to generate coverage by outside media, the first step is to contact UCLA Luskin Communications:

Les Dunseith
Executive Director of Communications
Office: (310) 206-5252
Email: ldunseith@luskin.ucla.edu

Personal counseling about communications and media outreach will be provided by the Communications Staff, and they will assist with preparation of materials to be sent to media outlets, often in cooperation with staff at one of our research centers.

Aspects to discuss with the Communications staff

Timing

  • Some news outlets plan their article and op-ed schedules weeks in advance. Therefore, it may be important to anticipate their needs and reach out well before publication.

Distribution

  • Different outlets have vastly different readership and viewership. It’s best to target communications to those most likely to be interested in your work and adjust your message appropriately for different platforms (newspapers, magazines, television, radio, podcasts, online media, social media, etc.)
  • Think about how best to tailor coverage of the research to a national audience. Does the message need to be different for Californians? Angelenos? Your assistance will help build a media contact list and ensure that the right message reaches each audience.
  • In almost every instance, in-house coverage on the UCLA Luskin website will be part of the mix. Additional coverage is often placed on the website of the appropriate UCLA Luskin research center.

Forms of Communication

  • In many cases, we partner with the UCLA-wide distribution network by working directly with UCLA Newsroom to get out the message. We make sure that every news release we publish is also posted by UCLA Newsroom, which expands the readership.
  • In some cases, a traditional news release sent directly from UCLA Luskin is best.
  • Direct pitches to selected reporters may be helpful in certain situations.
  • Other forms of contact, including email pitches, may also be needed.

Partnerships

  • Let use know if co-authors, internal or external research associates, or outside distribution partnerships are involved. If the work was grant-funded, be sure to mention it. Please be prepared to provide contact information for any specific person or organization that will need to be part of the communication plan.

What to do when the media reach out to you

  • When contacted directly by a member of the press, regardless of media outlet, please let the Communications staff know before proceeding. Normally this will be just a courtesy contact, but in certain instances we may ask you to coordinate your interview, op-ed or participation in a media event with other UCLA Luskin efforts to maximize the potential reach of coverage.
  • The Communications staff can also assist with logistical details, such as helping to arrange for studio time to conduct an on-air interview. Don’t hesitate to ask.

Follow-up

  • Once a print story has been published or an electronic piece has aired, please notify Communications so that we can share the good news on our social media channels and include a summary blurb on the Luskin in the News page.

For Students

The UCLA Luskin Communications Office curates the Luskin’s Latest blog, which offers an opportunity for student organizations to tell others about their events. Guidelines about that platform are detailed here.

Events and Activities

If your student organization is hosting a speaker, coordinating a panel discussion or planning an event that is newsworthy, be sure to contact UCLA Luskin Communications:

Les Dunseith
Executive Director of Communications
Office: (310) 206-5252
Email: ldunseith@luskin.ucla.edu

The Communications staff will provide recommendations on how the UCLA Luskin website, our social media channels and, perhaps, the UCLA Newsroom site can best be used to tell people about what happened. In certain instances, limited support to get the word out in advance may also be provided.

What Makes a Story Newsworthy?

External Interest

  • Generally speaking, the UCLA Luskin Communications staff looks to promote the School to external audiences such as potential students, UCLA alumni, local opinion leaders, and state or national policymakers. Topics of potential interest to news media outlets are also favored.

Community Interaction

  • Partnerships with community organizations or nonprofit agencies generally bring with them a built-in audience. Similarly, efforts by UCLA Luskin students have broader appeal if they directly benefit an underserved population or a local community in need. Professional news media are much more likely to pick up on our coverage if it shows students out in the field volunteering and interacting with people beyond the UCLA campus.

Educator Involvement

  • The direct involvement of a UCLA Luskin professor may increase the potential newsworthiness of a student-led event, particularly if the event dovetails with the professor’s research efforts.

Cultural, Historical or Political Relevance

  • Timeliness is a vital characteristic of a good news story. If you want to reach a broad audience, it’s best to focus on events that relate to a topic that has been in the news within the past couple of months. Stay abreast of local, statewide or nationwide issues, and time your events to occur when the societal or political controversy is still fresh in people’s minds.

What can you do yourself?

  • Some stories will be handled entirely by the Communications staff, but student organizers will often be asked to write their own summaries of UCLA Luskin events. A third-person, objective perspective is best. Try for a 150 – 250 word piece that answers the following questions:
    • Who was there? What happened?
    • When and where did it take place?
    • How many people attended?
    • What was the format and mood? Did the audience get involved or ask questions?
    • What were the key takeaways? (Provide at least a couple of direct quotes.)
  • Be sure to include a brief bio of your speaker(s), either within your summary or as a secondary “fact sheet” for reference.
  • Also include the names, degrees and expected graduation years of all student organizers. Ideally, this will include a quote about the event from one of those organizers.
    • Usually it works best if that quote focuses on the “why” of the story: Why did your organization get involved? Why is this a topic of importance? Why should readers care?
  • Be brief but specific. A story that says “a group from Luskin volunteered with the homeless” is much less interesting than one that says “11 Social Welfare students delivered blankets to a homeless encampment on Santa Monica beach as cold weather set in.”
  • Provide photos from the event that focus on relevant participants and locational significance. Use a high-quality camera, if possible. Cellphone images may suffice if they are well-lighted, in focus and framed to tell a story at a glance.
    • Be wary of selfies and photos that will only make sense to participants. Action shots that show people doing something at an easily identifiable location are preferred.
    • Get names and titles for anyone whose face is clearly visible in a photo. Ages and place of residence may be necessary too.

Follow-up

  • Act quickly — summaries should be written within 24 hours, while the event is still fresh in your mind. And, for social media, consider supplying a quote or two while the event is still going on.
  • Provide the number of a student organizer who can be reached by phone or text message should questions arise during the editing process. (Distribution will normally occur within a day or two.)
  • Read the posted story or blog item. Let the Communications staff know ASAP if you spot errors.

Blueprint

Produced in partnership with the UCLA Chancellor’s Office, Blueprint is journalism with purpose. It’s a magazine about ideas for improving Los Angeles and California — and about the people and institutions charged with doing that. It is meant to bring those together: to give civic leaders the best and most current thinking in public affairs research, and to expose academicians to the complexities and frailties of governance. Read online or download a copy in PDF format.

Logos, Templates and Other Information

The UCLA Luskin logos

Shown above are the official UCLA Luskin logos – in order of preferred usage. No other versions of the School logo should be created or used without authorization from the Communications Office.

Downloads

In order to effectively communicate the UCLA Luskin brand, it is vital that all faculty, staff, students, departments and other units use only approved versions of School and Departmental logos. Do not attempt to alter or re-create logo files.

If you need to resize a logo within your document, be sure to keep the image proportional – it should not be stretched or squeezed in either dimension.

The following links to the images shown above route to .PNG files and require UCLA credentials. They have transparent backgrounds and are appropriate for most desktop publishing, email and website use. If you need a different version of a file, if the image comes out grainy or if a file is not working for your purposes, please contact the Communications Office.

preferred primary logo

preferred short logo

alternate logo, to be used infrequently

wide logo, to be used sparingly


Logos and templates for UCLA Luskin-affiliated departments and research centers

As part of an effort to unify the brand identity across campus, UCLA Strategic Marketing has provided official logos for UCLA Luskin and its various departments and centers in a variety of file formats. Additional templates for flyers, PowerPoint presentations and business cards are also available.

Logos

The UCLA Luskin logos are available for download in a variety of file formats with UCLA log-in credentials on Box.

https://ucla.box.com/v/logos 

Flyers

Flyer templates with the updated logos are available in Word, InDesign and JPG formats for most UCLA Luskin entities on Box. Use your UCLA  — not UCLA Luskin — log-in credentials.

Flyer templates

PowerPoint presentations

PowerPoint master templates with UCLA branding that can be modified for departmental or research center usage are also on Box.

Templates with thematic variations

Master templates 

Business Cards

New business card templates with the updated logo are available via Castle Press Printing. Preview the options based on the templates below and contact your Fund Manager to place an order.


Photos 

Click here for a Flickr gallery of faculty/staff headshots.


UCLA brand guidelines

Click here for additional information about UCLA identity and branding guidelines.


Legacy usages and other information

As of March 18, 2011, the entity formerly known as the UCLA School of Public Affairs was renamed the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs. Simultaneously, the building name was changed to “Public Affairs Building.”

Name usage: There are three versions of the new School name that are preferred for written use:

  • Common: “UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs”
  • Abbreviated: “UCLA Luskin” or “UCLA Luskin School”
  • Formal: “UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs”

In correspondence or publications, use the common name of the School upon first reference. Abbreviated forms may be used upon second reference or within documents intended for an internal audience. Do not use the acronym “SPA.”

Outdated usage: Materials bearing the following outdated names have been removed from circulation:

  • “School of Public Policy and Social Research (SPPSR)”
  • “School of Public Affairs (SPA)”
  • “Public Policy Building”
  • “School of Public Policy” (inaccurate shortening)
  • “School of Public Affairs Building (SPAB)”

Reference materials: For guidance on how to write about academic degrees, names of UCLA entities and other usage questions, download the UCLA Luskin in-house style guide (PDF).

The Chicago Manual of Style is the preferred style guide for formal publications, letters, invitations, programs, etc.

The AP Stylebook is preferred for media releases, business documents and contemporary language usage.

Questions? 

Contact the Communications office for further assistance

Contact Us

Les Dunseith
Executive Director of Communications
(310) 206-5252
ldunseith@luskin.ucla.edu

Mary Braswell
Assistant Director of Communications
(310) 794-7639
mbraswell@luskin.ucla.edu

Stan Paul
Senior Media Relations Manager & Principal Writer
(310) 206-8966
paul@luskin.ucla.edu

UCLA Communications
UCLA Office of Media Relations
(310) 825-2585

Visit the UCLA Newsroom