President promotes Atteberry
University of Indianapolis President Robert Manuel promoted Mary Wade Atteberry to the recently established cabinet level position of vice president for communications and marketing.
Atteberry worked for 14 years in journalism, then worked as the community relations director for Westfield Washington Schools for five years before coming to UIndy in 2002.
Atteberry has held several positions at UIndy, including media relations director, executive director of communications and marketing in 2005 and her new position.
Atteberry now will be privy to cabinet meetings and thus more able to communicate the intentions of the administration.
“I will be supervising the same team but will be involved in strategy at a higher level as a member of the cabinet,” Atteberry said. “Having the chief communications and marketing person at the table allows for better integration of these areas throughout an organization.”
According to Assistant Professor of Communication and Distinguished Professor of Service Learning Rebecca Deemer, the new position provides a great opportunity for better communication.
“A PR professional listens to all different audiences with a genuine concern. They also consider how every message and action will be perceived by and affect all different constituents,” Deemer said.
Manuel said that this position completed the cabinet, so it can fill every role.
“The questions we examine as part of the cabinet need to be communicated to the university community,” Manuel said. “In addition, there are so many innovative and unique programs happening at the university that I wanted to be sure we were showcasing them.”
Deemer said this position will help inform the campus about what is happening, especially in the President’s Office.
“[Atteberry’s] promotion signified a strong commitment by the cabinet to the value of open communication and relationship building, both within the university and between UIndy and our external audiences,” Deemer said.
Manuel said that he is committed to informing everyone involved with UIndy.
“Firstly, I think it will make our community aware of all the work and progress that is being made around campus. This should also connect faculty, students and alumni,” Manuel said. “Lastly, it will enable us to focus [our] messaging to prospective students, allowing us to accurately talk about what makes UIndy different, and how our education is focused on changing the life chances of our students.”
