Board member profile: Rebecca Noran

Rebecca Noran, UMCF chair
assistant director for web communications
Academic Health Center Office of Communications   
ran@umn.edu      
612-625-4523 

Find me online:
Personal website | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Became a member of UMCF: January 2001

UMCF member profile 2010

About my role on the UMCF board:
According to the Forum bylaws, the chair "presides at all meetings of the board of directors ... generally supervises the activities of the organization ... represents the organization."

Some great Forum memories:

• Two programs I helped plan in my early days at the U on the program committee: 1. inviting a favorite professor from Macalester, Ruthann Godollei, to talk about typography, and 2. the infamous institutional identity talk where Janet Abrams, head of the Design Institute, trash talked the work of U communicators (and we loved to hate it!).
• When the design swap group would meet
  
• Helping develop the concept for a people's choice Mike award as a member of the awards committee, inspired by a paper event where they did this
  
• Designing the Mission: Possible conference "FBI" file
  
• The hands-on sessions at conference, like paper cutting this year, letterpress a few years ago
  
• Debra Frasier
  
• Grammar Girl
  
• Wing Young Huie's workshop (which inspired a session at Extension program conference)
  
• Touring the U Library archives 
• And of course, seeing everyone at annual conference and enjoying the day talking to all my communications colleagues... and sometimes winning prizes at the raffle (Vikings tickets! First Aid kit!)!
  

About my role at the University
I am currently assistant director for web communications for the Academic Health Center (AHC) Office of Communications. I started at the University of Minnesota on January 1, 2001. I previously worked leading the communications team in the Extension Center for Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (EFANS/CFANS-Extension) and as part of the communications team for the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).

Favorite place on campus:
Weisman Art Museum and my morning walk across the Washington Avenue Bridge.

What I like about working at the U:
There are interesting, amazing things happening in all its nooks and crannies. It is filled with potential... and bringing that potential to reality through various projects is an exciting challenge. I learn new stuff all the time here.

A person at the U whom I admire:
Nance Longley, graphic designer/design coordinator in CEHD communications, course leader for Philosophy Camp, sometimes instructor for basic media graphics in the School of Journalism: I sat next to Nance for more than 7 years in the CEHD communications office, and she is an inspiration and a mentor. She gives back greatly to the U community in so many ways, and definitely has to the Forum over the years: She was a volunteer of the year, her Imagine! Inspire! Ignite! matchbook for the 13th UMCF conference invite was fantastic, and she's the person who actually found the Mike and had it made into an award!   


Some of the coolest projects I've worked on at the U:
So many!

• At CEHD: I loved going on photo shoots and interviewing people when I worked for the alumni magazine (would end up in the most interesting places!), the visual identity project, creating recruitment materials for our diversity programs and for the first undergraduate programs when we became a new college, designing various T-shirts, designing the "education in every nook and cranny" building notecards, planning our State Fair booth, our Get smart(er) campaign. The project of getting banners on our buildings for CEHD was an eye-opener. Finding grass in January for a summer catalog photo shoot my first month working at the U (turfgrass lab had some we could use!).
  
• At CFANS Extension: It was neat being there when emerald ash borer was discovered in MN, and our team created a go-to web page and educational materials.... also getting to know all the amazing Extension educators! I am proud of establishing some clear processes in a time of transition, the EFANS Connects webinars to stay connected across the state, of the work our communications team created (what a great team, and interesting content!), and speaking to a room full of people at Extension program conference in Duluth after less than two months on the job.
  
• Other: I love the projects I did for the Weisman Art Museum with Springsteen, Gehry, Dylan, and for the Goldstein Museum of Design (Hip Art That's Square, Seeing Color, Mayan Textiles...), doing the Places to Go: Bathrooms of the Twin Cities exhibit for my M.F.A. in College of Design, assignments for documentary filmmaking and artists' books classes, participating in training and such for Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter.
  
• At AHC: And now it's really interesting being part of the health sciences, including launching our new health.umn.edu and hub.ahc.umn.edu websites, planning our web upgrade transformation, and working with an amazingly talented team of great people!

Accomplishments I'm most proud of (at the U):

• Getting an M.F.A. while working full time -- what a great perk of being at the U!
• Doing the President's Emerging Leaders (PEL) program and the Women's Leadership Institute -- working on our PEL innovation project.
• Serving on the CEHD diversity committee for a number of years and helping make some of the committee ideas come to life.
• Being photo editor on Connect magazine.
  
• Contributing to the visual identity projects for CEHD and Extension.
• Helping get Extension's web overhaul off the ground.
• Embarking on a web transformation for the Academic Health Center.
• And since this is a Forum interview, of course: Being on the receiving team for 27 Maroon and Gold Awards, including 4 MARGOS, 3 GREENS, and 2 MIKES!
  

More about Rebecca

My hometown:
Montclair, New Jersey | view it on a map

Paper book or e-book:
Paper

Favorite website (most used, anyway):
Wikipedia | Metro Transit
 
Favorite source of inspiration:
Walking. Sketching. Looking at examples. Visiting a museum.

Favorite word:
Groovy

Word that makes you cringe:
"Harvesting" in reference to an animal or anything that requires unsuck-it.

Favorite brand:
The Muppets

What I do for fun:
Color with markers while listening to music. Watch the tube. Connect with friends and family. Take photos and write captions for them. Explore. Travel. Riff. Play Boggle (when the opportunity arises).

My dream jobs (besides the one I have!):
Museum director. Creative director at IDEO or such. Innovation think tank thinker. Person like Diana Vreeland who says "I'm thinking magenta elephants with a NY77 vibe" and amazing things result. Fancy pen and marker tester.

Member profile: Rebecca Noran

Name: Rebecca Noran

Job title: Assistant Director and Communications Manager
University of Minnesota Extension Center for Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (EFANS)

Which means: I have ideas and I make them happen. Somehow, this involves attending many meetings and chairing many committees. But more importantly it involves the work of many talented people. My role is part administrator for our center, reporting to the associate dean and managing different center initiatives and operations, and part communications manager, with oversight for our web presence, internal communications, telling our story, and other communications efforts... and supervising a great team.

I have been at the University since: Jan. 2, 2001

Areas of expertise: design, proofreading, Minnesota Extension's response to emerald ash borer, First Avenue & 7th St. Entry nightclub, Twin Cities public bathrooms, Shellac concerts, famous people from my hometown of Montclair, NJ, lines from the movies Heathers, The Muppet Movie, and The Big Lebowski

Why are you a Forum member?
Because we need an outlet like this. I have served on the promotion and awards committees, designed materials for the conference, and attended many events over the years -- it is great to have this positive space for University communicators to learn from and connect with each other. I look forward to the conference every year, to see all you smart, talented communicators!

Family members: husband: Jon Dehning (also works at the U, from Decorah, Iowa), parents: Jim and Susan (NJ), siblings: Jason (NJ), Rachel and husband Zak and their sons Ben and Henry (Virginia) -- the rest of them, they are all over the country!

Hobbies:  Boggle, doodling, walking, traveling/exploring, talking to strangers, finding colors that go with maroon and gold

Current favorites: Recent discovery of DVR, making up step aerobics moves at the uptown YWCA, my share at Spring Hill Community Farm, fancy olive oil, is the MFA still the new MBA?

I am passionate about: A good sandwich

People are always surprised to learn that I: was born on Halloween

Why my job matters to my unit and to the University:

Extension is a critical part of the University's land-grant mission -- our job is to make a difference by connecting community needs and University resources to address critical issues in Minnesota. We are a trustworthy source of information for citizens, delivering research-based education that is practical and useful... and hopefully enjoyable!

In my center's content areas, our job is to help people make informed decisions involving topics that impact Minnesota's environment and economy -- such as water quality, food safety, renewable energy, climate and weather, feeding a growing population, invasive species, yard and garden, housing technology, nature-engaged families, woodlands management, pesticide safety, and many more important societal issues.

My administrative role is to further this important work by developing and managing administrative efforts that support effective and efficient programming -- such as bridging collaboration between our Extension educators and tenured/tenure-track faculty in CFANS, aiding our interdisciplinary programming efforts, streamlining our processes, so that our educators and researchers can focus on their programming.

Extension is an externally focused unit, and communications plays a key role in our success. As the communications manager for EFANS, I bring professional communications expertise and experience, providing consultations on communications strategy and practices to our employees. My job is to raise the bar on our communications, and to help our employees find the best method to reach their audience and achieve their goals, pushing them to think differently when appropriate -- to innovate not just in extreme ways but everyday ways. I help my colleagues in Extension to do this by overseeing aspects of projects like a large-scale redesign of our web presence (bringing our 50+ websites into one website), creating professional quality templates for staff to use with a consistent University identity, partnering with programs on educational materials and decision-making tools across media and delivery methods.

Our employees are located throughout the state, so our internal communications work is key, and includes a quarterly webinar where we feature different successes of our program teams from which others can learn. Telling the story of Extension's impact is important for our continued funding at the federal, state and local levels; as communicators we package our stories in a memorable way, following leads to generate the content and images that will resonate with our stakeholders and convey the impact of our work.

As a well-rounded communicator I know things like what makes type more or less legible, how to spec jobs for printers, how to find the right online tool for just about anything, what are the trends in usability, what makes good B-roll, where you should put your commas if you follow Chicago or AP style.

But the greatest value I bring to my unit and the U is not written into my job description. It is a role most communicators and design thinkers do well: Catalyst. To ask questions and try new approaches. To embrace change. To think about the people who will use what I create and to learn from them. To foster community. To set the bar high for professional quality communications. To make things happen, and to take an iterative approach to getting things done -- so that they really get done. To have a sense of humor and bring energy to the conversation. To explore the ideas that may seem weird but may be just the answer. To not be afraid to try. This is what helps push our work forward as a university.