In 2018, UCEDD leadership expressed the need for technical assistance tools that would support their efforts to promote the work of the UCEDD within the university environment, educate new university administrators about the UCEDD, and align priorities of the UCEDD and university. The URC is grateful to a workgroup of UCEDD Directors and communications staff, as well as volunteers from AUCD's Community Education and Dissemination Council who helped develop and test these tools. We hope the UCEDD network finds these tools helpful. Feedback and questions can be directed to Dawn Rudolph at [email protected].
UCEDD Elevator Speech
An elevator speech is a message about what an organization does and why it's important. It is meant to be shared with someone during an elevator ride or other short time together. It can be shared verbally, in social media, on websites, or in print. It can be useful when interviewing and orienting faculty, staff and trainees. An elevator speech can also be helpful in educating policymakers and administrators.
UCEDDs are complex and it can be hard to briefly describe them. The UCEDD Resource Center (URC) created two templates to help UCEDDs develop their own elevator speeches. One version is very short, and the other is longer. The longer version helps explain how a project is connected to the UCEDD, and how the UCEDD is connected to its national network.
The templates are guides for you or your team. You can change them to fit your setting and your audience. Consider developing additional talking points for discussion after the elevator speech is delivered.
Download UCEDD Elevator Speech Template (fillable pdf)
UCEDD-University Messaging Tool
This internal working tool is intended to guide UCEDD leadership in developing individualized messaging about the value of the UCEDD within the campus environment to help establish relationships, align institutional priorities, and build a trajectory of increased engagement across campus.
As campus administrators and priorities change, messaging about the UCEDD's role, value and contribution can change as well. This tool prompts the consideration and development of messaging on a wide range of topics pertinent to the UCEDD and/or campus priorities, and acknowledges the need to understand the culture, biases, and preferences of your audience on campus so your approach is well-received. Serving as a guide, it is purposefully flexible as there are a significant number of considerations to understand and navigate, not all of which may be addressed in this tool. Feel free to customize as needed to address complexities on your campus. We hope that use of this tool will develop messaging that will inform, engage, and sway audiences on campus regarding their understanding and support of the UCEDD.
In the process of using this tool, it is recommended that UCEDD leadership meet with key personnel within the UCEDD to ensure alignment of internal priorities and messaging.