The Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) honored CU Boulder’s Department of Strategic Relations and Communications (SRC) with four Gold Pick Awards and three Silver Pick Awards for exceptional work in the communications field. 

Submissions winning gold included the CU Boulder Today digital newsletter, a science-based story on mental health and media pitch strategies focusing on health and space topics.

Winners in the silver category included data analysis work, a “get out the vote” campaign, and messaging keeping the community apprised of CU Boulder South. 

The PRSA awards recognize excellence in public relations among Colorado private firms, government and nonprofit organizations. They are among the state’s most prestigious awards for public relations practitioners.

Read more about the winning entries below. 

Newsletters: CU Boulder Today 

Established in 2012, the CU Boulder Today publication is a central news hub at CU Boulder, covering everything from community resources and events to science discoveries and administrative announcements.

An in-house team of writers and content editors curate and distribute a digital newsletter of CU Boulder Today and customize content for specific campus groups, including first-year students, non-first-year undergraduates, graduate students, faculty-staff and other audiences. 

Earning a Gold Pick Award in the Newsletter category, the entry highlighted the depth of campus community contributions to the publication, as well as successful reader engagement levels, according to industry benchmarks. 

CU Boulder Today also was a key resource in disseminating many of the other PRSA award-winning efforts below. 

Media Relations

SRC’s media relations team won two Gold Pick Awards for demonstrating the impact of research-based science stories that resonate with a general audience. Both pieces earned significant news coverage and engagement on social media.

‘CU scientists shine light on what comes up when you flush’ by Kelsey Simpkins 

In December 2022, the media relations team learned of a new study forthcoming by researchers in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences that illustrated the giant plumes of aerosols that travel far and fast when you flush a toilet. 

The story garnered widespread attention from national media outlets, with coverage appearing in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, CBS News, Vice and CNN. (Additionally, the story's video feature was awarded a Gold Hermes Creative Award in April 2023.)

‘New Colorado space instrument part of flagship mission to Europa’ by Dan Strain 

In September 2022, the media team published a story on CU Boulder Today describing the work of engineers and scientists at the university who designed and built a $50 million space instrument that will launch in 2024 aboard NASA’s flagship Europa Clipper mission.

The story was part of an integrated media relations plan that was the product of months of planning by communicators across campus. The efforts led to extensive coverage from Colorado-based news outlets.

Feature Stories: CU Researchers Rethink Mental Illness

In recent years, Lisa Marshall, associate director of science storytelling, has covered the mental health beat thoroughly, writing stories about the genetic underpinnings of mental illness, the use of brain imaging for early diagnosis, and new ways of thinking about happiness.

With one in six children and one in five adults experiencing a diagnosable mental illness each year, Marshall's “CU Researchers Rethink Mental Illness” story sought to paint a more hopeful picture of the mental health future by incorporating these three distinct but interconnected research programs in a feature story. The story, which earned a Gold Pick Award, aimed to shed light on the mental health crisis and spark candid conversations both within the university community and beyond. 

As a result of this article, the CU Boulder Alumni Association hosted a community-led dialogue in February 2023 centered around new ways to diagnose and treat mental illness. More than 250 people registered, making it the highest attendance to date for the Coloradan Conversations series.

Data Analytics: Data-driven approach to CU Boulder Today

As a university, CU Boulder aims to provide health and wellness content that resonates with students through its own channels, including the newsletter CU Boulder Today. To understand audience preferences and behaviors in a highly competitive media landscape, SRC conducted seven years of story-level data analysis.

The data-driven approach provided valuable insights into audience preferences, allowing communication practitioners and content creators to make quicker, more efficient content decisions. PRSA Colorado recognized this analytics approach with a Silver Pick Award in the Data Analytics category. 

Internal Communications: Get out the Vote

One of Chancellor Philip DiStefano’s key messaging priorities for the 2022–23 academic year was to highlight higher education’s role in supporting and sustaining democracy. With a key midterm election occurring on Nov. 8, 2022, this provided an opportunity to amplify this messaging within the internal campus community. The aim? To rally engagement and active involvement in the upcoming election and broader democratic processes.

In the months leading up to the election, SRC engaged numerous partners across campus and in the community to highlight the importance of voting and to provide resources for how to participate. The efforts earned the team a Silver Pick in the Internal Communications category. 

Community Relations: CU Boulder South

SRC’s communications efforts around the CU Boulder South annexation earned a Silver Pick in the Community Relations category. 

SRC’s efforts focused on educating the public about the value of annexation and the benefits it creates for the community and the university, including vital flood protection for thousands of Boulder residents, increased housing options for faculty, staff and non-freshman students, and the preservation of 119 acres of open space.

PRSA is the nation’s leading professional organization serving the communications community. With more than 30,000 professional and student members, PRSA is collectively represented across the U.S. by 110 chapters and 14 Professional Interest Sections, and on nearly 375 college and university campuses through its student organization.