Case study: University of San Diego

In my opinion...

The ripple effect of an opinion piece in San Diego’s daily newspaper contributed to the University of San Diego’s Masters of Science in Executive Leadership program successfully recruiting a high quality cohort for its 2005 class.

The USD MSEL program wished to increase the profile of the school and its faculty among key audiences as a way to boost enrollment and to improve the reputation of the program.
Cook & Schmid partner Jon Schmid wrote an opinion piece and placed it with the San Diego Union Tribune on behalf of a faculty member. Because of the quality of this article and its relevance to readers, the newspaper’s opinion page editor made a special request that USD MSEL faculty submit opinion pieces on a regular basis.

That established the USD MSEL faculty as experts in the areas of leadership, ethics and business, and it also introduced faculty to national media as experts in their fields. That, in turn, led to speaking engagements and training sessions at private companies. Overall, these measurable effects of the initial opinion piece demonstrated its range and impact and contributed to USD MSEL success.