Just a few months ago, Sharron Sellers made a difficult decision to leave her job as director of communications at Edmonds Community College to pursue a lifelong dream and a new chapter in her professional career. She’s going to film school at the University of Washington.

Although her absence is already being felt by her colleagues, they agree she’s left an indelible mark on the field of community college marketing and PR – not just at Edmonds but throughout the state of Washington.

In her nearly 10 years at Edmonds, Sellers is credited with creating a comprehensive communications program recognized statewide for its high-quality print and electronic publications, ads and promotional materials. This was no small feat, considering the fact that when she first arrived at Edmonds, there were no guidelines to protect the integrity of the college’s brand identity.

In the years that followed, she worked hard to establish campus-wide standards for the college name and logo and to ensure that all promotional materials were of the highest quality. In recent years, she implemented a targeted campaign to high school students that boosted transfer numbers at Edmonds. In the past year, she led the development of print-on-demand brochures with significant cost savings. She has led new marketing partnerships with Community Transit and the city of Lynnwood and built on relationships she initiated with Edmonds School District and Central Washington University-Lynnwood. She also brought the college to the forefront of cutting-edge electronic and interactive communication tools. Edmonds was the first community college in the state of Washington to use e-marketing, blogs, and a social networking site in its marketing mix. The e-mail marketing program earned her a 2001 Leadership and Innovation award from Edmonds.

Sellers’ efforts have paid off. While the state’s community colleges continue to struggle with declining enrollment, Edmonds’ numbers are holding strong. Other Washington state colleges are emulating ECC’s efforts. One colleague freely admits to “shamelessly stealing” her ideas. While at Pierce College, he used Edmonds as a model for revamping their class schedule, and after moving to Tacoma Community College, he overhauled their Web site using, yep, Edmonds as an example.

At the state level, Sellers served as president of the Washington Community and Technical College Public Information Commission in 2002-03. During her tenure, she led efforts to create a coordinated, statewide campaign to boost the image of community and technical colleges statewide. That plan is now in action. Sellers also served two, four-year terms on the Washington State Board of Pharmacy, a governor-appointed position, and in that capacity chaired a committee to develop a statewide public education campaign.

In 2004-05, she was elected District 7 Director for NCMPR and is credited with setting new attendance records for the 2004 district conference.

Sellers’ colleagues point out that she would blush at all of these accolades. She doesn’t like to claim the credit, but instead relishes her role as a model, a teacher, a learner and a member of a larger team.

“Her concern is first and foremost for the profession, for the cause of higher education and particularly community colleges, and for the people around her,” says Susan Kostick, vice president for college relations and advancement at Edmonds. “I have worked in college and university relations for more than 30 years and, among the many talented and hard working professionals I’ve worked with, Sharron stands out for her productivity, creativity, generosity of spirit and personal and professional integrity.”

District 1
Ann Newsmith
Director of Marketing and Publications
Community College of Vermont

District 2
Terri Giltner
System Director, Marketing and Communications
Kentucky Community and Technical College System

District 3
Jeff Fanter
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Ivy Tech Community College, IN

District 4
Lynn Goswick
Director of Media Services
Alvin College, TX

District 5
Alan Campbell
Associate Director for Communications
Eastern Iowa Community College, IA

District 6
Michelle Sims
Director of Public Relations and Marketing
Arizona Western College

District 7
Sharron Sellers
Former Director of Communications
Edmonds Community College, WA