2019 District 4 Communicator
Carol Langston
Director of Public Affairs
Galveston College
Galveston, TX
Carol Langston, the director of public affairs at Galveston College in Texas, has spent her life as a marketing and communications professional. Under her direction, Galveston College has embraced new technologies and procedures to streamline public affairs projects and enable greater team communication.
Langston is an enthusiastic leader, hyping up school spirit with the implementation of Whitecaps Wednesday and the Whitecaps Wave, a stadium-style wave that gets the crowd on its feet. Thanks to Langston’s energetic leadership style, last year's United Way Goalbusters employee campaign fundraiser broke college records and won recognition from the organization.
Langston excels at keeping the college community informed, prioritizing communication when the college introduced new programs, broke ground on new student housing and braved several severe weather events. She also oversaw a change in advertising efforts, moving from primarily print to digital. She implemented the use of geofencing and targeted ads on social media to expand the ads’ reach.
Langston also led the team to increase its social media platforms from three to eight, consolidating multiple, under-managed department profiles into a stronger, more singular voice for the college. She suggested fun, engaging, regular content to keep Galveston College’s social pages exciting, interesting and informative. She encouraged her department to produce more video content, spearheaded its recent logo updates, implemented a new marketing campaign and educated faculty and staff about the importance of adhering to brand standards. Langston also fostered relationships with local business leaders and organizations to increase student opportunities, and she highlighted those success stories on social media.
Through Langston’s marketing expertise, endearing personality and years of experience, she has elevated Galveston College’s image, profile and spirit. Under her direction, social engagement numbers have skyrocketed, marketing analytics continue to climb and enrollment increased over 11%.
“She is extremely knowledgeable, from the basic, old school methods to the latest technologies,” says Sandi Smith, Galveston College’s creative services manager and Langston’s nominator. “She keeps up-to-date on new developments in the industry, implements them in her work, and shares that expertise with others.”