District Winners

2022 District 1 Rising Star

Melissa Albright
Vice President of Marketing, Public Relations and Enrollment Man
County College of Morris
Randolph, NJ

In the two years Melissa Albright has been at the County College of Morris (CCM), Melissa Albright’s focus has been cultivating relationships that positively impact results. During her tenure thus far, she has rolled out the college’s new brand guidelines, which include virtual training sessions on CCM’s first marketing toolkit; built CCM’s first creative services team; and helped the college receive national recognition, when it was one of 10 finalists for the Lumina Foundation’s Million Dollar Community College Challenge. As a finalist, CCM will receive $100,000, which it will use for a website redesign.

Since starting at CCM, Albright has also helped increase the college’s social media engagement by more than 50%; and she handled all PR and press event coordination when U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill visited CCM, requiring work with multiple press teams at the federal, state and local levels.

Thanks to Albright’s “Signature Program” campaign, CCM’s press releases, social media content, webpage, e-blasts, television and radio ads, and promotional materials are all aligned to support recruitment activities. The program, which also focused on the college’s workforce development, resulted in a 4% increase in applications.

“She is also responsible for a huge morale boost within marketing and communications,” writes CCM president Anthony Iacono, who nominated Albright. “Today, we have a team that is proud of their work, proud of each other and proud of our college. Melissa has taught them their importance and their value as people and professionals, and their results have gone beyond anything we could have imagined.”

Though she is new to higher education and community colleges, Albright brings years of experience in the corporate world to her position, Iacono writes, helping BCC’s students and college thrive.

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