Coordinator Team

Main Topics:

Public Relations and Marketing Coordination Team

University Communications and Marketing provides professional consultation and resources designed to assist the communications and marketing efforts of programs and departments throughout Kent State University's eight-campus network. This includes project coordination and support by these UCM staffers:

	Melissa Edler, Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing, University Communications and Marketing Melissa Edler acquired bachelor's degrees in communication studies and psychology from Kent State in 2000 and a master’s in biological anthropology in 2007. She joins UCM from the Kent State University Press, where she assisted in marketing, media relations, advertising and sales in the marketing department. Previous to her university experience, Melissa was an assistant manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
	Kimberley Sirk, Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing, University Communications and Marketing Kimberley Sirk holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in public administration, both awarded by Cleveland State University. She spent several years freelancing in various positions for local and national publications, including the Akron Beacon Journal. Prior to that, she was the senior communications coordinator for a large county government, and was an executive assistant to a county commissioner. Her other public sector experience includes service as an assistant to the director of a large child welfare organization and as an associate ombudsman for a county government.
	Christa Skiles, Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing/Internal Communications Specialist, University Communications and Marketing Christa Skiles earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication with an emphasis in public relations from Miami University. Prior to joining Kent State, she served for seven years as the director of public relations for the Tony Award-recipient Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where she was responsible for all media relations and publications. Other roles have included serving as an account executive at a Cincinnati-based public relations agency and as a senior consultant for a primary care physician group.
	Stefanie Moore, Coordinator, Flash Communications Before directing the student PR agency, Flash Communications, Stefanie Moore was an eight-year member of the UCM Web team. In her role as Web coordinator, she managed the university’s search engine optimization project. In addition, she co-managed usability planning and testing, accessibility efforts, content updates and many other Web-related initiatives. During that timeframe, she also served as editor of e-Inside, the faculty and staff newsletter, which she migrated from print to electronic format in 2002. Prior to that post, she worked for Laidlaw Education Services, the leading supplier of student transportation (Naperville, IL). There she was responsible for the employee newsletter, community relations initiatives, and updates to the company intranet. Moore earned a bachelor's in public relations in 1997 and a master's in information architecture and knowledge management in 2007, both from Kent State.
	Rachel Wenger-Pelosi, Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing, University Communications and Marketing Rachel Wenger-Pelosi, a 2000 Kent State news journalism graduate, previously served as director of campaign and communications for United Way of Portage County. Among her accomplishments there was a campaign video that won the 2005 Great Rivers Excellence in Communications Contest from the United Way of America. She also worked as a business reporter at Crain Communications' Rubber & Plastics News in Akron. Rachel is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Portage County.