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Resources from

From Scratch to Strategy

Creating a Student Life Communications Area That Elevates Student Success

Resources from

From Scratch to Strategy

Creating a Student Life Communications Area That Elevates Student Success

From scratch to strategy promotional graphic for Naspa 2026

Session Description

What does it take to build a Student Life Communications function from scratch (and with minimal resources)?

This session blends national research on student affairs marketing with a live case study from Duquesne University. Dr. Josie Ahlquist will share findings from a multi-year study on divisional communications, while Dr. Leanna Fenneberg highlights the creation of a new Student Life Communications strategy.

Participants will gain strategies, models, and tools to restructure communications and elevate student success.

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Meet the Presenters

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Leanna Fenneberg

Dr. Josie Ahlquist

Josie has two decades working in higher education, with the last eight years focused on educating, researching, and writing about building digital communities and the empowerment of digital leadership. Learn more about Josie’s experience and passion, as well as her research, consulting, speaking, publications, and much more!

The Student Social Media Academy

The Student Social Media Academy is a self-paced online learning experience, developed as a one-stop shop for student strategists in higher education, teaching them how to integrate the college or university’s brand, voice, and tone into the digital marketing or social media plan.

Learn more about how Josie supports student affairs marketing and communications

Leanna Fenneberg

Senior Vice President for Student Life at Duquesne University

Dr. Leanna Fenneberg serves as Senior Vice President for Student Life at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her 25-year service to higher education and student affairs has been in the 4-year, private school setting, including mission-centered, Catholic institutions, underscoring a commitment to transformational, holistic student learning and success that shapes leaders as servant leaders with a social justice conscience.

Her individual service has spanned local communities and professional volunteer service to NASPA and JASPA. She has been recognized as a NASPA Pillar of the Profession and Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Her expertise is evidenced through peer-reviewed articles, countless national presentations, and instruction in master’s and doctoral programs in higher education administration.

A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Fenneberg holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration (Saint Louis University), an M.Ed. in Student Personnel Services (University of South Carolina), and a B.A. in Communication (Marquette University).

Outside of her professional life, she is a devoted wife, mom to two sons (and two cats), and finds joy in travel, reading, musical theater.

Connect with Leanna

Rebekah Tilley

Assistant Vice President, University of Iowa Center for Advancement

Rebekah Tilley is the assistant vice president of communication and marketing for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA). In that role she supports fundraising and alumni engagement efforts for the university, including its CASE Gold winning Iowa Magazine, and serves UICA in a variety of strategic communication efforts.

Previously she was the director of strategic communication for the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, and the director of communication for the University of Kentucky College of Law. She is a Kentucky native and a proud alum of the University of Kentucky.

Connect with Rebekah

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