The Alvernia University brand is a compelling narrative of identity, intellectual growth, ethical leadership, real-world learning and community engagement. Built upon a strong and enduring vision and mission, the brand is simply who Alvernia is at the core. Communicated through the continuous and life-changing stories (shared in this magazine and other venues), the Alvernia brand illustrates how the university is “leading the pack” in the community, region and nation.
Development of the brand over the past 18 months has been an ongoing collaboration among multiple internal and external audiences. With initial guidance from FleishmanHillard Inc. (supported by The Learning House) starting in January 2018, an internal brand taskforce worked to solicit feedback from faculty, staff and students, board of trustee members and the President’s Advisory Council. Additional input from nearly 100 internal and external community members through interviews, an all-day brand workshop and other brand activities, including a competitive analysis, revealed key factors related to Alvernia’s distinctiveness, value and messages.
What makes Alvernia distinctive?
- Values-based identity—learning the timeless and transformative values of St. Francis and living them in an inclusive learning environment
- Intellectual growth—transforming students through knowledge and experience into leaders ready to pursue successful, fulfilling careers
- Ethics—fostering courage within leaders to seek justice and peace by preparing them for ethical decision making
- Campus life—providing a comprehensive university experience in an intimate college setting that features natural beauty and modern facilities
- Community—uniting people through reciprocal community connections and a common purpose to learn, love and serve
- Service—fulfilling a responsibility to serve communities in need through purposeful action
Alvernia’s value proposition
- Alvernia is for purpose-driven people who instinctively feel a deep calling to help others and are determined to live lives of enduring impact.
- Alvernia is a dramatically different kind of learning environment, grounded in ethics, scholarship and the valiant pursuit of a higher purpose with uncompromising compassion.
- Alvernia is a comprehensive university that hones a values-based educational approach that challenges students to grow into successful, ethically courageous leaders for life.
Alvernia is committed to:
- a world-class ethics program and character development
- real-world academic growth experiences on and off campus on day one
- an unmatched record in creating community engagement and service opportunities that equip students to transform natural empathy into action with lasting change
Communicating Alvernia
- Values-based identity (Values)—we teach and live the enduring values of St. Francis. Guided by a mission to foster “knowledge joined with love,” our identity shapes a compassionate and inclusive worldview that we live in our campus community.
- Comprehensive university (Success)—we offer students a university experience in an intimate college setting. We are not just a small college. With more than 50 majors and degree programs, including liberal arts and professional programs, students of varying academic interests gain critical knowledge and skills. Outside of the classroom, our students participate in a range of campus and community organizations and NCAA D-III athletics.
- Ethical leaders (Leadership)—-we offer a world-class ethics program for emerging leaders. We are committed to developing ethical leaders with moral courage. We provide a values-based education that builds good character with ethics embedded at every level of education.
- Real-world learning (Experience)—we put our values into action through service. We believe direct engagement with underserved communities is a vital part of learning. Students are required to complete service hours, with many completing hundreds of hours in order to graduate, contributing to more than 40,000 hours of student-driven community service every year. Through real-world learning experiences, 100% of students prepare for successful careers.
- Community engagement (Community)— Through the O’Pake Institute, Holleran Center and countless outreach initiatives, we aim to be a socially responsible “anchor institution” in the region.
