Marketing and Communications FAQ
University Marketing and Communications (UMC) offers guidelines, policies, and resources for brand compliance and identity alignment to present the institution as a unified community.
UMC is the main outlet for university-wide Marketing and Communication activity support. Student Life offers additional creative services support for Student Life departments and student organizations.
Services
The following are service request forms available for Student Life departments and Student Organizations:
| Service Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Creative Service Request for Student Organizations | Graphic design, illustrations, group photography, and brand identity/compliance. Typical deliverables include but are not limited to flyers, posters, and banners in digital format. |
| Creative Service Request for Departments | Art direction, graphic design, illustration, photography, brand compliance, and more. Typical deliverables include but are not limited to flyers, posters, and banners in digital format. |
| Web Service Request for Departments | Website content and front-end maintenance services. |
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Important: Submissions should occur within at least 3 weeks (15 business days) of anticipation. Any submission not meeting this established buffer may be subject to denial or potentially not be completed on time. Suggestion: If you will use deliverables we produce to advertise/promote during 1 week prior to an event or a deadline, make sure to submit a request with at least 1 month (20 business days) of anticipation. |
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ)
The following is a list of frequently asked questions by category. If you don't see an answer to your question, please email us at slmc@utrgv.edu or give us a call at (956) 665-3672.
Student Organizations
Can I use the name or the acronym of the university in the logo and/or name of my student organization?
Temporary or registered student organizations have much freedom in the design of their logo. However, design restrictions consider how these organizations reference their affiliation to UTRGV without using any university trademarks. A student organization may state that its membership is composed of UTRGV students or a combination of students, faculty, and/or staff but it shall not suggest or imply that it is acting with the authority or as an agency of the University. Below are the latest guidelines on this topic:- A student organization (temporary or registered) may not use the primary or secondary UTRGV logos (Spirit Mark, Academic Mark, or any other trademarked graphic) and may not modify or redesign any of those marks as part of their logos.
- The proper way to indicate they are affiliated with UTRGV is to add “at UTRGV” or “at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley” at the end of their student organization name. This should be in text in any standard font, but the university name shouldn’t be stylized or given a graphical text treatment. Both the fully spelled out university name or initials version need to have the "TM" symbol.
- A student organization (temporary or registered) may opt not to indicate they are affiliated with the University ("at UTRGV" or "at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), under the risk of not being related to the university.
- Since the university name itself is trademarked, any student organization with a UTRGV affiliation reference (“at UTRGV” or “at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley”), must use licensed vendors to print promo items when the university name is included.
- Find the right licensee by product category.
- Find the right licensee by product category.
- We encourage student organizations to use the University’s colors when creating their logos and visual identities.
Student Life Departments
I'm working on a poster/flyer for my event/announcement and I need help with Graphic Design. Who do I contact, University Marketing and Communications (UMC) or SLMC Creative Services Team?
If this is an external communication piece such as a signature event or departmental literature, a job request must first be submitted to UMC. If they are not able to intake the project, then submit it using our creative services request form for departments.
If this is an internal communication such as office hours, The Showdown, new location signage, among others, then you may submit the request directly to us.