Getting out there
Bethel University’s Director of Communications Suzanne McInroy discusses her path to media communication, the importance of networking and the realities for a Christian working in modern-day higher ed.
By RACHEL GMACH | Photo Editor
At some point in her career, somebody told Suzanne McInroy “Journalism is not about telling, it’s about showing.’” Years later, McInroy goes to work every day with the intention of showing readers the institution she represents.
How did you come to be Bethel’s director of communications?
I started in journalism actually. I was a newspaper reporter for two years and then I did one year of service in India. Then I went back to get my master’s degree in communications and international relations. After I got my masters there was a job opening in public relations for Messiah College, the college I went to, in Pennsylvania. I took that job and really enjoyed it, but then, for personal reasons, I wanted to move back to Boston. So I got a job in public relations at Tufts University, just outside Boston, and worked there for five years. All of that was mostly media relations — trying to get the school in the news for different positive things. Then I did one year at the University of Cambridge working in the alumni relations office. Then we moved here for [my husbands] job and this job opened up, which was exactly what I was looking for, because I really like working in higher ed, communications and public relations. And, I like Christian higher ed. I believe in it because I went to a Christian college and I still see the benefits of how that has impacted my life. So that’s how I ended up here.
What does your typical workday look like?
Usually pretty basic 8a.m. — 4:30p.m., but you never know what could come up. I have to kind of be on call anytime outside of those hours too. … I always start of with reading the news. I try to keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the twin cities. Also, because we’re higher ed, I read an online news site called Inside Higher Ed and then The Chronicle of Higher Education also sends out daily emails about headlines in higher ed. How many meeting I have a day determines how much I can get into all of those things I want to keep up-to-date with. Then I often have a lot of meetings with various people on campus. I also work with the president’s office and monitor different inboxes such as thepresident@bethel.edu — the general inbox for the president– and send things on to [President Jay Barnes’] assistant. It’s a lot of meetings and emailing. Also news stories, I’m pretty much working on a few [stories] every week.
Who has most inspired or impacted your career?
Probably my boss at Messiah College. I was a student worker in her office and she had just started there right when began as her student worker. She was just very good and so professional and I learned so much from her as a student. I went back years later to work in her office, and again I learned so much from her then. She’s now a colleague and I’ll contact her every once in awhile because we both do similar work for a Christian school.
What would you consider the best and worst parts of your job?
[The worst is] responding to negative things about the university. It’s always hard because part of my job is to protect the reputation of Bethel University, and that’s a big thing to do. There are so many good things about this university and [we] want them all to come to light, but just like any person, an institution will have times where we slip — when something wont go the way it’s supposed to and it’s going to negatively impact this great institution — and to try to navigate that the best way can be challenging. [On the other hand] I love all the stories. We talk about branding in our office and certain message points we want to come forth about Bethel, it’s finding those stories that show those points that is so fun.
Do you have any memorable editing horror stories?
I learned so much from a news writing class I took at Temple University in Philadelphia. The professor was an editor at one of the Philadelphia papers so he’d come in and give us an assignment, and when he gave it back it was just covered in red. But his rule was that he’d give you the first date it was due and then the last date it was due and you could turn it in as many times as you wanted between those two dates for a better grade. His whole point was ‘I want you to correct your mistakes and learn from them.’ So I think that first time it ended up being a D, and it was so devastating because I had never gotten a D. It ended up being a B, but yeah, that was a hard one.
Do you have any memorable editing success stories?
I think a positive editing experience is when you find an editor that can keep your voice but also help you to make your story better — that’s a real gift. Our Bethel Magazine editor, she’s really good. She does it very well.
What advice do you have for someone looking for an internship in your department?
Read the news and keep up with the news. I think that is the best advice for anybody who wants to go into media communications. It can be hard in college because you get into your own little world; we call it the Bethel bubble here, where you feel like you don’t need to know what’s going on in Minneapolis when you’re living on this great campus, but you actually do. That’s where you want to be eventually, so you have to keep up. Not only that, but reading [the news] will help make your writing better as well.
What advice do you have for writers or photographers looking to be published?
Well we are always looking for story ideas. I’ve been working more with Professor Scott Winter, lately. He’s training all these great journalists, and we’re always looking for stories, so we’re trying to see if there’s a way to use student writings from classes on our websites, to help [those students] get published. Or even just make contact with a few of us from our office — it’s about getting out there and introducing yourself. Grab coffee with one of us, or go up to lunch in the DC, and we can try to help [you] to start getting published even here on campus.”
In your opinion, what makes a piece of writing successful?
There has to be a clear message that’s coming through it. Even in academic writing, if you’re going to write a paper you have to have a thesis statement. And in a piece, a news article or even a feature article, there has to be a point to what you’re writing about and a message you want to have come across.
And then I really like when a writer can engage you right from the beginning and keep [your attention] the whole way through. I think nowadays we’re all too used to skimming and we won’t read an entire article. But when you find that article that you just can’t stop reading, that’s pretty unique.”
What is your personal mission as an editor?
If I’m helping to tell Bethel’s story and protect the reputation of this institution, or even, in the larger marketing office, trying to get prospective students here, keep alumni engaged, or help find donors for the university — I feel that’s helping to strengthen the kingdom and to strengthen the church for the Lord.
In higher ed right now it’s an interesting situation because you’ve got a lot of schools struggling. A lot of people predict that you’re going to see more schools closing in the next decade. I just want to make sure that we’re still doing the right things here at Bethel — that we’re highlighting those things and helping to strengthen the university, to make sure that Christian higher ed is here as an option in the future.
There’s no skill set to be learned that’s more imperative then the passion one has for their work. Throughout her interview, Suzanne McInroy repeatedly highlighted her passion for Christian higher ed and the work she does for her university. Of her many qualifications, I’d advocate that this passion is what serves McInroy most vigorously — it is her dedication that propels her career, her excitement that drives her endeavors. I am convinced that if emerging journalists focused first on cultivating within themselves a similar passion, a promising career will be sure to follow.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
