Cinelli, Gutierrez to
lead new posts
By Geronimo Rodriguez
The Daily Cougar
Michael Cinelli and Oscar Gutierrez were
named to two new posts in the Division of University Advancement at UH
on Thursday. The
newly created positions are intended to
increase the collaborative efforts among advancement offices and to utilize
all resources.
The positions were also created "to strengthen
the staff and to build an infrastructure that will allow UH communications
to continue
growing," Cinelli said.
Cinelli, who has been the executive director
of the Office of External Communications at UH since June 2000, was promoted
to
executive director of university communication.
In the new position, Cinelli will oversee
the Office of External Communications and the Office of Internal Communications.
The UH
alumnus will also oversee communication
activities and crisis communication for the UH System.
Gutierrez was named as director of university
advancement projects — a position whose duties include managing special
projects
for university relations and development.
Gutierrez graduated from the University in 1968, and has been a UH staff
member since '92.
He also served as editor of The Daily
Cougar in '65.
Gutierrez will also oversee the communications
program for the Office of Development and coordinate the UH System's legislative
communications outreach. He previously
held the position of associate director of university relations at UH.
The additions were made within the division's
budget.
"It's always a challenge to work with the
financial resources, but we were creative and managed to stay within the
budget," Cinelli
said.
"The major challenge is to coordinate internal
and external communications so that we level both of them and maximize
our
resources to their fullest," Cinelli said.
"In university relations, we must make certain efforts to utilize everything
from the Web site to
the campus newspaper."
Along with serving in corporate communications,
managing legislative communications outreach during the 76th and 77th Texas
Legislative Sessions and receiving several
professional awards, Gutierrez launched the UH System Web page and its
makeover in
2000. Along with Associate Vice President
for University Relations Wendy Adair, Gutierrez led UH's 75th anniversary
campaign and
co-authored Our Time: Celebrating 75 Years
of Learning and Leading.
Cinelli, who has served 25 years in the
journalism and media relations fields, has also helped the University's
Office of External
Communications earn several awards in
local and regional competitions for UH media relations projects in 2002.
Given their backgrounds, Cinelli is certain
that, along with his current staff, their experience in the communication
field will benefit the
UH community.
"It's just knowing the community, and I
understand what the media is looking for," Cinelli said.
"There is no shortcuts in external and
internal communications and we must function in ways most valuable to our
university's
community."
