2022 - ECC President and marketing team earn top honors from NCMPR

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Elgin Community College President David Sam, PhD, JD, LLM, and the Marketing and Communications team walked away with more than a dozen awards at the 2022 National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) District 3 Conference, Sept. 28-30 in Chicago, Ill.

Sam was recognized as the District 3 Pacesetter of the Year, an award honoring a community college president or CEO who demonstrates special leadership and support in college communications and marketing.

“We are so grateful for Dr. Sam’s leadership and support of our craft, said Toya Webb, EdD, ECC’s chief marketing officer, who also serves as the NCMPR District 3 Director. "Dr. Sam inspires us daily to bring our A-game and to continuously raise the bar in how we tell the ECC story. More importantly, he reminds us to always see the importance of our work, which is ultimately to change lives.”

Sam is now a nominee for the NCMPR national Pacesetter award, to be announced at the national conference in March.

ECC’s marketing and communications team also earned 12 awards,  five golds, four silver, and three bronze medallions. NCMPR District 3, which includes community colleges in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario, recognized ECC for its work in print, digital, video, social media, and radio advertising.

“This recognition of the marketing and communications department showcases a strong team of creatives demonstrating passion and excellence on every level,” said Sam. “It is no surprise that they continue to be recognized throughout the year by their peers for the incredible work they do to highlight ECC, our faculty, staff, and students.”

The NCMPR Medallion Awards recognize outstanding achievement in design and communication in each of NCMPR's seven districts. The regional competition is exclusive to marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges.

Dr. Sam has served as president of ECC since 2007. Hallmarks of his time at ECC are as varied as they are vital: academic excellence, student success and completion, reduction of student loan debt, community outreach, partnerships, workforce development, equity, diversity and inclusion, and financial prudence.

Under his leadership, ECC joined the student success initiative Achieving the Dream in 2009, earning and maintaining a Leader College status from 2012 to February 2022, when ECC received the designation of Leader College of Distinction. The college has also been designated an Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Top 150 Institution four times: 2014-15, 2018-19, 2020-21, and 2022-23. In April 2022, the Aspen Institute named ECC a Top 25 college among the 1,050 community colleges in the nation. He is known as ECC’s greatest brand advocate and ambassador.

The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges. As one of the fastest-growing affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges, NCMPR has more than 1,700 members from nearly 650 colleges across the United States and Canada.