Hello From NOVA’s Communications Team
Earlier this week, we officially launched the Office of Communications site on NOVAnet. This site on NOVA’s Intranet is intended to share key resources, including a variety of best practices and PowerPoint templates with an overview of key NOVA facts and figures. We hope you’re finding them helpful!
We’d also like to take this opportunity to reintroduce ourselves. Here is a little bit about who we are and what we do:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications
I am incredibly lucky to lead the outstanding communications and visual services teams for NOVA! With so many stories to tell and programs to highlight, planning ahead is really important. That’s why we introduced the editorial calendar, a tool all faculty and staff can use to alert the communications team of upcoming events, activities or communications opportunities.
Workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education have been common threads throughout my career. Before I joined NOVA in June 2021, I was the director of strategic communications at the Aerospace Industries Association and served as a spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department and as press secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy.
For any questions about the editorial calendar or communications overall, you can reach me at dselak@nvcc.edu.
Hoang Nguyen, Associate Director of External Communications
After serving as NOVA’s public information officer for three years, Hoang was recently named associate director of external communications! Hoang’s background has been in both press and media relations, and she previously worked for Energent Media, Bloomberg and the Federal News Network.
Many of you may have crossed paths with Hoang when she helped you prepare for a media interview or public event. As associate director, she will:
- hone our external communications strategy using data and analytics (yay, numbers!)
- continue building relationships with media and key stakeholders
- share inspiring stories of NOVA’s students and programs with the community
- offer expanded media training opportunities (building on all of the times she has helped our leadership, faculty, staff and students prepare for their time in the spotlight)
For any questions about media relations, you can check out our Media Relations Policy and Guidelines. And if a reporter calls, reach out to Hoang at hdnguyen@nvcc.edu.
Kathy Thompson, Associate Director of Internal Communications and College FOIA Officer
Kathy recently celebrated 10 years at NOVA! She grew up in the area; but being the restless type, she also lived in Philly, So. Cal., the suburbs of Chicago and then she returned to Virginia. She has worked at the Pentagon, the American Red Cross and American University (her alma mater) where she did public relations for AU’s central media office and was P.R. director for AU’s law school.
As the associate director of internal communications, she:
- is the editor of the Daily Flyer
- writes compelling NOVA faculty and staff profiles
- makes sure we’re all informed about upcoming events/deadlines and important updates
- serves as NOVA’s FOIA Officer, providing public documents to internal and external requesters under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
She can be reached at kathompson@nvcc.edu. For questions about the Daily Flyer, please email dailyflyer@nvcc.edu.
Sam El-Aker, Media Project Specialist
Sam has also been at NOVA for ten years! He is the person behind the brand-new Office of Communications NOVAnet site and the College’s digital media signage (the slides you see on TV screens across our campuses)! Sam’s background has spanned years and continents as he has written for the Bleacher Report and has served as a news anchor for Creative Edge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As our technical guru, he:
- develops and updates DMS template slides
- manages and posts college-wide slides while overseeing campus-specific slides as well
- manages the communications NOVAnet page
- monitors the editorial calendar
- provides CMS (content management system) technical solutions for posted press releases and features
For any questions about the communications NOVAnet page, DMS slides or the editorial calendar, reach out to Sam at helaker@nvcc.edu.
Abby Parsons, Social Media Manager
Abby, who joined the NOVA Communications team in October, worked with the Career Services team to create a Career Connection TikTok that went viral earlier this year! If you haven’t seen it, check it out here. Abby came to NOVA from our VCCS sister college, Rappahannock Community College, and previously led social media efforts for multiple parks within the National Park Service, while serving as a Ranger in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
As the one-woman powerhouse behind NOVA’s social media, she:
- collaboratively creates fun, informative content
- manages and monitors the College-wide social media accounts
- responds to direct messages from our students and the community
For any questions about social media, you can check our Social Media Best Practices (which also links to NOVA’s Social Media Policy and Social Media Comments Procedure) or reach out to Abby at kparsons@nvcc.edu.
Submitted by:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications, DSelak@nvcc.edu