Niagara University Athletics

Niagara's strategic athletic communications office serves as the liaison between the constituents of Niagara's 19 varsity sports and the local, national and international media.

The office strives to showcase the academic and athletic accomplishments of all Niagara student-athletes while growing the Niagara brand and serving as the chief public relations branch of Niagara Athletics.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to: leading and executing all publicity aspects for Niagara's intercollegiate athletic program, managing sport-specific social media platforms, providing facilitating and overseeing all media interviews; content creation; handling credential requests; nominating student-athlete and coaches for a variety of awards, coordination of on-site game day operations; producing informational and promotional publications; writing and distributing press releases and compiling and distributing statistical information; updating PurpleEagles.com with up-to-date information in a timely manner.

The department works collaboratively with all divisions of Niagara's intercollegiate athletics program, particularly in the areas of marketing, fan experience, video services and ticket sales to
advance an integrated public relations platform that reflects positively on the image of Niagara University.

The athletic communications office is staffed by professionals who strive to represent Niagara Athletics and the University by creating a positive, friendly, cooperative, service-orientated and professional environment for the many customers it serves on a daily basis.

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Credentials

All members of the media, including photographers, must contact a member of the Niagara Department of Athletics Strategic Communications staff to secure a credential for any Niagara University Department of Athletics event. Credentials may be distributed to working members of the media that represent recognized media outlets and/or have been hired by Niagara University.  Photographers working for the visiting team must receive prior approval from the Niagara Athletics Communications staff.  

Credentials must be visible to department staff and campus safety at all times. Failure to do so may result in removal from athletic facilities.

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Interviews

All media requests for interviews with Niagara student-athletes, coaching staffs and department administration must be made in advance through the athletics communications office. Media members are not allowed to contact student-athletes directly.

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Photo Requests

All photo requests should be directed to the Communications contact for the particular sport of interest. The requestor shall include the following information: requesting editor or writer's name and e-mail address, organization or publication name, deadline information, and a sentence regarding the scope of the story.

• Unless indicated otherwise, photo credit must be given to Niagara Athletics
• The image(s) are for one-time editorial use for the indicated use only.
• The image(s) may not be used in connection with any third parties or otherwise in a manner that may suggest a sponsorship, affiliation or other relationship with any other organization. To the extent you would like to request permission to use the images in such a manner, you must first receive express written permission from Niagara Athletics.
• Do not sell or offer the image(s) for sale, or grant others the right to use, sell or distribute the image(s).  
• Do not alter the image(s) in any way.
• Neither the image(s) nor the Niagara Athletics logos can be used in a derogatory manner.

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Guidelines

The Niagara University Department of Athletics has developed the following guidelines for photographers (also to include videographers, social media content providers, etc.) covering Purple Eagle athletics events and teams. Adherence to these guidelines is mandatory for media members to maintain their working credentials.

• COMMUNICATION: Photographers should not directly contact athletics department personnel (specifically coaches and student-athletes) without contacting the Athletics Communications staff first.
• PROFESSIONALISM: Maintaining a professional relationship is expected at all times.  Photographers and other members of the media should not conduct social relationships with athletics department coaches and student-athletes.
• PROFESSIONALISM: Photographers must maintain a professional distance from athletics competition, team-related areas, and athletics department personnel at all times.  Please ask a member of the athletics communications staff for venue-specific rules.  At no time shall a photographer or member of the media intrude on the personal space of an athletics administrator, coach, or student-athlete.
• CONTENT: The plan for sharing digital files with the athletics department, coaches, or student-athletes must be established when a photographer is awarded a media credential.  The preferences for attribution should be mutually agreed upon before any content is produced.

 

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Strategic Communications Staff

Wyatt Ketch - Assistant Director • wyattketch@niagara.edu

John Scherer - Coordinator of Broadcast and Multimedia Production