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BEND, Ore. – The The OSU-Cascades Campus has a new director of communications and outreach, and Christine Coffin has hit the ground running.

After starting last month, she has met with faculty, staff and students on campus, as well as with colleagues on the main Oregon State University campus in Corvallis to map out a plan for promoting the visibility of OSU-Cascades and to help recruit new students.

“I’ve been impressed with the commitment and the drive of the students, the quality of the faculty and staff, and the commitment of the community to support higher education,” Coffin said. “I’m looking forward to helping the campus grow.”

Highlighting the advantages of the OSU-Cascades Campus to prospective students to enable that growth will be a key responsibility for Coffin, according to Diana Sloane, the campus executive officer.

“The campus has significant challenges, chief among them being our need to grow,” Sloane said. “Christine has already partnered with the staff responsible for recruitment and outreach to get the word out to potential students and to help build enrollment for fall 2008 and beyond. She brings extraordinary professional experience and sophistication to the job.”

Prior to joining the OSU-Cascades staff, Coffin spent 10 years as director of communications and marketing for Chief Executives Organization, an international association based in Bethesda, Md., that provides executive education, cultural travel programs and peer networking for current and former CEOs.

She moved to Bend in the fall of 2007 and worked as a consultant in marketing and communications for several months before the lure of OSU-Cascades’s mission brought her to the campus.

“Taking on much of the responsibility for OSU-Cascades’ overall marketing and communication strategies is an exciting challenge,” Coffin said, “one that is vital to both strengthen the campus’ image and reputation and to support its ambitious enrollment efforts. I want to contribute to the OSU-Cascades vision of becoming an integral part of Central Oregon’s vibrant community.”

Coffin also has worked as assistant director of the London Town Foundation, a non-profit organization in Edgewater, Md., that oversees a 26-acre historic site that includes the archaeological remains of an 18th-century town. She also has worked as a public information officer for the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Department of Parks and Recreation, an executive assistant in the office of the Maryland governor, and as marketing director for Homestead Gardens in Maryland.

Coffin is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, with a degree in English literature.