"The essence of the job of being president of Cornell University is communication -- listening to voices across campus, to friends outside the university, to reactions when we put forth proposals," said President David J. Skorton in a noontime dialogue, April 3, with about 70 Cornell writers, editors, designers and marketers.

For Skorton, the most startling statistic that has emerged over the past few years is the demand for a Cornell education among prospective students -- some 33,000 high-school students vied for 3,000 freshman seats this year, a 17 percent increase from two years ago. He attributed this increase not only to Cornell's distinguished faculty, innovative curriculum, teaching excellence, research and socioeconomic diversity, but also to student word-of-mouth and the work of Cornell's communications staff in promoting the university's accomplishments and strengths.

"Now that we have the world's attention, what do we do with it?" Skorton asked. First, "we all work for one institution," he said. "People from outside of Cornell think of it as one place. … We need to find more robust ways to get our messages across as one institution."

Second, Skorton noted that although Cornell's decentralized organization sometimes works against the "one institution" message, it is also one of the reasons Cornell excels. His third suggestion -- that not only communications professionals but also college and unit leaders need to be more visible in news media -- drew questions from the audience about the visibility he desired. Cornell's leaders have expertise in many areas that they can share with the broader public, Skorton replied, and Cornell's communicators can help those leaders "get their good ideas out there."

Skorton also updated the group on the status of the university's strategic plan, which includes Skorton's goals from his State of the University address. Once finalized, the plan and goals will be available on the Web, he said.

The goals are broad and aspiring, Skorton explained. Communicators can help further these goals by drawing connections between the goals of the university and the work of individual staff and faculty.

During the Q&A, Skorton addressed town/gown relations, Cornell's role as the land-grant university to the world, upcoming faculty and staff retirements and managing the campus with an eye to sustainability.

The talk was videotaped and will be available online.