The University Comms Podcast
The University Comms Podcast
Podcast Description
A podcast about the stories, strategy and occasional chaos behind how universities communicate.
The University Comms Podcast takes you inside the real work of higher education communications – from student campaigns and staff engagement to media relations, internal messaging, and crisis response.
Hosted by UK higher ed comms nerd Gareth Hughes, each episode features comms teams who are doing the job - talking honestly about what worked, what didn’t, and what we’re all still figuring out.
For higher education communications professionals, marketers, media teams and anyone trying to keep up.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers themes like media relations, student engagement, internal messaging, and crisis management. For example, an episode titled 'Positive Masculinity - How Do Universities Talk About It?' explores a campaign at UWE Bristol, emphasizing the complexities of masculinity, student involvement, and the creative processes of communication.
A podcast about the stories, strategy and occasional chaos behind how universities communicate.
The University Comms Podcast takes you inside the real work of higher education communications – from student campaigns and staff engagement to media relations, internal messaging, and crisis response.
Hosted by UK higher ed comms nerd Gareth Hughes, each episode features comms teams who are doing the job – talking honestly about what worked, what didn’t, and what we’re all still figuring out.
For higher education communications professionals, marketers, media teams and anyone trying to keep up.
In this episode, Gareth Hughes is joined by digital experience and AI consultant Tom Noble-Sabokbar to explore why so many university websites still feel like Blockbuster in an age of Spotify.
They discuss how universities continue to organise digital content around internal structures, while students search by intent, questions, and need, and why that mismatch is costing institutions attention, trust, and applications.
The conversation looks at how students actually behave online, the role of search and discovery in recruitment and engagement, and what it really means for universities to design digital experiences around student journeys rather than org charts.
Tom also shares practical steps universities can take to improve their digital experience, including how AI and conversational search tools can help students find the answers they need faster, without a full website rebuild.
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