Continuous improvement is more than just a catch phrase at EMU. It is the guiding philosophy behind what the University does, how it allocates resources and how it serves students and employees. In effect, the status quo has been abolished. In its place is constant regeneration.

In that spirit, Advancement Communications started a process a year ago to review how it communicated to alumni and donors. Among the first questions asked: Were we publishing our magazines – The Edge for alumni and Exemplar for donors and other key stakeholders – in the most effective and economical way? One major conclusion drawn from our own continuous improvement process was that publishing two magazines for largely the same audience – the great majority of donors are alumni – confused readers and raised expenses. So, we decided to take the best stories and features from each and merge the content into one magazine, for donors and alumni alike. This issue represents our first effort.

In the future, we will make even greater use of advisory boards, reader surveys and other metrics and benchmarks to measure how well we are continuously improving.

So, you might be wondering, why retain the name Exemplar and not The Edge? As noted on page 2, Exemplar was chosen more than three years ago to be the name of the then-new University magazine because of the ideals the word embodies. EMU strives to be an exemplar of a modern university in terms of excellence, engagement and access. It was a good choice then, and we feel it is the appropriate choice for the future.