Shelly Coleman-Martins

Overview

Office Contact

Mercedes Shoemaker, mercedes.shoemaker@wichita.edu

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About the role

The Vice President for Strategic Communications and Marketing leads Wichita State University’s brand and sets the strategy for how the university tells its story. A member of the President’s Executive Team, the Vice President oversees marketing, enrollment marketing, communications, public relations, digital and web, community outreach and events, with the goal of growing the university’s reputation and national profile. The role also supports the marketing needs of the university’s colleges, departments and other units, and advises university leadership on communications strategy and complex public relations issues.

Bio

Shelly Coleman-Martins, Ed.D., is vice president for strategic communications and marketing at Wichita State University, where she has led the university’s marketing, communications and brand strategy since 2016. She joined WSU as executive director of university marketing, then served as associate vice president of strategic communications and chief marketing officer before being named vice president in 2020. Under her leadership, Wichita State has launched award-winning enrollment marketing campaigns and redesigned the university website, increasing engagement and raising WSU’s national profile.

A member of the President’s Executive Team, she also serves on the President’s Budget Advisory Committee, the AI Strategy Council and the Trademark and Branding Panel. She founded and chaired the University Marketing Enrollment Team. Nationally, she represents WSU in APLU’s Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) Universities program, having co-led the university’s successful IEP application, and has served on APLU’s Council on Strategic Communications. She is also active in the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and presented at the 2024 UCEA Annual Convention on rethinking teacher recruitment in the Midwest.

Before joining WSU, she held roles at the Coleman Company and Koch Industries. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Newman University, an MBA from Baker University and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Wichita State, with a dissertation focused on higher education marketing and applied learning.