University Relations Director, Joe Carr
“I was bitten by that broadcasting bug,” Joe Carr, Director of University Relations, explained when talking about how he came to work in Public Affairs for the University of Maine.
In his position he is responsibile for marketing communications and generating news about the university as well as releasing it to the media. He also has many other duties dealing with the public view of the university.However, his current position isn’t what Carr always thought he would do.
Carr attended Providence College, getting his bachelors degree in political science. “I had done that in hopes of becoming an attorney,” he explained, “but while I was there I began working for the student radio station, and I was bitten by that broadcasting bug, you could say.” Carr then went on to Emerson College where he got his masters in journalism, leaving his dream of a career in law behind.
Later, Carr returned to Maine and his hometown of Hermon, where he began working for WABI-TV. At WABI Carr got to experience working in the fields of radio and television and when asked which he preferred working with, Carr replied, “Radio. In radio the announcer has most of the control over what they are saying. It’s great for control freaks.” Carr continued to work at WABI for almost nine years through the mid 80’s and into the 90’s.
In 1993 Carr began his career at the University of Maine. As the son of two UMaine alumni, Mr. Carr had always known about the university, but it was through covering it during his previous job at WABI that he became really interested in the university as a career opportunity. Carr took over the position from John Diamond, a personal hero of Carr’s; “He’s one of the smartest people I know, so it was an honor working with him. It was a great learning experience.”
Carr and the Department of University Relations, a total staff of 14, are responsible for handling the public view of the university and have made some steps forward to bring the university to a modern light. In addition to the other tasks mentioned above the department is responsible for maintaining the umaine.edu homepage as well as releasing UMaine Today, the university’s own magazine, a publication that Carr is very proud of. “We have a great group of people here. We have a lot of fun [and] everybody demonstrates quality.”
