The Office of Public
Relations & Communications
Meet the Staff
Assistant Vice President
Ann Marie Varga has more than 20 years of
experience in the field of public relations and
media relations. As assistant vice president of
public relations,
she develops and manages the
College’s annual communications plan, provides
communications counseling to a variety
of
internal clients and oversees the daily
activities of the Office of Public
Relations. She participates in Rollins'
strategic planning, monitors and manages issues,
implements proactive media relations, and much
more.
Prior to joining Rollins in June 2000, she served as
regional communications manager for Florida Power
Corporation (FPC) in Central Florida, handling
public relations and media relations for an
expansive eight-county area—the largest and
fastest-growing region served by the company.
Prior to joining FPC in 1995, Ann Marie was a
public relations officer and media relations
representative for SunTrust Bank in Orlando. For six
years, from 1988 until 1994, she served as a public
relations consultant to a wide array of clients
including SunTrust Bank, WMFE, Sprint/United
Telephone, Universal Studios Florida, Wordwise, Walt
Disney World, and the Economic Development
Commission of Mid-Florida.
Practically a Central Florida native, Ann Marie
received a bachelor’s degree in English and speech
communication from Rollins College in 1982. She
began her career at Circus World where she rapidly
advanced to public relations/publicity supervisor
directing media and community relations for the
180-acre, $20-million attraction.
Ann Marie is an active community leader, creating
and serving as volunteer director of the Florida
Hospital Public Relations Advisory Council. The
Council advised Florida Hospital on its community
outreach efforts on the issue of medical malpractice
in Fall 2002 and Spring 2003. She is also active in
professional and business organizations,
particularly the local chapters of the Florida
Public Relations Association (FPRA) and the Public
Relations Society of America.
In 2006, Ann Marie was named the PR Professional of the Year in the Academic Institution category of the PR People Awards 2006 by PR News. The PR People Awards are presented annually by PR News, one of the public relations industry's most-read publications. According to PR News, winners were chosen for their leadership, creativity and results-driven activities during the 2005 calendar year judging period. The winners of this annual program set the benchmark for public relations and underscore outstanding PR achievements made in the past year. The PR News magazine is distributed weekly to 7,000 industry professionals nationwide.
FPRA named Ann Marie as Central Florida’s 2004
“PR Professional of the Year.” FPRA’s Public
Relations Professional of the Year Award honors the
very best public relations work for the year by an
individual. The award is the chapter’s highest
individual award and is presented to a public
relations practitioner whose accomplishments have
made a major contribution to the profession. Ann
Marie was given the award for her ongoing leadership
at Rollins College. She was also recognized by the
judges for leading the recent public relations fight
on critical issues that threaten the quality of
healthcare in Central Florida.
Ann Marie has
earned more than a dozen industry awards for
excellence in the field of public relations. Recent
top awards include the renovation of the Winter
Park Observer’s “Welcome Back Rollins!” issue
(2004), the redesign of R-Town, Rollins
College weekly electronic employee newsletter
(2003), Florida Power’s “Operation Restoration”
(1999)—a program to educate city and county partners
and the media about hurricane restoration—and more.
She graduated from the Greater Orlando Chamber of
Commerce Leadership Orlando program in May
1997.
E-mail Ann Marie.
Ann Marie's
office telephone number is 407-646-2159.
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Manager of Communications & New Media
Stephanie has more than eight years of experience in journalism, internal communication, public relations and new media. As manager of communications & new media, Stephanie maintains the Rollins News Center, the College's online news room, and implements additional online and new media initiatives. She also plans and implements communication for internal and external constituents; identifies and evaluates information for news value, researches and writes stories, news releases and/or articles for distribution to targeted audiences via various formats; determines content for electronic newsletters; assists with content and production of print newsletters; serves as communications consultant and counselor by offering public relations advice, guidance and assistance to campus clients; screens media inquiries, fulfills subject expert requests, and works with local media on campus, assisting as needed with crisis communications and much more.
Prior to joining Rollins College, Stephanie served as an online producer for OrlandoSentinel.com. She was responsible for placement of the top stories of the day and minute-by-minute breaking news updates.
Stephanie also held the position of internal communications writer/editor for Orlando Sentinel Communications, coordinating internal communication for more than 1,600 employees. She was the editor for the company’s Web site and weekly print and online newsletters. While in this position, she reported on a variety of the Sentinel’s local and worldwide projects; implemented streaming video technology to the company's Web site and managed a Workplace Giving campaign Web site, which included an online auction.
Stephanie started her journalism career as a news research associate, where she performed skilled information research and retrieval services for reporters and editors in the Orlando Sentinel newsroom.
Stephanie received a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with a minor in sociology from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2001. While at UCF, Stephanie served as an officer for the Association for Women in Communications and was a member of the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Stephanie will graduate with a master’s degree in business administration from Rollins’ Crummer Graduate School of Business this December.
E-mail Stephanie. Stephanie's
office telephone number is 407-646-2203.
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Communications Assistant
E-mail Jennifer. Jennifer's
office telephone number is 407-646-2202.
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