Budd Lake resident named regional Communicator of the Year as RVCC marketing department earns multiple awards
BRANCHBURG TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Somerset County) — Raritan Valley Community College’s director of marketing, Rick Burchfield of Budd Lake, has been named Communicator of the Year by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, while the college’s Marketing Department received six additional regional awards for its communications and recruitment efforts.
Burchfield received the honor for NCMPR’s District 1 region, which recognizes marketing and public relations professionals who demonstrate outstanding leadership, skill and impact in two-year college communications. He was recognized during the organization’s regional conference, held Oct. 14-16 in Buffalo, New York.
Burchfield, who joined RVCC in 2022, was nominated by Rodney E. Altemose, the college’s associate vice president for strategic enrollment management.
“One of the things I admire most about Rick is that he understands that the best way to tell RVCC’s story is through our students. He doesn’t simply find a student to put in an ad. Rick talks with them. He listens to them. He creates an environment in which they feel comfortable, respected, and heard. That investment is reflected in the final work: dynamic, student-centered video and storytelling assets that have become the foundation of RVCC’s marketing. These new pieces have replaced scripted institutional language and stock imagery with authentic stories that prospective students recognize as relevant to their own lives,” Altemose said.
In addition to Burchfield’s individual recognition, RVCC’s Marketing Department earned two gold awards, one silver award and three bronze awards for projects designed to strengthen the college’s outreach to prospective students and the community.
The college received gold awards for its newly redesigned website and interior signage and displays featuring RVCC advertisements at Bridgewater Commons.
A silver award was presented in the Successful Recruitment or Marketing Program Campaign category for a campaign that included the website relaunch, print and digital marketing materials, and promotional videos.
The department also received bronze awards for a digital advertisement promoting a free tuition program, a recruitment folder in the Print Wild Card category and a short-form promotional video featuring RVCC student Esmeralda Ochoa discussing student support services available on campus.
The award-winning video highlights resources available to students attending the college.
“These awards, including Communicator of the Year, belong to our entire department. This past year, a small team delivered a redesigned website, a unified recruitment campaign, and our first operational CRM. I’m grateful to work with such talented, dedicated people,” Burchfield said.
Burchfield has more than two decades of professional experience, beginning with 10 years in journalism. He previously served as Patch’s associate regional editor for Somerset and Morris counties, overseeing 14 local news websites.
He has worked in higher education for the past 14 years, holding positions at County College of Morris, Bloomfield College, Lehigh University and RVCC.
Since joining RVCC, Burchfield has led the college’s website redesign and customer relationship management system implementation, hired its first CRM administrator, developed a Canva for Nonprofit template system and directed the college’s first fully unified, brand-centered digital enrollment campaign.
During his time at County College of Morris, Burchfield served on several college committees and was the staff representative on the presidential search committee that resulted in the appointment of Dr. Anthony Iacono.
At Bloomfield College, he directed marketing initiatives, created the institution’s 150th anniversary logo and brand, and co-chaired one of four strategic planning subcommittees. He later served as director of marketing for Lehigh University’s newly established College of Health, helping develop its initial graduate program marketing plan.
Burchfield holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with a minor in English, from Penn State.
As the 2026 District 1 Communicator of the Year, Burchfield automatically advances as one of seven finalists for NCMPR’s national Communicator of the Year award, which will be presented in March during the organization’s national conference in Chicago.
NCMPR represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges and is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges. The organization has more than 1,600 members from nearly 600 colleges across the United States and Canada.
District 1 includes New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and several other northeastern states, as well as Washington, D.C., and six Canadian provinces.
Raritan Valley Community College is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg Township. Additional information is available at www.raritanval.edu.
