Chief Communications Officer, USM

Jim Coll is The University of Southern Mississippi’s Chief Communication Officer, a role in which directs the University’s marketing and public relations efforts and serves as the primary public relations advisor to President Rodney D. Bennett and other USM administrators. In 2017, the Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) honored Jim with its senior practitioner award. In recent years, USM’s Office of University Communications, which he directs, has earned the Southern Public Relations Federation’s Best of Show Award, the Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s Judges’ Choice Award, and the College Public Relations Association’s Grand Awards for Electronic and Print Media, among other honors.  Jim is the current President of the Downtown Hattiesburg Association and is an avid runner and triathlete who has completed the Boston and New York Marathons, and Ironman Louisville, among other events.