Historically, the director of Public Relations and Marketing has acted as a public information specialist and college spokesperson. Marketing EPCC within the local community has been a secondary function for the manager of Publications, the vice president for Economic and Workforce Development, and the individual deans of each campus. Each department operates as a separate entity within the college and pursues its self-appointed mandates. The role and scope of the EPCC's community involvement and marketing is fragmented.
Various departments compete for duplicate resources and support staff.
A primary example is the duplication of service that exists between the Office of Public Relations and Marketing and the Center for Instructional Telecommunications. Each department maintains its own equipment and personnel to produce marketing videos. Another example is the duplication among the writers in the publications office and those in the public relations and marketing office. An analysis of comparable community college public relations departments revealed that external and internal communications is managed more efficiently through one coordinated organizational unit that reports directly to the President. This number contrasts with EPCC's 17 full time and four part-time employees who offer redundant marketing and publication services.