Sarah M. Kirchoff is currently employed as the Project Manager of Creative Services in the communications department at the University of Rochester. Sarah has personally overseen more than 1000 individual print and digital design projects, and the department has seen a more than 30% increase in the number of projects-per-year, since she joined the team in 2010.

Sarah is instrumental in the creation of a diverse range of University-branded communications materials: including but not limited to brochures, directories, posters, annual reports, newsletters, flyers, advertisements, case statements, illustrations, vehicular graphics, and websites. Each project is managed from conception to completion: from coordinating initial meetings with clients across campus, establishing project specifications and timelines, delegating workload to a larger team of designers and editors, overseeing multiple rounds of edits and reviews, setting a budget and gathering pricing information, interfacing with local vendors to ensure successful completion of finished product, to following up with the client for project feedback. Other duties of her current position include maintaining an archive of past work, upholding and enforcing the brand standards of the University, serving as a custom-framing and preservation expert, and providing general design support in any capacity needed.

In addition to her full-time position, Sarah founded her own graphic design firm, Kirchoff Design, in 2009. She has since worked with a number of freelance clients in the Rochester, New York area, from couples planning their weddings, to small businesses and start-ups, to large organizations. Her most notable recent clients include the local non-profits the Visual Studies Workshop, NeighborWorks Rochester, and the Rochester Public Market. In fact, Sarah will take a more active role in her participation with the RPM this year, serving as chairperson of the Artist Row Annual Juried Art Show in 2015. Sarah also sells her paintings and handicrafts at art and craft shows, in local retail establishments (including the Memorial Art Gallery gift shop in 2012), and online.

Sarah graduated with her MFA in Graphic Design in 2008 from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and graduated in 2006 with her BFA in Art History from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her MFA thesis project received the "Doing A Lot with A Little" award at the 2010 Society for Environmental Graphic Design conference in Washington, DC. In the past five years, multiple projects managed by Kirchoff have been recognized locally for PRSA Prism Awards, and nationally for CASE Circle of Excellence awards.

This spring, Sarah took advantage of a unique professional development opportunity when she participated in the Warner School of Education’s “Leadership Coaching Certificate Program.” She will achieve accreditation as an executive coach in June 2015.