OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY Student Publications Manual OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY Student Publications Manual Oklahoma City University Department of Mass Communications Student Publications 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73106 Phone: 405-208-6068 • Fax: 405-208-6069 E-mail: [email protected] Web address: ocustupub.com Forward Work on the Oklahoma City University Student Publications Manual began in Fall 2004 in the Newspaper Administration class. The manual was formed in an effort to establish a defined set of rules for the Student Publications staff and consistent style for all university Student Publications – The Campus, the student newspaper; The Constellation, the student yearbook; and The Campus online, the online version of the student newspaper. The decision to create the manual was made to inform staffers of the guidelines for working for Student Publications, establish consistency among publications and become a helpful educational tool for future students. Staffers will not only learn to use the manual, they will revise it annually. 2 Table of Contents I. Opening Page Forward 2 Table of Contents 3-4 Mission Statement 5 HISTORY 6 Yearbook 7-8 Newspaper 9 Web site 10 Student Publications 11 Student Publications Advisory Board 12 WORKING FOR STU PUB 13 Employment Details 14-16 Hierarchy 17 Job Descriptions 18-31 Code of Ethics 32-42 Student Discipline 43 OPERATIONS 44 Newsroom Rules 45-46 Phone Etiquette 47 Checking Voicemail 48 Camera Rules 49 Logging onto the Server 50 Advertising Rules 51 Advertising Steps 52 Story Steps 53 Photo Steps 54 Correcting B&W Photos 55 Correcting Color Photos 56 Inserting Yearbook Photos 57 Designing Yearbook Pages 58 3 Using Herff-Jones Image In 59 Distributing the Yearbook 60 STYLES 61 The Campus style palette 62-63 The Campus online style palette 64 Student Publications Colors 65 Student Publications Stylebook 66-97 Glossary 98-123 TRAINING/APPENDIXES 124 4 Mission Statement The purpose of Oklahoma City University’s Student Publications is to inform, entertain and serve the Oklahoma City University community. The community includes the university’s student body, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and administrators. Although Student Publications serve a broad community, the publications’ primary focus is Oklahoma City University’s student body. Student publications inform, entertain and serve the students, but also serve as the students’ printed voices. This is done while maintaining the university’s focus on a liberal arts education rooted in the United Methodist tradition of servant leadership. The publications fulfill the above missions through accurate, ethical and objective reporting of campus- and community-related events. Coverage is facilitated by members of a student editorial board and overseen by a faculty adviser. While fulfilling the above missions, the publications provide students with realistic, hands-on journalistic training by offering jobs including those related to reporting, production, design, sales, and management to students in any major. 5 History 6 Yearbook The yearbook dates back further than the naming of the university as Oklahoma City University. It was first published as The Scarab in 1923 when the university was Oklahoma City College. Since 1924, when the university was renamed, the yearbook has been published in a variety of university departments and under an assortment of names. For the majority of its existence the OCU yearbook has been published by the mass communications department and has been a student- produced publication. University Relations and the Office of Student Life also have published it. It was The Keshena from 1947 to 2002. No yearbook was published from 1973 to 1980, and again in 1999. In 1999, the first student-produced magazine, @2501, was published in place of the yearbook. The magazine was published for one year before the yearbook returned in 2001. The yearbook was renamed The Constellation in 2002. It was published that year by students in the university’s Office of Student Life. Officials thought the change was necessary because of the university’s mascot change from the Chiefs to the Stars in 1999. The publication returned to the mass communications department, where it is currently housed, in 2003. The following year, the book became a spring publication and a CD-ROM component was added. The supplement became a DVD for the 2006-07 book, and included original music and videos from students. Students in the broadcasting track planned and implemented the DVD videos under the direction of the Student Publications multimedia editor. For the 2005-06 academic year the yearbook staff was integrated into a general Student Publications staff. This was done to streamline the publishing process and allow all campus student publications to share equipment and resources. All publications also were moved under the direction of the same faculty adviser. A special event was hosted on the quad beginning for distribution of the 2005-06 yearbook. It was the first time in at least 10 years that all of the books were distributed. The event, which was hosted by the Media Relations and Events Management class, had to end an hour early because all of the books were gone. The carnival-like event was based on the yearbook’s theme, “OCU 101,” and began an annual tradition for the staff. 7 In 2007-08 the yearbook editor position was terminated to make way for one editor-in-chief in charge of all Student Publications. Sherri Greenwood was the last yearbook editor of The Constellation during the 2006-07 academic year. Nathan Altadonna was Student Publication’s first editor-in-chief during the 2007-08 academic year. 8 Newspaper The Oklahoma City University student newspaper began publishing in 1907. Like the yearbook, the student newspaper also has been published in various places under a variety of names. The newspaper originally was published in the English department, later moving to the Mass Communications department, where it remains. The publication began as a monthly magazine before becoming a four-page weekly magazine in Fall 1907. It had an irregular procession until 1923. Since then, the paper has experienced a continuous run. It has been published under the names The Campus, The Windup, The Epworthian, and The Rambler before permanently becoming The Campus. The paper went daily in 1966 and remained that way for two years. In 1969 it went biweekly and returned to a weekly publication in 1970. The paper was printed on university-owned presses until the early 1970s. Since then it was been printed by local commercial printing companies. The newspaper staff considered renaming the paper during the university’s centennial year, but decided The Campus was the best name and should remain. The newspaper was, however, redesigned during that academic year, and the administration building was removed from the flag. The paper also changed from a Friday to Wednesday publication that year. For the 2005-06 academic year the newspaper staff was integrated into a general Student Publications staff. This helped streamline the process of campus student media and resulted in all student publications sharing equipment and resources. The Campus celebrated its centennial during the 2006-07 academic year. The Student Publications staff published a special centennial edition in April 2007. The staff also served a large birthday cake during lunch in the cafeteria in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. 9 The Campus online Oklahoma City University’s student newspaper Web site, The Campus online, was created and launched in 2004 to enhance the print version of the student newspaper, The Campus. Mass communications students in the Electronic News Gathering and Reporting course designed the site as a semester project. They were Kelly Burk, Sherri Greenwood, Saima Manzoor, and Diana Tejada. The students designed and implemented the site under the guidance of Kenna Griffin, visiting instructor of mass communications and Student Publications director. The creation of the site coincided with the university’s centennial celebration, and propelled the student newspaper into the electronic news era. The site officially launched Dec. 8, 2004. Shortly after its launch the site crashed and was no longer operational. The site came back online in January 2007. After gathering information, Student Publications editors decided to use Boston-based College Publisher as a content manager for the site. College Publisher partners with more than 450 student publications nationwide. Since 1999, it has grown into the largest network of student publications in the nation. Layout Editor Erin McAnear designed the new flag for the Web site. Multimedia Editor Tiffany Jensen coordinated the site upgrade. The relaunched site included weather, message boards and polls. Broadcasting students also posted several podcasts on the site during the 2006-07 academic year. The Student Publications staff updates the site daily during the academic year and weekly during university breaks. 10 Student Publications Oklahoma City University’s three student media outlets – the yearbook, newspaper and Web site – joined together in 2005 to create one Student Publications staff. The purpose of the merger was to streamline the publications process. The merger combined the small staffs to make one large staff to produce all of the publications. Each publication still had a dedicated editor, who was a voting member of the editorial board, until Fall 2007 when the yearbook editor position was dissolved and the publications began being overseen by a single editor-in-chief with a staff of assistant editors. 11 Student Publications Advisory Board The Student Publications Advisory Board was formed in 2003. The board is an oversight committee developed as a result of the Mass Communications department receiving $250,000 from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation to improve the quality and ethical standards of the university’s print journalism program. The board’s purpose is to monitor the student newspaper and yearbook in terms of ethics, quality and impact.