The University Record, September 3, 1996
Look for changes in the Record this issue, this year
Welcome to The University Record, both new and continuing readers. As the official publication of the University, the Record strives to present information that will encourage collegiality, innovation and open communication among all members of the University community.
While today’s front page may appear very familiar to longtime readers, there’s a change there and inside as well-the first of many to come in the next few months as we work to put into practice the many excellent suggestions that were made last winter by members of a series of focus groups.
The biggest change so far is the manner in which the calendar is presented. Listings are now divided by type of activity and in date order in each category. The type size has been enlarged, and we will work to keep the calendar to two pages-fron t to back-so you can tear it out for future reference. We’ve expanded the time frame of the listings also-from our Tuesday day of publication through the following Thursday.
This change is in response to retirees’ requests, who in the past have sometimes received the Record too late to take advantage of events listed in the calendar.
Such items as “DRDA: Research Notes” and “Studies Seek Subjects,” as well as advertisements, will appear on other pages.
“What’s Inside” on page one will guide you to those items and make it easier for you to quickly locate other items of interest throughout the publication.
The “Job Postings” located on page 2 will now appear in larger type, and we hope to change the order of information presented in each listing to make it easier for job-seekers to find possibilities by position title rather than posting n umber.
Among other changes that will appear during the fall term is the creation of sections for the various types of articles we carry. These might include such headings as “Faculty News,” “Staff Awards” and “Benefits Notes,&qu ot; as well as our current listings such as “Kudos,” “Letters,” “Regents’ Roundup” and “Focus on Research.”
Other continuing sections will be the monthly “Faculty Perspectives” page, prepared by an editorial board of the Senate Assembly, and a monthly “Police Beat” that includes brief articles and crime statistics and a map showing i ncident locations for the prior month.
The Record is now made available on the WorldWide Web each Monday, one day before the printed version arrives. Included in The University Record online are highlights of particular articles and the full text of all articles. To access the online version, use your Web browser to access
http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/
then choose The University Record from the menu.
The Record itself, as well as the individual staff members, can be contacted electronically with any suggestions or concerns you may have, as well as by the more traditional phone call or a note through Campus Mail. The Record’s electronic address is [email protected]. E-mail addresses for staff members are listed in the publication box on the lower right corner of page four and appear there every week.
The biggest visible change in the Record planned over the next few months will be an entirely re-designed publication that will incorporate many of the suggestions that were the product of focus group sessions early this year. We offer a big THANK YOU to all the faculty and staff who took the time to participate in the focus groups and provide us with valuable information on your likes and dislikes.
The Record is published every Tuesday during fall and winter terms, except during holiday breaks, and twice monthly May_August. It can be found on racks at some 65 locations on campus, primarily in lobbies of buildings. Some departments receive bundles of Records via Campus Mail for re-distribution among their staff and faculty. If your department would like to be added to that list, give us a call or send an e-mail message. We’ll need the name of the department, the address and the number of staff members. We don’t print enough copies for everyone to have their own, so please share with your colleagues.
In addition, the Record is mailed to more than 6,000 faculty and staff retirees via third-class mail.
A few notes about deadlines:
The deadline for Calendar and News Briefs (the short blurbs at the top of each page) items is 5 p.m. eight days prior to the publication date. In other words, if you want something published in the Sept. 17 issue, we need to receive the information by 5 p.m. Sept. 9. They must be in writing and can be submitted via e-mail to the addresses mentioned earlier, by fax (764-7084) and by mail. Please include the name and phone number of a contact person in case we have questions. The listings are available to all University-sponsored groups and organizations, and student groups recognized by the Michigan Student Assembly.
Letters to the editor must reach us by noon the Wednesday preceding publication to be considered for inclusion in the next issue. Those on topics of broad University interest will be given preference for publication. More details on the letters policy may be found on page 4 in the “Letters” section.
If you have ideas for particular articles you’d like to see, contact us by e-mail, fax or phone. We need a bit more lead time on these, so please plan ahead if the article must be published by a certain date.
Again-Welcome to the Record. We hope you enjoy this issue and the 36 more to follow during the year.
