DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
 
Student Publications
Student Publications Biennial Report
Lloyd Goodman, Director
2004—2006
 
Student Publications provides professional training, advising and administrative support for UT Arlington’s award-winning student publications. In doing so, it provides co-curricular experiences for students preparing for careers in journalism and other professions and employment for more than 100 students from more than 25 academic majors each year. Student Publications also administers PowerBuy, a program in which students at any participating college and university newspaper in the Dallas/Fort Worth area can sell advertising for all other
participating newspapers.
 
Student Publications during 2004-2006 included The Shorthorn and Renegade general interest magazine.
 
Other significant accomplishments for 2004-05:
  1. •In October 2004, more than 400 current and former Shorthorn staff members came together to celebrate the The Shorthorn’s 85th anniversary. The Shorthorn, one of the two oldest institutions at UT Arlington, is one of the most honored university newspapers in the nation and one of the most storied traditions at UT Arlington.
  2. •Renegade magazine received the Pacemaker award, widely considered the highest award in college journalism, and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence as the best college magazine in the nation.
  3. •The Shorthorn received the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s highest award, the Gold
  4. •Crown, for the fifth time in the past six years. The Shorthorn was a Pacemaker award finalist.
  5. •The Shorthorn was named the best daily college newspaper in Texas by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association, a professional journalism organization. The Shorthorn received the Sweepstakes award, the highest award given by Texas Intercollegiate Press
  6. •Association, the state’s largest college media group.
  7. •We increasingly utilized The Shorthorn website ... www.theshorthorn.com ... to report important news during times when The Shorthorn was between publications. Theshorthorn.com was named the best college newspaper website by both the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and College Media Advisers (national).
  8. •To strengthen our professional support for student staff, Student Publications added a staff person to be production manager and technical adviser. Adam Drew, with a Master of Technology degree in Printing Management, was hired for the position.
 
We did three things to strengthen our advertising operation…
  1. •We consolidated advertising operations under Advertising Manager and removed production responsibilities from that position.
  2. •We hired a consulting team comprised of advertising managers from other universities to do a top-to-bottom review of our advertising operations in summer 2005. Some of their recommendations were implemented in 2005-06. A total advertising staff reorganization based on their recommendations will be implemented in 2006-07.
  3. •We commissioned a professional survey to update market information utilized by our student sales representatives, increasing the effectiveness of those positions for co-curricular training while also providing our student staff with accurate “tools” to enhance their revenue-producing potential.
  4. •Individually, Shorthorn and Renegade magazine staff members won more than 100 state, regional and national awards during 2005-06.
  5.  
Highlights for 2005-06 included:
  1. •The Shorthorn was again named best daily college newspaper in Texas by both the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.
  2. •The Shorthorn also was recognized again as one of the best college newspapers in the nation when the Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded it its prestigious Gold Crown award.
  3. •Renegade magazine was named best college magazine in Texas by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and one of the three best college newspapers in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists. It was the second time in four years that Renegade had been named one of the top three college magazines in the nation by this professional organization.
  4. •The Shorthorn website ... www.theshorthorn.com ... was named the best college newspaper website in the state by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
  5. •The Shorthorn website was redesigned and technologically streamlined to make it more accessible and adaptable to new content to better meet students’ information needs.
  6. •Three Shorthorn exes (Tom Fox, Brad Loper, Michael Ainsworth) were part of the Dallas Morning News photo team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for news photography. Journalists who got their start at The Shorthorn also received numerous state and national awards, including the Livingston Award, honoring the nation’s best print reporter under age 35 (Reese Dunklin); and Texas Headliner Awards as the top page designer (Jamie Huckaby); and headline writer (Samantha Shaddock) in the state.
  7. •We brought in an estimated 25 professional journalists — many of them Shorthorn exes — for training and development of The Shorthorn staff.
  8. •The average GPA among Shorthorn staff was 3.1, higher than the UTA undergraduate average. (The fall 2005 editor in chief graduated with a 4.0 GPA.)
  9. •The six-year graduation rate for Shorthorn staff was 74 percent.
  10. •Student Publications provided co-curricular employment to more than 100 students from more than 25 academic majors.
  11. •Individually, Shorthorn and Renegade magazine staff members won more than 100 state,Regional and national awards during 2005-06.
  12.  
Planned initiatives for 2006-07
  1. •Move toward integration of The Shorthorn print and online editions.
  2. •Reorganize The Shorthorn advertising operation in line with consultants’ recommendations.
  3. •Develop and implement a competencies-based strategy for Shorthorn student staff training and program assessment.
  4. •Work “Mav Dates and Data” revised content and schedule into Student Publications annual plan.
  5. •Renegade magazine will be discontinued due to loss of funding.