Communications Tool Kit » Publications

Publications

Department, Center and Program Procedures

Communicating with students, prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends is an important aspect of your work.

PLEASE REMEMBER: Materials at the department, program and center level MUST receive approval from the unit leader for SACS and branding compliance.

Information Handouts

The College Communications Office has developed a customized template process for information handouts and other materials. While you will be responsible for printing contracts and expenses and for the words and photographs used in the materials, we can work with you on editing, tone, audience identification and branding. We can help you with the design, using design options we have available. We offer training on this process each semester.

  • Final documents require approval by the academic unit leader (usually the department chair or program director).
  • Be sure to comply with copyright law as you choose your photographs and illustrations. The University’s copyright website can guide you.
  • In some cases the Communications Office can assist with images.

Newsletter Design and Distribution

To assist with design and distribution of newsletters, this is the process we follow:

  • The College Communications Office has newsletter designs for your use. Please submit our design request form, so we can assist you.
  • Be sure to follow university guidelines and relevant laws regarding printing, use of logos, copyright, FERPA and other issues; see links below.
  • Following creation of your newsletter, whether using one of these templates or your own design, to assist you in complying with university policies and standards, it is best practice for newsletters to be approved by the academic unit leader (usually the department chair or program director).
  • We also are available to assist in review of your newsletter for possible issues.
  • Once the newsletter is approved and posted to your website, we also offer the service of distributing it to your department alumni using a University-approved and managed email contact system, which provides email marketing options and the ability to track and manage messages. Contact the College external relations and events manager for details.
  • If you decide to print copies of the newsletter, approved university printers can be found by logging into 49er Mart, going to the contracts section and searching for printers.
  • If you print the newsletter, consult university policy 605.5, particularly sections 6 and 7.

Newsletter Content

The type of information to feature in a newsletter could include:

  • Letter from the chair or director
  • Student success stories; while it is good to use a photograph, be sure you have the student sign a Photo and Video Release Form.
  • Faculty success stories – include a headshot of the faculty member and details.
  • Research stories about faculty members or students – Include a photo of the people doing the research, or a group photo or headshots. Remember to obtain a photo release from the student(s), but a photo release is not needed for faculty members.
  • Alumni success stories – Include a headshot of the alumni member and details about the subject. What is the impact of the story you are telling? How do the education and experiences the alumni member gained in your department and our College impact this story?
  • Donor story – Include a headshot or other photograph of the donor, if the donor desires. Another photo option is to show the impact of the contribution. You also will want to consult with the College’s development officers.
  • Department, program or center news that would be of interest to a broader audience, such as alumni, students or donors.
  • Published books – Include a headshot of the author and/or a photo of the cover of the book (the author usually can help obtain permission from the publisher). Include a description of the book’s subject, any reviews that are pertinent and a short biography of the author. The impact of the book and how the author will use the knowledge in the classroom are good details to include.
  • Ways to contribute to the department, center and program – The College Development Officers can assist you with appropriate wording and methods for seeking support through your newsletter.

Exchange Online

The College also offers other options for communicating your stories. We invite you to submit your news to Exchange Online. Complete the news submission form with the information below. The more details you can include, the better.

Please include:

  • Who was involved
  • What the news is
  • Where it occurred
  • When it occurred
  • Why it is significant, interesting, noteworthy or has impact
  • A short biography of the main person or people involved
  • Please email us a photo if you have one (or more than one.)

From those submissions, the College is able to post items to the online magazine, and develop news stories to share with the University Communications team for internal and external distribution.

We also use these submissions in other College outlets, such as the College’s print magazine Exchange, news updates to the College and University community, updates to College alumni and its social media channels, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Exchange Online site also includes forms to submit events and “In the News” for when you are quoted or your work is published by the news media.

Exchange Print Magazine

Spring Exchange cover beesThe College Communications and Marketing Office publishes the print version of the college magazine Exchange. The magazine takes a research-focused approach. If you have story ideas, please contact the College Communications Director. While not all stories can be included, due to limited space or the subject either having been covered or not fitting the research focus, we also may find other outlets for your ideas.

Access the most recent issues of the magazine in two places on-line: the Exchange Online site and our ISSUU site. We also can provide additional hard copies.

UNC Charlotte Publications

We also work with various UNC Charlotte entities and publications to spread the news from our College. To submit ideas for consideration, please email the College Communications Office.

University Policies and Standards

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