Elements of a Good Departmental Newsletter

Overview

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Statement

Suggested Content

Article from the Department Head or Designee

Student Achievements and Activities

Faculty & Staff Achievements and Milestones

Alumni

Facilities

Fundraising Activities and Opportunities

Research and Extension/Outreach Activities

Calendar of Events

Photos

Alumni Update Form

 

Must include – One of the following Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Statements:

  1. Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity.
  2. Virginia Tech is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Suggested Content


Article from the Department Head or Designee

  • Limit to no more than 350 words.
  • It can be in the form of a letter or article.
  • Include a general update about significant events and activities.
  • This is a good place to highlight enrollment and research funding trends.
  • This piece is NOT an annual report!
  • Include a photo of the author to make it more personal.
  • If the author does not have a current “professional” photo on file with the university Photo Lab, contact Michael Kiernan (mkiernan@vt.edu or 1-6992) to schedule an appointment to have one taken. Be sure to tell the photographer who takes the photo that it is for your departmental newsletter and needs to be sent to Linda Burcham.

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Student Achievements and Activities

  • These articles should be limited to no more than 200 words.
  • Include high-quality photos when they are appropriate. (For print, 300 dpi resolution is required.)
  • Do not try to include everything! Focus on recent achievements and activities. Alumni do not want to hear about old news.
  • Include significant club activities or team successes.
  • If you publish a newsletter more than once a year, split up the groups and mention some of the activities in one newsletter and other activities in the next newsletter.
  • Do not mention groups or individuals unless there is something significant/news-worthy to say.
  • When specific individuals are mentioned in the article, include name, hometown and/or year, and major (e.g., Sarah Brauning, a senior from Finksburg, Md., or Carlin Conk, a senior majoring in environmental science from Floyd, Va.)

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Faculty & Staff Achievements and Milestones

  • Simply list individuals receiving honors and awards. Bullets work great! (Do not try to write a full article about every achievement.) Include name, title, award, and organization that presented the award.
  • Do provide additional information for extraordinary achievement.
  • Include a brief biography of new faculty and appointments. These should be no more 100 words and can often be done in much less.
  • Include a spotlight on a faculty or staff member.

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Alumni

  • Include a spotlight on a prominent alumnus or alumna -- someone who has made a significant contribution to the department or industry.
  • List alumni that are in the news and their achievements. This information can be solicited with an alumnus/alumna update form included in the newsletter.

Facilities

  • Include updates on renovations, new construction projects, etc.
  • Photos with a brief caption work best.

Fundraising Activities and Opportunities

  • Provide an update on new scholarship and endowment opportunities and make sure to provide information on how people can contribute.
  • Highlight recent gifts and donors. Check with the college development office to make sure that the information can be released prior to publication.
  • Departmental newsletters are a good place to recognize smaller department-specific gifts, i.e., in-kind gifts, scholarships, endowments, and smaller gifts.

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Research and Extension/Outreach Activities

  • Articles should be no more than 250 words.
  • Include one or two short articles about a research and/or outreach impact.
  • Use simple language and eliminate jargon.

Calendar of Events

  • Include a calendar of upcoming departmental, college, and university events.
  • Include name of event, date, time, place, and contact or website for more information.

Photos

  • Include photos when they are of high quality and support the story.
  • Photos must be at least 300 dpi (if the publication will be printed).
  • All photos should have a caption.
  • Identify each person in the photo with full name, title or hometown and major.

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Alumni Update Form

  • Include an alumni information update form when you want to get address changes, find out what your alumni have been up to.
  • For internet users, direct alumni to the Alumni Association website at http://www.alumni.vt.edu/gateway/index.html and select “Update my profile.”
  • All address changes received in paper or e-mail should be sent to Ruth Graves, Alumni Association (0102), e-mail ruthg@vt.edu