Soon after news of the child molestation scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach, broke in November 2011, the development and alumni relations staff gathered for a town hall-style meeting. "The Penn Stater" has tackled controversial topics before: student riots, a faculty member…

When Nickie Dobo wrote a column in 2003 for her college newspaper--"The Daily Collegian" at Pennsylvania State University--decrying the "hook-up culture" on the campus, she never expected it to resurface years later in an attack on her professional credibility. But that's what happened when Ms. Dobo, now a reporter for the…

Discusses whether alumni magazines should reflect alumni opinion or whether they should take an educational role. (PG)

The "magapaper," a cross between a newspaper and a magazine, is seen as deserving serious consideration for replacing alumni newspapers. The magapaper offers the inside news characteristic of newspapers, opportunities for better design, opportunities for lengthier off-beat stories, and continuing education. (MLW)

An alumni periodical is seen as a house organ that should represent its school to the public. The most important priority should be in finding a first-rate editor. Six key aspects of a periodical are good writing and illustration, honesty, clear organization and design, content, freshness, and style. (MLW)

The issue of freedom of the alumni press is explored in terms of the nature of freedom of the press, the institution's use of and need for alumni publications, pressures on alumni editors, and the future responsibilities of the alumni press. (JMF)

The responsibilities of the alumni editor to the reader and to the author are discussed, and principles of good editing including how to edit interviews, convert speeches into articles, and edit class and club notes are covered. (JMF)

Getting the authority necessary to edit an effective alumni periodical is discussed. According to an informal survey of 35 award-winning CASE editors, most are reasonably satisfied with their degree of authority. Many alumni magazines are dull because editors are afraid to rock the boat. (MLW)

The costs of producing an alumni magazine led to the establishment of the Alumni Magazine Consortium by John Hopkins, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Franklin and Marshall College, Worcester Polytechnic, and Hartwick College. A 16-page core of material in the center of each magazine is wrapped with a client school manuscript. (MLW)

An informal survey of university editors on the question of whether they have editorial freedom--within their own definitions--is described. They were asked whether they had complete editorial freedom, how extensive pressures were from constituents, and what protection they had if their editorial freedom were threatened. (MLW)

The University Network Publishing Corporation (UNP), a new company that promises to print alumni magazines at "no cost" to the parent institution, is discussed. UNP will furnish a magazine shell with national advertising and the participating institution will fill in with its own material. (MLW)

Community relations, alumni relations, and information services are considered to be serving one end--encouraging giving to the college. The relationship between fund raising and alumni periodical editing is discussed. High standards for the periodical and a budget sufficient to support it are advocated. (MLW)

This monograph examines college and university magazines aimed at alumni and designed to promote the institution and enhance its image. The first third contains three chapters. The first chapter reviews the evolution of these publications from their start in the late 1800s to today. The next chapter addresses questions of a magazine's role,…

Ideas for alumni magazine articles and features are drawn from a variety of sources. Ideas include: scholarships and donor profiles; profiling administrators as "teams"; update on campus neighborhood changes; interviewing campus specialists for practical information; alumni retrospectives; student and alumni perspectives on current…

In a question-and-answer format, campus alumni magazine editors comment on the value of a letters column, specific policies concerning what is printed, handling of controversial letters, and methods for eliciting strong reader response. (MSE)