MINUTES

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011 • 7 p.m.
Room 201, Witherspoon Student Center

Members Present: Henry Allen, Michael Biesecker, Siddharth Gandra, Jamie Lynn Gilbert, Kathryn Glaser, Cordera Guion, Kenneth Hertling, Alanna Howard, Molly Matty, Paul McCauley, Victoria Melbourne, Ronilyn Osborne, Dean Phillips, Jim Rothschild, Paul Ruddle, Katherine Trapp, Laura Wilkinson

Members Absent: Dean Phillips (excused), William Stronach (unexcused)

Others Present: Martha Collins, Krystal Pittman

CALL TO ORDER at 7:01 p.m. by Chair Paul McCauley

OLD BUSINESS

1. Approval of minutes from September 2011 board meeting. The minutes were approved with no objections.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Approval of minutes from October 2011 board meeting. The minutes were approved with no objections.
2. Election of secretary. With no opposition, Molly Matty was elected secretary (non-rotating) of the Student Media Board of Directors.
3. Compensation Policy amendment (Molly Matty) CLICK HERE to see suggested revisions.
   • Molly has been working with Jamie Lynn since this summer to prepare the proposed amendment, which Molly sent to the other student leaders for feedback months ago. Molly explained she is presenting the policy because she doesn’t think someone should be terminated for doing work but not completing time sheets if the student chooses not to be paid. Molly also stated the revisions place the burden of work on the student to submit a late time sheet form with the late time sheet, rather than the student editor/manager having to track down the student and get him or her to sign the form.
   • Laura indicated she wants Technician to follow the current policy. The proposed amendment was tabled until January to allow Molly and Laura (and any others) to develop a policy suitable to all student leaders.
4. Budget update
5. Update on hiring of Director of Student Media Advising, Systems Administrator and Production Assistant (Jamie Lynn Gilbert)
   • Patrick Neal has been named the new Director of Student Media Advising. Neal is currently the associate director for Student Media at Clemson University. Neal taught journalism courses at Clemson before moving into the Student Media position in 2005 and has nine years experience at newspapers in Georgia and North Carolina. His undergraduate and master’s degrees are from University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He will begin his role at N.C. State Dec. 6.
   • At our October meeting the board approved up to $1,500 in lapsed salary from general administration be used to fund a student employee in another campus department to cover for Fred Eaker so he could come and work for Student Media. According to Sandy Jones, director of budget and finance in the vice chancellor for student affairs office, we can’t use the money to pay a student in another department. We instead will have to pay Fred for work performed at Student Media. This will end up costing us closer to $2,500 for support up to eight hours per week. As for reclassifying the position, there has been no progress as far as Jamie Lynn can tell.
   • Tyler Dukes’s last day as production assistant was Friday, Nov. 4. A plan is in place to hire a temporary, part-time writing coach to serve as a “journalist-in-residence” Monday through Thursday late afternoons/evenings for no more than 20 hours a week. It is a temporary position, so it only needs to be posted for five days. As of Nov. 8, It has not been posted. The online HR system has been upgraded, which is responsible for some of the delay. Should someone be hired, there will be less than two weeks of Technician production before the end of the semester.

REPORTS

Agromeck (CLICK HERE)
Business Office (CLICK HERE)
Nubian Message (CLICK HERE)
Society for Collegiate Journalists (CLICK HERE)
Technician (CLICK HERE)
Windhover (CLICK HERE)
WKNC (CLICK HERE)
Wolf TV (CLICK HERE)

REPORT UPDATES

Student Media received a number of awards at the National College Media Convention in Orlando Oct. 27-30. WKNC was a finalist for Best Student Media Website and Best Feature in the College Broadcasters, Inc. national student production awards. The 2010 Agromeck won its fifth Pacemaker from the Associated Collegiate Press and the 2011 Windhover was also a Pacemaker finalist. In ACP’s individual awards, Luis Zapata placed first in photo excellence for environmental portrait and Susannah Brinkley placed fourth in design of the year for newspaper page/spread. In ACP’s Best in Show awards, the 2011 Windhover placed first in literary magazine, the 2011 Agromeck placed third in yearbook 300 or more pages, the 9/11 10th anniversary issue of Technician, printed Sept. 12, placed ninth in special edition four-year newspaper, and “88.1 Seconds of Technician” from Sept. 2, 2011 placed fourth in audio podcast.

Agromeck - Kathryn presented her full board report during the update period, as did not submit it in advance or distribute printed copies at the meeting. She also reported she has moved her December deadline from Dec. 14 to Dec. 2 to have it completed before finals week.

Society for Collegiate Journalists – Adviser Martha Collins reported the group has begun to focus on events for the spring semester.

Technician - Laura spoke to the board about firing a viewpoint columnist plagiarism (detailed in her report). She reported the incident to Student Conduct, but was told it was not a student conduct issue because it didn’t occur in a classroom. The board discussed drafting a letter to Student Conduct asking them to reconsider addressing the issue with the student. The board also talked about ethics training and whether an ethics code similar to the one used by the Society of Professional Journalists should be included in all hiring packets. There was also discussion of a Nubian Message editorial critical of Technician (also detailed in Laura’s report; see discussion notes).

Windhover - Alanna reported an error was discovered in the Windhover budget that will cause them to go over budget for printing by $1,000. If she is unable to cover the full deficit with sponsorships the money will need to come from the Student Media reserve.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

The Student Media Board of Directors may adjourn into executive session to discuss matters of litigation, potential litigation or personnel.

ADJOURN at 8:47 p.m.

TEXT OF REPORTS

Agromeck
submitted by Kathryn Glaser, editor

Personnel — The staff consists of around 10 people: one returning designer, six new designers and around three writers who have already written for us or have attended meetings. The designers this year have been great for deadlines. They are very helpful and have positive attitudes. Our two new writers are doing a good job with their assignments. I have been very impressed. Sharon Eshet our design editor will be studying abroad next semester. I am hoping to find a replacement for her.

Training — Susannah Brinkley came in one Sunday night to meet with designers. The basic concept was how to make a good spread great. She taught the basics of Illustrator and how to implement it into InDesign.

Coverage — As well as I feel that we have covered events going around campus, I want to be able to cover groups and interesting people more. I told the writers and the designers that I want to cover what makes N.C. State, N.C. State

Deadlines — The third deadline was October 28 . There were 30 pages sent to the plant. They consisted of September and October coverage. This deadline we got a lot of work done but the pages were sent late to make sure that no corrections were made.

Marketing —Senior Portraits are being taken November 15-18. We have done a PSA on WKNC for them, wrote on Facebook, and are going to run house ads. We are hoping to get a good chunk of seniors for this session of photos before the January one.

Business Office
submitted by Ronilyn Osborne, business office manager

Revenue – Revenues are down this fall. The Living Guide and Living Expo will bring in an extra $10,000 to help with this fall slump.

Technician - The Fall Living Guide, Living Expo, and the Basketball Preview are helping to increase Technician sales. We are still continuing our efforts with local advertisers to make up for the lack of campus sales.

Agromeck - We plan to meet with Katherine this week to start talking about marketing ideas they have in place and other ideas or strategies that may be efficient.

Nubian Message – Our newest Nubian sales rep, Melinda, has teamed up with Chelsea, our on campus sales rep, to work on the Happy Birthday theme page for the Nubian’s 19^th birthday. Chelsea and Melinda have also been collaborating on a new sales project that will feature business card size ads in the Nubian for new, upcoming and/or low-budget businesses. They have already begun reaching out to potential clients for the Happy Birthday theme page and have also started on the rate card for the business card project.

Wolf TV – We have recently updated our sales staff on Wolf TV and what they have to offer. We are still trying to make an effort here.

WKNC – WKNC sales are holding steady. We are looking to replace Paul, our former WKNC sales representative, which will increase revenue.

Personnel - We just recently hired Issac Brown to act as our special promotions sales representative. He will be focusing his efforts on large sales, promotions, and projects, both old and new, that will require more time and commitment. I believe he will make an excellent addition to the sales team.

I also recently hired Sydni Collins as an office assistant for the upcoming spring semester. As many of our staff in the business office will be graduating at the end of the fall semester, it is imperative to start looking for spring staff members.

Training – This month I have made great effort to connect with all of the business office staff. On Friday, October 14 I held a staff meeting for the office assistants. At the meeting I discussed expectations, how to work effectively with the design team, and any problems anyone was experiencing. This meeting was both an informational meeting as well as a training as we also discussed how to do tear sheets and operate the Facebook and Twitter pages.

I had one-on-one meetings with each of the sales representatives during the week of October 17-21. I gave each representative a questionnaire to survey his or her work ability, progress, and ideas. To follow up, I held a staff meeting on Friday, October 21 for the sales representatives. At this meeting I discussed the results of the questionnaires, expectations, rules, and problems.

Updates – I have been trying to think of ways to encourage and motivate the sales team. I put up a new goal board for the sales reps and have recently begun giving incentives to exceptional sales representatives. I have initiated competitions between the sales team and awarded those who stand out. Our last winner was Sasha Campbell, as she has been an outstanding sales representative who is always available and hard working.

On a different note, the credit card machine is now working.

Nubian Message
submitted by C.J. Guion, editor

Revenue – I believe we have sold 1 ad since the last board meeting. However, we should be selling a couple of our special anniversary ads for our upcoming 19^th Anniversary edition on Nov. 30. We’ve already had a couple of campus organizations express interest in purchasing one.

One thing that has reoccurred continuously over the year is that many businesses and student organizations around the campus like to place inserts our newspaper boxes without purchasing ads. It can become annoying at times. I’ve been informed by the business office to turn in all fliers such as this to them, and that they would handle it from there.

Expenditures – There have no been no expenditures, which have been out of the ordinary of which I am aware.

Personnel – We recently hired a new layout editor to help out with the production of the Nubian Message on a weekly basis. We’ve also had a couple of students who have expressed interest in joining the staff. We have about 15 people on staff at the moment.

Training – There has been no new training since the last board meeting.

Technology – We still have been having issues with the font on our new website where it changes colors from time to time. Someone was supposed to working on this, but I’m not sure if the problem was ever discovered.

We also now have a personal telephone in our new office as well. I’m not sure that we have voice mail yet.

We have been making good use of our social media websites to highlight our best stories of the week which usually drives more viewers to our website. We have also been getting a good number of people to view our newspaper on issuu.com as well.

Social media referrals are becoming to top path of entry to our website according to Google Analytics. At the moment, search engines have a slight percentage advantage over this, but even with this the top searched keywords are variations of the “Nubian Message.”

Coverage – We have been covering many stories this semester that deal with issues pertinent to N.C. State students, as well as the African American community at State. A journalism professor on campus stated that our story on financial aid for students a couple of weeks ago was one of the top stories that they had seen in the area this year.

We have covered stories involving financial aid, domestic violence awareness month, graduation rates of African American males, and so much more.

Deadlines – There is still a minor issue of getting staff members to turn in their stories on time, which prolongs the production process, but many of the staff members get their assignments in at a reasonable time.

Thus far, this semester the Nubian Message has come out on time every week that we were scheduled to come out. It has been on the newsstands no later than 10 a.m. on most days. I think that is good considering that traditionally the editors have to stay up until the completion of the paper and then must drive to Durham to go pick it up in the morning. It would be great if there were a way to get it delivered here, but until that happens we have been doing relatively well with this even with our small staff.

Ethics/Legal issues – There are no legal/ethical issues, which I am aware of at the time.

Society for Collegiate Journalists
submitted by Sarah Tudor, president

NO REPORT

Technician
submitted by Laura Wilkinson, editor

Personnel – We continue to have a small stream of new people coming up to the office interested in joining staff. Most have been sent to the news section since they need the most writers. We’ve spoken to both Scholars Program forums and emailed various departments to get the recruitment word out.

Both of the former employees who attended retreat and then resigned from staff have turned in reimbursement money for retreat.

Our design editor, Catie Yerkes, experienced a concussion on two different occasions within a week of one another. She has resigned from her position for the rest of the semester to recuperate mentally.

One employee has been terminated due to an ethical issue, which will be detailed in the Ethics/Legal Issues section.

Training – Training was required in the month of October. All writers were to meet with me to do writing coach sessions. Others chose to attend a calendar event.

Coverage – The content in the news section has been very good lately, though many news writers have complained to me about the news editor’s style of management. This issue is being addressed. The other sections have produced quality content and I have received no complaints.

Since losing our design editor, the design section has suffered from inconsistent scheduling and an increased workload for former design editor and current managing editor Taylor Cashdan.

Deadline – We’ve been very consistent with making deadline, with the exception of perhaps three days.

Ethics/Legal Issues – Tuesday, Oct. 18 I received an email from the University of Maryland’s Diamondback editor claiming one of my staff columnists, Dileep Karpur (a graduate student in electrical engineering), plagiarized a column published in the Diamondback four days prior. Immediately, Managing Editor Taylor Cashdan, Production Assistant Tyler Dukes and I looked at every one of Karpur’s published columns (10 in total) for further cases of plagiarism. All 10 columns had evidence of blatant plagiarism — whole sentences and paragraphs were taken word-for-word from other college student newspapers. We brought Karpur in to the office to give him a chance to explain. Karpur said he did not understand that what he did was plagiarism, and that it was simply his “writing process.” Cashdan asked him if he would ever do the same in one of his graduate class papers, and Karpur responded “no.” We explained that it was the same thing, and he seemed to realize his mistake. Cashdan and I fired him from our staff, deleted the articles off our website (we do have print versions of the columns though) and issued an apology in the next day’s paper. We also sent formal apology letters to each publication Karpur plagiarized from. The next week, I went to each section’s staff meeting to talk about what plagiarism is and how unacceptable it is.

On Nov. 2, Nubian Message published a Letter to the Editor in their publication criticizing a photo and an editorial that ran in Technician. While it’s perfectly fine to have a dissenting opinion about things we publish, he got his facts wrong and made very inappropriate statements regarding Technician. I have drafted a Letter to the Editor [printed in the Nov. 9, 2011 Nubian Message] in response to send to CJ. However, I’d like the board to address this issue as well.

Expenditures – Bonus money has still not been distributed.

Windhover
submitted by Alanna Howard, editor

Revenue – We have had no changes in revenue since the last report though my sponsorship packet has been redrafted and will be mailed out by next week.

Events – No events since the last report. The next Open Mic Night is November 18.

Expenditures -We have spent an additional $60 in promotional materials for the library display in D. H. Hill.

Personnel – There have been no major staff changes. The literary editor has accepted a job at Chapel Hill as a PR specialist, a job she applied for in June and hadn’t heard anything from in months. She will continue as literary editor remotely, and I will pick up the few on campus duties she had. She is remaining enrolled in the university through the end of the semester and will take online classes next semester.

Training – There have not been any trainings though I will be speaking with Kathryn Glaser about hosting a design training with Britt Freeman, the 2006 Windhover editor, who will instruct on the importance of branding in design.

Technology – Jamie put in a Parent’s Fund request for funding for a new computer for Windhover. Thanks Jamie! [You're welcome.]

Coverage -We have put posters up in the Design school, in EB I, II, and III, in Tompkins, and a few in Caldwell. We are printing more and are prepared to hang them in the rest of CHASS and textiles. I have put new e-board slides up across campus. We will be printing bookmarks and having the library distribute them in books when people check out. I have created a spreadsheet and all the members of the literary committees are required to talk about Windhover in their classes and an additional two classes from the spreadsheet.

Deadlines: Chelsea, the design editor, is in the process of approving the calendar of deadlines with the printer. As of now the priority deadline is December 20 and the hard deadline is January 20.

WKNC
submitted by Molly Matty, general manager

Revenue – Updated income is not available for the past month at this time.

Expenditures – Promotions has been spending the most money recently, with recent orders of coozies, stickers, and party favors for the birthday party. In addition to this, we have teamed up with the Union Activities Board and Student Government to ensure that we do not have to pay for anything for Fridays on the Lawn (see coverage).

Personnel – As all spots on staff are filled; there has only been one recent addition to an unpaid position.

• Production Assistant: Caroline Gallagher

Legal/Ethical – On November 3, 2011 I had to deal with a potential stalking problem. A woman called in trying to reach a DJ concerning personal relationship information multiple times. I finally told her that if she called again we would report her to campus police for stalking.

Training – Our program director Mason Morris just attended the College Broadcasters, Inc. convention in Orlando, Florida with Jamie, Tyler, and other student leaders. He has come back with a lot of ideas to help us tailor our training sessions, and music selections.

I made a survey for recent trainees to fill out about the quality of training they received; a little over half of the trainees filled it out. Across the board, everyone answered they would have preferred more interaction between other trainees and more coverage of how to do a lot of the extra jobs at the station. This has brought us to re-evaluate the training class, add at least one week, and add elements of group work to the sessions.

All members of each department at WKNC were required to attend a departmental meeting with everyone who works in it and a professional or pseudo-professional. All music directors and assistants, as well as the librarian met with former music director, Kelly Reid on Nov. 1 and came up with some really great ideas for working together and called for another meeting to discuss matters further. Public Affairs met with Tyler Dukes while Production met with former general manager Brian Ware on Nov. 2. The Promotions department meets on Nov. 4 with Jen Lawrence, the Marketing Consultant for Independent Weekly. After compiling results from the meetings, a managerial meeting will be held with managing staff, the new Director of Student Media Advising and Jamie Lynn Gilbert.

Technology – We recently replaced our EAS (Emergency Alert System) Test box. It is much simpler (only one button) and automatically sends reports of when one is performed instead of having to keep a written log. This will save us a lot of time and will make keeping up with the weekly tests easier. Upon watching the changing of nitrogen gas tanks that flow to our tower, I am going to write up a proposal to move our nitrogen tanks from their location on the 10^th floor to a more accessible location on the 9^th floor. Currently, our engineers have to pull tanks down a flight of stairs manually in order for them to be replaced. This is even more dangerous than it sounds. I am looking into nitrogen practices in the chemistry and genetics department and taking note of those. I will be writing up a proposal and have it looked over by as many people as I can before sending it.

Coverage – WKNC will be providing an emcee for the homecoming parade and pep rally in November. This will help get our name out across the student body. WKNC had a table at the University Open House Oct 15. Despite the fact that the event boasts 9,000 attendees, our location in front of Witherspoon did not get such an amount of people. In fact, no one really walked by.

We are looking to interact with more facets of student media. Wolf TV will be coming to Local Band Local Beer and Fridays on the Lawn, and may be doing some stuff with live interviews. Our Underground music department is collaborating with Nubian Message, as well as using some other music reviews in Features of Technician. Windhover has been using our microphones for the open mic night and will be running promos on air along with Agromeck.

Fridays on the Lawn will be returning November 4 from with a partnership through Student Government and UAB. Lizzy Ross Band and Skylar Gudasz & the Ugly Girls will perform with free tacos and hats. Due to inclement weather, “Lawn” is Witherspoon 126. A big thanks to the African American Cultural Center for allowing us to use their space.

Deadlines – Lets look at the compensation policy that is a bit more tailored to the realities of the people we work with.

Wolf TV
submitted by Kenny Hertling, station manager

Revenue – No change

Personnel – Most of my staff has finished their paperwork. I have around 20 people on staff.

Training – No training has been undergone yet, but the advisers and I are planning a session.

Technology – My staff is using the technology that we have as effectively as possible.

Coverage – My staff tries to cover at least three projects a week. We have recently partnered with the features portion of Technician on two assignments and on Thursday we partnered with WKNC.

Deadlines – My staff has had few challenges meeting deadlines. The only problem is staff members having to drop assignments.

Ethics/Legal Issues – None as of yet.

Discussion Notes on Nubian Message letter to Technician

The discussion centered on a letter to Technician printed on the front page of the Nov. 2 Nubian Message. The letter was prompted by the Oct. 26 Technician featuring a photo depicting a racist remark in the Free Expression Tunnel and an Oct. 27 staff editorial. No one at Technician knew about the letter until after it was published in Nubian Message.

Technician editor Laura Wilkinson said she made the decision to run the photo in connection with a story on hate speech because it was relevant to the article. Agromeck editor Kathryn Glaser said she had considered running the photo in a yearbook spread on campus hate speech. Laura said the Technician editorial was incorrect in saying all speech is free speech, which she addressed with her staff and asked to be corrected before publication.

Nubian Message editor C.J. Guion said he felt the Technician editorial discouraged people to speak out against hate speech. Kathryn asked why an opinion article was on the front page, above the fold. C.J. said he chose to run the his letter to Technician on the front page to give it a “bigger impact.” The board said their concern with the letter was its placement in the most prominent position in the newspaper, not the content.