We are committed to embracing the “web first” concept as adopted by the university. This will allow information on events, professional accomplishments, and other subjects of note to be disseminated in a direct and complete manner to all related constituents.
Our primary goal is to tell prospective students how fantastic we all are and to make sure our current and former students are reminded of that. The most effective way of getting that information out is in this manner. And, in the case of events, a secondary goal is to inform the students and the public about what is offered.
To Suggest a News Item for...
Performances/Exhibits/Events
- If the event is part of any series—Sound Choices, Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, Music Theater, Kipp Gallery or University Museum—you should e-mail Kristen Koehler at kristen.koehler@iup.edu directly at least three weeks in advance.
- Your e-mail should include narrative information about the event/exhibit and any photos available. High resolution is preferred in case the photo needs to be printed.
- Any series event information submitted as a news item in a timely manner will also be mentioned in the Lively Arts' eLetter, sent an average of 1.5x a month.
Professional Activity or Student/Alumni Accomplishments
- A faculty or staff member having information about an upcoming non-series event should provide that information at least two weeks in advance directly on the “Suggest a News Item” link on each news page in their host department.
- Any faculty or staff wishing to share information about any other professional activity should also post this information through their department's “Suggest a News Item” feature.
- We also encourage posts regarding significant student and alumni accomplishments.
- Photos are encouraged and should be emailed to your department's web approver.
- Art Department News (primary approvers: Andy Gillham and Sue Palmisano)
- Music Department News (primary approver: Zach Collins)
- Theatre and Dance Department News (primary approver: Brian Jones)
Why News Posts are Important
- News posts are, to some degree, intended to publicize an event or broadcast a special accomplishment in a timely and effective manner. However, please understand that the greater purpose and effect of doing that is so that prospective students and their parents, alumni, and others see how much we are doing and how proud we all are in our work.
- The news posts remain in archive for at least two years so that people can go back and look at what is and was happening. So, if that prospective top high school student or their parent wants to know what types of activities in which they will be involved or who active the faculty and students are, they will drill down on the website and see what they have in store for them. If they look and don't see anything at IUP but do see a lot at some other institution, then the latter school could easily get the nod.
- In the case of an alumnus or a person who may want to donate to a department or program, a collection of impressive news posts could easily tip them our way. The posts also serve as a resource for anyone soliciting potential donors.
- All news posts are also included in IUP Daily, with some also included in the daily student e-mail newsletter, the Beak. With that, it also often will be posted in various social media sites by IUP and the Lively Arts. This can result in literally thousands of views.
- News posts are the source for various reports, such as the Fine Arts annual report, dean's report, etc. To be sure to have your professional activity included, you need to submit your information through “Suggest a New Item.”
A Super Quick “How To”
Information on professional development and scholarly activity must be posted on the appropriate department's news page. Simply go to your department's main page and click the “News” menu item in the far right shadowed navigation column (see direct links below). This will look a little different if your department/area is using the newer template.- Information on events should be sent, with at least one photograph if available, directly to Kristen Koehler at kristen.koehler@iup.edu.
- Once on the News page of any department for professional activity news, click the “Suggest a News Item” link at the top of the right column.
- After clicking the “Suggest…” link, you will be asked to log into the “CMS Login.” Enter the same username and password you use to start up your computer (not necessarily your e-mail password). If you are off campus, you will need to have a VPN connection. For more information on setting up a VPN connection, visit the IT Support Center website.
- Complete the form and submit.
- Your web approver for your department/area will receive an automatic message that a news item has been submitted. Once that approver has looked at it, edited as necessary, and submitted it to the Digital Team, it should appear live on the IUP website within 24 to 36 hours. If you do not see it, contact your Web approver directly.
- Note on photos: Although you cannot submit photos through the “Suggest” form, they can often be included in the news post, and at least one graphic is highly recommended. If you have a good photo, please e-mail it separately to your department's Web approver. It is preferred that you send pictures at a maximum width of 200 pixels, 72dpi. If you do not know how to do this, you can e-mail the picture as is, and your approver will handle if time allows. However, resizing may take some time to process. The Digital Team site contains an easy, Web-based way to resize photos.
- More complete step-by-step instructions on this process are available on the Digital Team website.