College
Student Publications Board
This
information is from Major Facts, the student handbook. The information
printed is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. However, this
does not preclude the possibility of changes taking place during
the academic year. Any changes will be updated on this website.
Student publications and the student press help establish
and maintain an atmosphere of free and responsible discussion
and of intellectual exploration on the campus. They bring
student concerns to the attention of the Millsaps community
and help formulate student opinion on various issues.
Since financial and legal autonomy are not possible at Millsaps,
heads of publications should be aware that the College, as
publisher of student publications, may have to bear legal
responsibility for the contents of publications. In delegating
editorial responsibility to students, Millsaps College provides
sufficient editorial freedom and financial autonomy for student
publications to maintain their integrity of purpose as vehicles
for free inquiry and free expression in an academic community.
At the same time, the editorial freedom of student editors
and managers entails corollary
responsibilities to be governed by the rules of responsible
journalism, such as the avoidance of libel,
indecency, undocumented allegations, attacks on the personal
integrity and the techniques of harassment and innuendo.
Editorialists and reporters should pursue the facts and present
them as objectively as possible. As standards for the editorial
freedom of student publications, the following provisions
are necessary:
Policies and Responsibilities of the College Student Publications
Board
The board shall be composed of: (1) three faculty members
appointed through the regular appointment procedure for
College committees for the duration of the academic year;
(2) five
students appointed by the Student Body Association Officers
for a one year term to correspond with the academic year;
(3) the Dean of Students; (4) the Dean of the College;
(5) the SBA treasurer, and (6) the Director of Student
Publications.
Appointed members shall serve for one year but can reapply
for up to three years. The editors of the Bobashela, P&W
and Stylus shall be ex-officio nonvoting members of the
Board. Voting board members shall not hold a regular staff
position
on any of the publications. The advisers of the publications
will be voting members of the Board, with the provision
that they must recuse themselves from any vote in which
they have
a conflict of interest.
I. The Board will choose each year cochairs from among its
appointed student and faculty members. It is the responsibility
of these chairpeople to convene meetings and prepare agendas.
The student chair is responsible for organizational and logistical
issues, and the faculty chair shall assume an advisory role.
The Director of Student Publications will act as secretary
to record minutes and keep a file of relevant material, including
general policies, budgets, inventories, staff manuals and
the like. At its first meeting of the academic year, the
Board shall adopt a calendar setting out a meeting schedule
and a timetable for major activities such as selecting editors.
II. The Board sets general policy for each student publication
and establishes guidelines for each publication to follow
in complying with general policy.
The editor of each publication shall draft a statement of
general policy and appropriate guidelines to be reviewed
by the board. The board will give guidance, advice and
assistance in following the guidelines and in complying with
the general
policy.
Each publication is required to have an adviser.
The Board will encourage editors and advisers to arrange
local workshops for staff of the publications and to attend
conferences and workshops whenever possible and appropriate.
III. The Board will set the qualifications for the editors
of each publication and will select the individuals to fill
these positions.
The Board will advertise the positions each year, setting
the deadline for applications, the requirements and obligations
of the position, and the procedure for selection.
Each applicant must submit a letter of application, a statement
of qualifications, a statement of goals for the position
and letters of recommendation as required. The applicant
must also acknowledge that she/he has read, understood,
and agrees to abide by these guidelines. The positions will
be filled by the Board on the basis of
letters of application and supporting statements, formal
interview with the applicants, appropriate recommendations,
pertinent experience (preferably on the appropriate Millsaps
publication), and general qualifications (GPA, writing
or appropriate technical ability, leadership ability, journalism
coursework, administrative experience and familiarity with
the Millsaps community).
IV. The Board will approve the budget for each publication
and will submit the budget requests to the appropriate funding
source for its action.
Each editor will submit a proposed operating budget for the
publication to the Board by the beginning of the school year.
The Board will determine the final budget for each publication
and submit the budget to the Dean of Students for appropriate
action.
If the budget is not approved, the Board, after appropriate
consultation, will submit a revised budget.
Any unbudgeted or unusual expenditures or purchases or any
spending over the budgeted amount must be approved in advance
by the Board. Should the Board become convinced a publication
needs money in addition to the budgeted amount, the board
will request additional funds through appropriate channels.
The editors of the P&W and the Bobashela will submit
to the Board for approval requests for capital expenditures
from their respective Capital Improvements Accounts.
V.
The Board will review the operations of all student publications.The
Board may review and make recommendations concerning
the editorial content of the publication only after publication,
not prior to publication.
The Board may review and make recommendations
concerning the staff policy and procedure should
problems arise that
the editor and advisor cannot resolve, but the
Board should not involve itself in the ordinary
operation of the publications.
The Board should review the financial operation
of the publications and will audit periodically
the financial records of the
publications and take inventories of all equipment.
Editors and staff members of the various publications
will not be reprimanded, suspended or removed
because of student,
faculty or administrative disapproval of
the subject matter of a particular news story or
editorial.
However, editors
and reporters are expected to meet certain
journalistic responsibilities as outlined in the Society
of
Professional Journalists statement
of journalism ethics, including the following.
These responsibilities shall include:
VI. A responsibility to provide news and information
to the public for which they are writing. In
this instance, that
is a responsibility to provide news and information
of campus events, in addition to other news deemed
important.
VII. A responsibility to print only accurate,
documented information. If inaccurate information
is printed and the
inaccuracy is brought to the attention of the
editor, a correction shall be run in the next
issue.
VIII. A responsibility to give balanced
coverage to all issues in the publication’s
news pages. If the information is opinion
and not fact, it should be labeled
as such (i.e.,
a column, analysis, or editorial).
IX. A responsibility to be free of conflicts
of interest.
X. A responsibility to remain within the standards
of good taste and decency. This applies
both to editorial and advertising
content. The maintenance of journalistic
standards will be the responsibility of the publication’s
editorial board, which is composed of that publication’s
editors. The members of the editorial board must
agree
on the acceptability, with
regard to the
journalistic standards of SPJ, of any
item to be printed. The adviser to the
publication
will participate in these
discussions in an advisory and educational
capacity to help the editors understand
their ethical and legal responsibilities.
The Board will review complaints, filed in writing,
from staff members of the publications,
members of the student
body, student government, the faculty
and the administration. If the Board investigates and
determines that issues raised
by the complaints have merit, the Board
may take appropriate remedial action, including the reprimand,
removal or replacement
of editors, managers or staff members.
The Board may remove an editor, manager or staff
member for failure to maintain journalistic
standards, for fiscal mismanagement,
or for being placed on academic or disciplinary
probation by the College.
XI. All student publications should explicitly
state on the editorial page that the opinions
expressed are not necessarily
those of the College or student body. The publications
shall explicitly state that complaints may be
directed to the Publications
Board and the names of the Board co-chairs shall
be listed.
THE GUIDELINES OF THE PUBLICATIONS BOARD
RECOGNIZE THE BOARD’S
OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
IN THIS AREA TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF
THE COLLEGE. THE PUBLICATIONS BOARD,
THEREFORE,
IS RESPONSIBLE TO THE PRESIDENT, WHO
IN TURN IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE TO
THE BOARD
OF TRUSTEES.
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