Leslie TillmanSeniorGraphic Design3.36 GPA
My job as a designer and Managing Editor for the University Press will help me to lead the University Press. Through my experiences at the UP, I’ve learned the budget and distribution systems, as well as the design and managing aspects involved in producing the paper. I’ve also learned valuable lessons in regards to managing people, time, and projects. I participated in the New Student Edition and was the leader of the Spring Break Issue. I understand the importance of meeting deadlines, and the effect that missing deadlines has on the team and the production of the paper. I also have come to learn that organizing people is both difficult and necessary for the production of a high quality product. I understand that favoring the Boca campus and neglecting the other six campuses hinders the development of the paper. Reaching out to the other campuses enhances the number of writers and events covered by the UP, which provides more opportunities for students on all campuses.
A major strength of the University Press is that we currently have a committed core staff, who are willing to do extra and help each other out. This core staff works hard, and remain interested and concerned with the daily happenings at the UP. They work together on a weekly basis to ensure the quality of the paper. A major weakness is that we lack non-management staff, with the exception of photographers. We have few paid staff writers. Without more staff writers we cannot increase content, and coverage of events. Non-paid staff writers generally are less willing to write about anything that they are not really interested in, leaving less popular, but still important subjects to senior staff. Management has to double the duties that other staff should be doing. This makes management less effective and monopolizes their time.
The most important goal I would like to accomplish as Editor of the University Press is to improve the quality of the paper by self-evaluation and having outside professionals come to critique the paper. Since I have been working here, the UP has been stagnant, if not regressing in some areas. I feel that the staff and the paper itself would benefit greatly from serious critiques. The current staff would be open and would appreciate being helped by each other and professionals.
Changes I would like to make to improve the internal workings of the UP include: Increasing the staff, improving the quality of writing and design through critiques and workshops, increasing readership and creating a more efficient communication system. University Press would run more efficiently if we had a larger staff. In order to acquire a larger staff, we need to continue to speak to classes (as Kelly did during the Fall semester) and breezeway days to advertise the paper. We should also attend more FAU functions to promote the paper as well as be a more active FAU agency outside the office, which will stimulate interest in the University Press.
The role of the University Press in the FAU community is to publish a free newspaper geared towards FAU students and their interests. The UP also has a responsibility to highlight the accomplishments and awards received by FAU students and staff, as well as cover and expose any news worthy circumstances. The UP is also responsible for covering and advertising any FAU club events when requested. It is the UP’s role to report on events and occurrences that are relevant to FAU students, which they may not find out about elsewhere. The UP should provide willing students with opportunities to write and work for the newspaper, so that they can gain knowledge and work experience. Our role is also to provide listings and news to keep students up to date with FAU schedules and events, as well as lesser-known facts.
Lauren HalperinPresidentTable For Two Magazine561-361-7805
