Ronald C. Smith III ($mitty)Junior Communications/Political ScienceGPA: 2.441
Describe any academic, professional, and/or extracurricular experiences that qualify you to lead the University Press.
I feel that I am a strong candidate for editor because of my many academic, professional and extracurricular experiences. First, my academic experiences have come from my semesters at this institution. At the end of last semester, I completed my core English classes, Government of the United States, Mass Communication Theory, Public Opinion, Media Culture Studies, and Small Groups Processes.
The knowledge that I gained from the Government in the United States course has enabled me to better understand the workings of our local, state, and national government. This will better enable me to write stories that have ties between FAU and the local and state governments. One such example is the dome stadium that will be coming onto campus. We will need funding from a local, if not a state level to help build the stadium. Because I understand some of the workings of the government, I will be able to write the story in a more knowledgably way.
In addition, Small Groups Processes is a class where you learn how to manage groups of people in a professional setting. It teaches you how to be a good leader, how to keep group members happy while still keeping the task in mind, and also teaches you how to handle a “black sheep,” or someone who always disagrees with the general majority. This class will undoubtedly help me to become a better leader and become better prepared to be not only the editor, but a good leader for the University Press.
Those are just two of my academic classes that I think will better prepare me to be the next editor.
My extracurricular experiences are unparalleled to any other candidate. I was the Director of Athletics for Student Government from the summer of 2002 to May of 2004. During those two years, I have learned how to appeal to students, faculty, staff, and the administration. I have also had to handle many situations where the administration wasn’t happy with a particular decision, or a particular practice. In addition, I also understand how Student Government operates, which is very important to creating a positive partnership with this years administration.
While I was D.O.A., I managed a budget effectively and was never was deemed fiscally irresponsible from the administration that I worked with. Also, I have volunteered for Owl TV, Owl Radio, and the Athletic Department. Furthermore, I also served as a Boca Raton Senator for almost two semesters, I am very familiar with the other campuses, and I have a positive relationship with the other campus Student Governments and campus administrations. This will help the University Press grow on the other campuses.
My professional experience was always accompanied with hard work at school and extracurricular activities. While being Senior Class President, I also was one of the leading cashiers for The Home Depot. I say leading cashier because I would frequently be pulled off of the registers and placed on the floor to help customers, put at the customer service desk to handle disgruntled customers, or even put at the door selling roof instillations. They offered me the Assistant Manager position, which would have made me the youngest in the nation; however, I had to decline because I choose to attend college.
In addition, I was a lifeguard for this past summer. This is relevant because I can handle pressure situations in a professional way, and I am capable of thinking very fast on my feet. I was able to recognize a problem, quickly identify a solution, and take steps to execute that solution. This is relevant to the University Press, because if there is ever a problem that needs to be fixed right away, i.e. The Boca News, Student Government concerns, I know that I will be able to think of a quick solution and work towards it.
Describe a major strength and a major weakness of the University Press this semester. Cite specific examples to support your claims.
To begin, I would like to talk about a major weakness of the University Press this semester. The University Press missed several stories last semester; and the ones that we didn’t miss, we were late to print.
Student Government, along with Student Affairs and select faculty members, voted to allocate close to $7million in Capital Improvement Trust Fund money to a new recreation and wellness center. I learned about the allocation around September 23rd. As soon as I heard about the news, I instantly began interviewing committee members, and printed the story as soon as possible. However, the money was allocated at the end of summer. The story was almost a month old when it finally came out to print. Why didn’t the University Press cover the story earlier?
In addition, another story that the University Press didn’t cover was the construction in the gym. This would have been a great story to run since students use the gym as a place to play ping pong, basketball, volleyball, etc. I didn’t cover this story because by the time I became sports editor, the gym was already completed. Moreover, the senior project for the engineering students is building an all natural building. This building will be the first of its kind, and the University Press didn’t cover the story.
Although no one notified the University Press about these stories, that does not excuse the University Press from going out and finding the information. As Sports Editor, I made sure to contact the Athletic Department and keep in constant contact with them. If I heard of a rumor, a possible story, or just news in general, I made sure to contact them, confirm the reports, and write a story when possible. One example of this was the possible move of Craig Angelos, our Athletic Director, to BYU. As soon as I got wind of the rumor, I made sure to contact him and ask him about it. I did further research and found out that it was just speculation. The University Press needs to be more aggressive and go out and find stories as opposed to stories finding the University Press.
Of course, there have been positive things that the University Press has accomplished this year. The one I would like to focus on is our teamwork. The University Press can not function unless we all function together towards a common goal. First, the hurricanes. When the school was shut down for two different hurricanes, the University Press staff, as a whole, stepped up to the plate and was able to complete both issues that were threatened by the hurricanes. Many staff members went to another location to complete one of the issues, which is a perfect example of everyone working together to complete the issue on time. This includes, but is not limited to, Andy, who was pointed out specifically in a staff meeting for doing a fantastic job.
Another example of the exceptional teamwork at the University Press these past two semesters is our willingness to help our new staff members. Coming into the semester with two new editor-in-chiefs, four new section editors, and many new staff writers and designers, we had to pull together as a team and teach the new staff members the ropes.
Furthermore, the University Press printed sports stories during the fall semester the same week they happened. Thanks to the wonderful teamwork, our photo editor was able to upload the pictures he took of the football games onto the server on Sunday morning and I was able to turn in an article on Sunday by noon so that the copy desk and design team could do their work and put it in the issue. Our football team was very happy to see this change. Some have approached me showing their gratitude for this change, and others were excited to see their pictures from only a few days ago in the paper for thousands of students to see. Scott did a fantastic job laying out the sports section, Ralph submitted great photos, and because of this teamwork, the sports section shined week in and week out.
Finally, I think that the actions taken by our Student Government against the University Press helped bring the staff closer together then ever before. We all learned a lot; especially what our rights are as journalists, and we will be able to apply that in many real life situations. Moreover, we did everything as a team, and we were able to persevere through it all.
Describe the most important goal you want to accomplish as editor, and detail exactly how you will do so.
The most important goal that I have as editor is helping the staff accomplish their individual goals for their sections and themselves. Without a good staff, I can not be a good editor. If a particular staff members goal is to become a writer for a local newspaper, then I would like to bring in writers from local newspapers, not only to help us become better journalists, but to help that staff member make a contact in the industry.
If the goal of the Associate Editor is to have more cover stories with material concerning the other campuses, then I will help facilitate a meeting between the other campuses and the Associate Editor and possibly submit some ideas for cover stories.
If the Promotions Director wants to recruit 50 new writers, then I will help the Promotions Director make a plan and execute that plan towards obtaining his/her goal. This may include going to classrooms, emailing communication majors, etc.
As editor, what measures will you take to ensure the University Press covers every FAU campus?
Covering every FAU campus is something that I feel very strongly about. With my experience in SGA, I feel that I am the candidate that will best serve the other campuses as editor.
A perfect example is my continuing efforts to find an editor for the Broward and Jupiter campuses. As soon as the positions were vacated, I immediately contacted the respective officials on the campuses and asked them to assist with the search.
I will stay in constant contact with Governor Monroe, Governor Coltea and Governor Marshall for ideas on what the University Press could write about. I will also stay in contact with Student Affairs and other administrators on the campus for ideas on what the University Press should inform students on other campuses about. This may include the construction of a new building, the addition of classes, or possibly the partnership with a local business that FAU students would benefit from.
As editor, what measures will you take to recruit, train, and retain University Press staff? Be specific.
As editor, I will recruit writers, train writers, and retain them. As the interim Promotions Director, I planned a successful breezeway day in which we recruited new writers and new readers. We handed out close to 300 papers and the photo spread we had that issue of the past football game drew new attention. I had two other breezeway days planned, but the Hurricanes forced the cancellation of these breezeway days.
I have already attended three classes this semester and attempted to recruit in those classes. We have one person who has already applied to be a copy editor.
To help train new staff members, I would like to have somewhat of a shadowing program, where outgoing staff will help train incoming staff. Each section editor will choose an assistant editor for their section which they will train and get them ready to take over the section if the section editor leaves. I am currently doing this with our sports editor, Pump, and he seems to be learning quickly. Retention is something that isn’t only a problem for the University Press, but is a problem for FAU as a whole. Although raising pay is always a quick way to build staff morale, it always isn’t the answer. Instead, I would like to institute a Staff Member of the Month. This Staff Member of the Month will be voted on by the staff at the last meeting of every month. A monetary reward will be given to the selected staff member. If the money for some reason can not come out of the University Press allocation, then I will have no problem with taking it out of my paycheck. Remember, behind every good editor is an even better staff. I will also attract new readers. I would like to have our photo team take pictures of random students and ask them some general information about them. If those students know that they will be in the University Press they will pick up the paper and their friends will pick up the paper too. This could also help recruit new staff members. Ralph is doing this currently, and it seems to be working well.
