Following lunch at 11:30 a.m. at the Alumni Center, the Alumni Communications Advisory Board convened in the Board Room at 12:25 p.m., with opening comments by Charlotte Shepperd, Director of Alumni Communications, Alumni Association.  A packet of information was provided.

Communications Area Update

Shepperd gave an overview of the staff, equipment, and general production for the communications area.

Staff: The staff currently includes a communications assistant, two part-time Alumnus assistants, one graduate assistant, and two undergraduate assistants.

Equipment: The communications area is equipped with five Macintosh computers.  Primary software is PageMaker and other Adobe programs.  There are also a laser printer, a color printer, and two scanners.

General Production: The communications area annually produces more than 200 projects, ranging from fliers to brochures to event programs, for the Alumni Association in addition to the bi-monthly magazine, which is 40 pages, plus cover.

Other Publications

By way of comparison, Ed Shipley referred to a handout to review a list of major alumni publications as of June 2002.  Frequency, circulation, budget, and advertising were noted.  Ball State compares very well, he said, to others.  Frequency and circulation are greater than most, while budget remains conservatively in sync with others.  Ball State accepts advertising, but does not aggressively pursue it.

Ball State Alumnus

Production of the magazine costs $334,000 (plus salaries) annually and funding for the magazine is provided by the University, BSU Foundation, and the Alumni Association.

CS Kern has been the graphic design firm since 1997.  Since that partnership began the communications staff has worked with five graphic designers.  Sport Graphics in Indianapolis has printed the magazine since 1996.  Frank Hancock, President/CEO of Sport Graphics and an alumnus of Ball State, continues to work with us to use the most cost-efficient ways to produce and mail the magazine.  

Since the magazine format was introduced, 76 issues have been produced.  Both programming and staff have expanded.  In May 1998 the Alumnus first exceeded 100,000 in circulation.  It was in 1998 also that the magazine expanded by eight pages, four of them regularly dedicated to philanthropy topics.

The Alumnus is the only publication from the university that is sent to the entire mailing base on a regular basis, making it a very important product to promote Ball State.  The database continues to have about a 96 percent accuracy rate and the Alumnus plays a large role in that, as we use a “Change service request” on the magazine mailing in order to maintain good addresses.  There continues to be significant cooperation between the University and the Alumni Association to allow this to happen.

The circulation average as of March 2003 was 115,405.  The May issue of the magazine is scheduled to go to press Friday, April 18.

Sara Billups and Denise Greer presented an editorial review and preview of the magazine and referred to the Alumnus Editorial Calendar for future issues.

The topics list provides an overview of all issues since the magazine’s inception.  In addition to that, every issue is coded in the database, enabling the Association to have a record of every author and primary mention in the magazine.

Other Items

Shepperd said that as the communications staff looks to the future, there are plans to review and adjust format and design.  The board’s input is always welcomed, whether it relates to design thoughts or editorial ideas.  The board then provided an exchange of thoughts.

Holly Miller said that editorially the magazine continues to be sound and it will be good to pursue avenues to revise and update design.  She suggested that as the staff looks to layout and design, local designers might be invited to submit ideas.

For more visibility, Tom Farris asked about targeting businesses and key foundations by distributing copies of the magazine to them.  Currently copies of the Alumnus are distributed to local lodgings, other education institutions, professional development schools and, by request, a handful of individuals.  There was also discussion of sending copies to legislators with a cover letter to confirm interest.

The idea of including an “Everything You Need” department in the magazine was suggested.  The emphasis would be on promoting the university through its main marketing slogan.

With no further business remaining, the meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.