The following guidelines are provided to assist Student Affairs departments with marketing projects and communications. For questions, please contact Debra Williams.
Need to get a feature in a future edition of Bear Buzz?
- Published each Monday, Bear Buzz is the source for Division-wide news, including administrative appointments, events, happenings and policy changes that affect the Student Affairs community. Check out these guidelines for story submissions.
- Generally, Bear Buzz is for staff information; events and programming for students should be featured in WUGO, the students’ event calendar
- Stories should be submitted using the on-line submission form
- Submissions must be in before noon on the Friday preceding the next issue’s publication
- Please keep your story brief (under 150 words) and, if possible, the link to the full story featured on your website
- Generally, attachments will not be included in the newsletter, but links to your website are welcome
- All submissions are subject to approval by the Bear Buzz editor
- The editor reserves the right to edit items for length, style, clarity and consistency
Content
- Is the event name/title clear?
- Is a time, location, and date clearly stated?
- Are there no spelling/grammar errors?
- Is it clear that this event/department is Student Affairs?
- Is there a clear “call to action” or other language to tell the recipient what we’d like them to do?
- Is a URL included? If so, does the link work?
- Is the URL listed as the “students” website? Or is it an old URL with a redirect?
- Are titles, degrees, building names, addresses and other usage compliant with the guidelines in the Public Affairs Style Manual?
Nomenclature
- Is either the official name or the nickname used correctly?
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Official name: Washington University in St. Louis
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Nickname: WashU
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- Are department names listed in full in the first instance and then abbreviations or acronyms used thereafter? Example: “The Office of Scholar Programs (OSP) provides…” then “OSP welcomes students…”
Voice (should be active, open, confident, and inclusive)
- Is active voice used? Example: instead of using “A survey will be distributed at the event,” use “Staff will distribute a survey…”
- Are facts presented clearly?
- Is the writing intelligent and accessible?
Logos
- Are university-approved logos used?
- Are the logos not manipulated in any way?
- Not squeezed/stretched or distorted out of proportion
- Not pixilated or too small for the intended usage
- Nothing added above, below or around the logo
- No color changes to the logo
- Is there adequate clear space around the logo?
- Is there only one logo per page?
- Is the logo the appropriate size for the page? (not too large)
- Have partnership or sponsorship logos been used correctly?
- If the shield is used alone, is it the correct (opened or closed) shield?
- If the shield appears smaller than one inch, the closed shield should be used (with stars and fleurs-de-lis filled in)
- If the shield appears larger than one inch, the open shield should be used
Photography
- Is the photography owned by WashU or otherwise licensed for our usage?
- Is the photograph of real life WashU people?
- Is the photography of professional quality?
- Is the photography not manipulated in any way?
- Not squeezed/stretched or distorted out of proportion
- Not pixilated or too small for the intended usage
- Is the photo well-lit and sharp so that all people in it can be seen clearly?
- Is the document not over-crowded with too many photos?
Colors
- Have university-approved primary and secondary color palettes been used?
- Is the text legible (if given a color or presented on a color background)?
Typefaces
- Are the university approved typefaces used?
- Libre Baskerville
- Source Sans Pro
- Rockwell
- You can download free versions of the first two fonts
- Note: Rockwell may already be included with your system or is available for purchase at the same link
- Are lower- and upper-case letters used? (not all uppercase)
- Do columns of text use “left justified/ragged right” to improve readability?
Overall
- Does the document look like it belongs to/comes from WashU and Student Affairs?