The following guidelines are provided to assist Student Affairs departments with marketing projects and communications. For questions, please contact Debra Williams.

Bear Buzz newsletter guidelines

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
Criteria for approving artwork

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?
    • Official name: Washington University in St. Louis

    • Nickname: WashU

  • 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?
  • 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?