College Park Editorial Policy

Description. University magazine for alumni, donors and friends, published three times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring). Circulation: 60,000, with occasional mailing to all alumni (150,000) or special audiences (parents, students, targeted alumni groups). Number of pages: 64, distributed between features, departments and alumni news.
The purpose of the magazine is to provide the reader with a stimulating extension of the university environment that will engage, inform and entertain, and to show the many ways in which the university and its alumni contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of the human condition.
The goal of the magazine is to provide a strong and consistent sense of the university's mission as the state's flagship university, and to maintain an interactive communication with alumni and friends to the end of generating interest and involvement in the university.
Editorial Tone. Our paramount concern is to engage the reader, always keeping in mind the ways the subject and the reader might connect. As the voice of the university, the magazine must create a provocative, stimulating, and thoughtful dialogue with the reader; and provide a variety of perspectives and voices that reflects the dynamism and diversity of the university community.
Departments. Devoted to short articles, interesting facts or recent developments in one of several areas:
1. First Word (Editor's Letter): provides rationale for issue;
2. Perspective (President's Letter): addresses the mission, new initiatives and sense of direction of the university from a leadership perspective;
3. New and Observed: General news about the campus; changes, initiatives, faculty achievements; new programs, grants or administrative policies;
4. Explorations: Research news; discoveries, inventions/patents; profile of a principal investigator/research program;
5. Aspirations: News and events related to private giving; major gifts, planned giving, annual fund, giving societies;
6. In Bounds: Sports news, both revenue and non-revenue, intramural and recreational;
7. Portfolio: Cultural news, publications, performances, art shows;
8. Noteworthy: Stories about alumni involved with the university;
9. Impressions: A last page dedicated to creative achievement by faculty, staff or students at the university.
Features. In general, there are four features, two to four of which may relate to a theme of broad and general interest. Length of features ranges from 2,500 to 3,500 words.
Publishing Calendar. Issues are planned for delivery during the second weeks of October, February, and June during the fiscal period July 1 through June 30. Manuscript deadlines generally fall on July 15, October 15, and March 1 for those issues.
Manuscripts. Solicited manuscripts will be judged first for reader interest, accuracy and writing quality. Manuscripts must reflect the university's involvement in the subject. The editor reserves the right to request rewrite, reject, and/or edit for length, organization, sense, grammar, and punctuation.
The publisher reserves first North American publishing rights to all solicited material as well as the right to reuse the printed piece in full or in part in other print or electronic formats. The publisher requires that resale of any manuscript in its original form or as revised by the author be delayed by six months after the manuscript appears in the university magazine, and not be sold in the publisher's market (I.e., higher education or Baltimore-Washington market).
Manuscripts submitted by staff are the exclusive property of the publisher for one year, after which they may be released to the author for further placement.
Manuscripts must be submitted to the editor on or before the designated due date in clean draft form, double=spaced, spell-checked, in hard copy and on a 3.5" disc, in WordPerfect 6.0, Windows, or WordPerfect 3.0 (MAC). Hard copy must be generated on a good quality printer. Pages must be numbered, and the slug must include the following information:

File Name:
Subject:
Word Count:
Byline:
Contact Number:

The editor reserves the right to request treatment outlines, precis, or other preliminary material to ensure that the writer is meeting the editorial purpose of the assignment.
Style. AP style is followed for punctuation, capitalization, italics and quotations. In addition, a University Style Sheet defines usages for naming of the institution, treatment of academic titles and degrees, etc.
Photography and Illustration. All solicited photography and illustration will be judged first for technical quality and editorial appropriateness. The editor and art director reserve the right to request revision or reject any material that does not meet their criteria. The publisher reserves full rights to all solicited photography and illustration, including the right to reprint or reuse graphic material in other university print material or electronic formats.
Fees. Articles, photography and illustration solicited from freelancers will be compensated on a sliding scale dependent on the length and complexity of the assignment and the professional qualifications of the contractee. No advance fees in full or in part will be authorized.
Kill fees will be paid for completed or partially completed work that is rejected by the client for any reason, provided that the work meets the terms agreed upon and is submitted before deadline. The amount will be based on the original fee and the degree of completion, but will not exceed 1/2 of originally agreed upon fee. Articles and other materials that are not received by deadline will not be compensated.
Articles solicited from faculty, staff or alumni of the University of Maryland are not generally compensated.
Complimentary Copies. Each contributor may request up to five copies of the published magazine for personal use. Additional copies will be available at the market value of the magazine, contingent on availability.
Copyright and Reprint. The publisher reserves all rights to published material, including photographs, art, and text, with the exception of stipulations noted in Item #7. Reprint in full by permission only. Quotations and excerpts must be accompanied by credit to the magazine and author/artist. Credit should read:

By permission of College Park magazine, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.

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