The Office of Public Affairs has announced that the Record, which currently is distributed in both print and digital formats, will go entirely digital and be distributed electronically five days a week in January 2010.
“This is both environmentally and fiscally responsible,” said M. Fredric Volkmann, vice chancellor for public affairs. “When the process is completed, the University will realize significant reduction in paper, postage, printing costs and need for recycling. Digital communication with the WUSTL community will be more timely and expedient.”
Plans are moving forward to convert the Record to a Web site-based publication that will be distributed five-days-per-week via e-mail.
The print Record has been a source of Washington University news and information since 1974, after a decades-long hiatus following its first edition in 1905.
Because WUSTL has both centralized and decentralized environments through the Central Fiscal Unit and the schools, respectively, the mission of the Record always has been open and thorough communication to help faculty, students and staff feel as if they belong to and contribute to the success of a single community.
The Record is the medium for recognizing the activities, research and achievements of individuals and units across all campuses, and that will continue under an electronic format.
The print Record has been distributed 35 times per year via campus mail to approximately 14,000 readers and by U.S. mail to about 6,000 readers. It has been augmented since September 2006 by a twice-weekly electronic version that is sent to approximately 25,000 faculty, staff and students as well as parents and other friends of the University by request.
In 2010, the much-improved digital format will allow more timely coverage of events, a more comprehensive calendar and more convenient formats for users of mobile devices.
The electronic Record now reaches more readers than the print version, and there is significant overlap between the two. The conversion to an all-digital, improved format will require developing, installing and testing a new Web site. It also will improve connectivity across the many e-mail platforms at the University.
The last issue of the print Record will be Dec. 10, 2009. The Record will resurface in its all-digital format when classes resume in January.
The Record staff will continue to be led by Susan Killenberg McGinn, executive director of Danforth Campus communications, whose WUSTL career began as Record editor in 1983. Editor Leslie Gibson McCarthy continues, as does associate editor Neil Schoenherr and assistant editor Jessica Daues. Beth Miller remains as medical news editor.