PURPOSE:

To identify official publications and communications either printed or electronic for OU-COM and their review and approval. 

POLICY:

An official publication or communication is one that is produced in the name of the college rather than an individual.  All official publications and communications either printed or electronic form will be reviewed and approved by the Office of Communication. 

To further clarify, an official publication/communication – whether in electronic or print form - is one which meets one or more of the following criteria:

1. Requires the use – at College expense – of typesetting and/or printing services.

2. Requires the use – at College expense – of web design and/or content management services;

3. Will be viewed by its intended audiences representing the official policies or views of the College or one or more of its constituent parts; and

4. Is aimed at a major outside constituency that is vital to the administrative aims of the College (e.g., patients, Ohio D.O.s, alumni, parents of students, etc.).

Publications which satisfy the above definition are to be approved by the Director of Communication (or by the Dean’s designate) prior to publication.  Once the publication is approved for productions, the Office of Communication may participate at differing levels – from consultation through total production.  The greatest level of involvement will be for those publications which serve a specific education/public relations need and address College-wide issues.

Here are some examples in each of these two categories:

Print:  The college catalog, viewbook, Facts and Figures brochure, Explore the CORE newsletter and The Ohio D.O. magazine are all examples of, but are not limited to, official publications/communications.  Individual scholarly papers written for outside journals are not covered by this policy.

Electronic:  Tier I (as identified in the web policy 9.06) OU-COM’s web publications/communications are official publications under this definition.  These would include, but are not necessarily limited to such topics as admissions, student issues, alumni information, college policies & procedures, general information for a public audience, college events and college calendars.  An individual faculty member’s web page about his or her classes or research activities is not covered by this policy.

ADDITIONAL ISSUES:

1. This policy does not supercede University Policy & Procedures 31.010, entitled “Publication of Periodicals Distributed to Off-campus Audiences.”  In the event of a conflict between this document and 31.010, the University policy will govern.

2. All web pages hosted on central College web servers will be backed up on a regular basis, by ISIT according to standard industry practices;  web authors will keep back ups of their current web pages.

3. This policy may apply to email communications if it meets the above criteria for external audiences.

4. This policy may not apply to e-mail communication via the OU-COM Exchange system, if this involves e-mail from one individual to another or a broadcast email, about college business by a COM student, faculty member of administrator to All-Exchange or a subset thereof.

Last updated: 12/31/2009