Thanks to Karen Underwood and Ashley Washburn for this update on university-wide communication tools. . .
Many of us coordinate meetings and events that we need to publicize to faculty, staff and students. The University Communications office has provided tools to help us reach a campus-wide audience. Anyone can submit items for consideration on UNL Events, the Today@UNL e-mail announcements and the UNL Today website. UNL Events is the master calendar of campus events. Today@UNL and UNL Today feature breaking news, features and items of interest about university programs, departments, faculty and staff.
UNL Events
Entering an event here is the first step to promote an event. The master calendar is accessible to the campus community and the general public. University Communications strongly encourages event organizers to submit information as soon as the event date is selected so others scheduling campus-wide events are aware of potential conflicts.
Click on Submit an Event and log in using your My.UNL user name and password. Your user name is the alias of your e-mail address in lowercase (e.g., jdoe2). Your default password is the eight-digit NU ID number found on the lower left side of your NCard.
When submitting an event, check the buttons labeled “Public” and “Please consider the event for the main calendar.” Both buttons must be selected for University Communications to view the entry and approve it for the calendar. The approval process may take a day or two.
Today@UNL
The Today@UNL e-mail announcements for faculty and staff are published and delivered Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. This service replaces the weekly E-News announcements and features upcoming events, day-of events and news about faculty and student successes. Deadlines for Today@UNL are noon the day prior for late-breaking news items. University Communications recommends submitting event items two weeks before the deadline. Generally, advances or “previews” for events further than one week in advance will not be featured until closer to the event. Editors will determine the timing and placement of stories based on news judgment and the newsletter’s objectives.
Go to the UNL Newsroom and log in using your My.UNL account to submit a News Announcement or an Event Announcement. If your event is on the UNL Calendar, enter the date and use the pull-down menu to choose the name of the event. From there, use the form fields to write a headline, summary and full article, upload an accompanying photo or graphic, and enter the event website. Remember, these are news articles. Write in full sentences and avoid outlines or bullet points. Use a personal, yet professional, tone and avoid “ad-speak” or promotional language.
Students receive a weekly e-newsletter, Next@Nebraska, on Sunday evening. The UNL Newsroom enables users to send the same announcement to faculty, staff and students by selecting the Today@UNL and Next@Nebraska options before submitting. In some cases, however, you may want to write a custom message for students and create a separate entry in the UNL Newsroom. Plan to submit student announcements two weeks in prior to the deadline because students do not receive the daily Today@UNL newsletter.
Contact Kelly Bartling, manager of news, 472-2059, or Troy Fedderson, Scarlet and Today@UNL editor, 472-8515, with questions about Today@UNL and Next@Nebraska.
UNL Today
UNL Today is the default page that on-campus users see when visiting unl.edu and contains daily events and general news items. This is an important resource for day-of-event publicity. If you enter your meeting or event on the UNL Calendar or through Today@UNL, University Communications will consider featuring it on UNL Today. Contact Aaron Coleman, assistant web developer, 472-0072, with questions about submitting information for UNL Today.
