University of Michigan Board for Student Publications
Minutes of the August 25, 2014 Board Meeting
Board members present: Steve Kagan, Co-Chair, Terry Kosdrosky, Co-Chair, Alan Broad, Neil Chase, Cindy Goodaker,
Steve Henderson, Cliff Lampe and Peter Mooney
Board members teleconferencing: none
Board members absent: David Hawkins
The Michigan Daily was represented by: Peter Shahin (teleconferencing) and Doug Solomon
The Michiganensian was represented by: Ally Kane
The Gargoyle was represented by: Phil Wachowiak
SHEI Magazine was represented by: Danni Xia (teleconferencing)
The Student Publications Staff was represented by: Mark Bealafeld (teleconferencing), Kathy Ciesinski and Sarah Paspal
Others Present: None
Co-chair Terry Kosdrosky called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Everyone introduced themselves.
Minutes
A motion was made by Steve to approve the minutes of the April 21, 2014 Board Meeting; this was seconded by Neil
and passed without dissent.
Public Comments
None.
The Gargoyle
Phil told the Board that there are University events that groups can work for compensation and they have signed up
for a couple of these. They are prepared for Festifall. Kathy mentioned that she’s been discussing reducing the page
counts and issues printed with the Garg staff as a means of reducing their printing costs.
SHEI
Danni brought the Board up to date on their event plans and photo shoots. They have identified several potential
partners and advertisers. They inquired about using the Board Room for their meetings and how to enter their work
in the Wine Tasting/Art Exhibition. Their issues will be published in December and April. Sarah said that she was
working on putting together a list of their alumni in order to use it for fund raising and invitations to their events. Mark
and Danni discussed an advertising sales strategy.
The Michigan Daily
Doug discussed his recruiting and the goals for the sales staff. He mentioned that they sold 20% more advertising in
the NSE this year compared to last. He discussed their upcoming plans for the guides for the Career Fair and Law
School Career Guide. They discussed their plans for establishing a relationship with the North Campus Career Fair.
Peter discussed their plans to increase their coverage of Ann Arbor and Detroit. Doug stated that during new employee
orientation, they discussed expanding their sales coverage over more of AA. Kathy discussed her efforts to improve
circulation and distribution. She made great strides in adding drop spots around AA over the summer. Both Neil and
Cindy offered to help them improve their local news coverage. Kathy mentioned that the staff is planning to do
readership and advertising surveys this year. She has it as one of her goals for the year. There was a brief discussion
of having Mary and Dave from the recently closed Ann Arbor Chronicle come and talk with the Daily staff about covering
local government.
Peter briefed the Board on the staff’s activities over the summer. They expect to launch the new web site at the end
of September. They are revitalizing the Maize and Blue Review. He updated the Board on the latest website metrics,
which generally are up about 50% over the prior year. He discussed their plans for increasing the video content on
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the web site. He also discussed some committees that they are forming to improve coordination with the Professional
Staff and to improve the “Daily Experience” for students: an Alumni Relations Committee, the Daily Social Committee,
the Web Design Committee, the Innovation Committee, and the Editorial Review Committee. He discussed their plans
for the Michigan in Color Blog. They are putting together a Social Media Group to coordinate all the paper’s efforts in
social media. There was a discussion of the organization and budgeting for the photo and video departments.
Commercial Reproduction Rights
The Board agreed that decisions on the granting of licensing/republishing rights to Michigan Daily assets is subject to
the discretion of the Editor in Chief with the caveat that any such requests be discussed with the General Manager.
The Michiganensian
Ally updated the Board on their activities over the summer including selling additional books, replacing damaged books,
and putting the Senior Portrait business out for bids. Looking forward, they have staff meetings scheduled and
meetings scheduled with the Herff Jones designers.
Finance
Mark updated the Board on the finances from over the summer, the current cash position and the cash projection
through the end of FY ’15. There was a discussion of travel expenses and Sarah’s efforts to line up alumni that are
willing to house traveling student reporters to help defray travel costs and develop relationships with alumni.
Mark described the process and difficulties of creating the SHEI budget. A motion to approve the budget was made
by Cindy. This was seconded by Steve K. and passed without dissent.
Development
Sarah updated the Board on the plans for the Daily Anniversary event. There were suggestions made about who we
might get to speak at the event. Cliff suggested that we have a crowdrise to raise funds for the event. Sarah
discussed the upcoming tailgating event, the Art Exhibit/Wine Tasting, the Board Work Study Fund, the Okrent Work
Study Fund, and opening a Generations Magazine fund. She discussed the fact that 63% of the students involved at
Student Publications receive some form of financial aid.
Distribution/Promotion
Kathy stated that we’re starting the year with 168 drop spots. She discussed the expected interaction between
Washtenaw News and Shivanie Baraparte, the student circulation manager. One of the Production staff is producing
a map of the drop spots for the website and the Marketing Team is trying to design a contest which will highlight
various drop locations.
Doug discussed how the integration within the Business staff should really pay off more this year than last. The
discussion turned to various promotional ideas.
Board Chair
Terry and Steve made the case for naming a Board Chair in Waiting so someone can learn the ropes before being
thrown into the fray.
A motion to adjourn was made by Steve K., seconded by Cindy and passed without dissent.
At 7:35 Terry closed the meeting.
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Actions Taken:
Motion to approve the minutes of the April 21, 2014 Board Meeting Minutes: Steve Kagan
Seconded by: Neil Chase
The motion was passed without dissent.
Motion to approve SHEI’s Daily’s FY ’15 budget: Cindy Goodaker
Seconded by: Steve Kagan
The motion was passed without dissent.
Motion to adjourn: Steve Kagan
Seconded by: Cindy Goodaker
The motion was passed without dissent.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Bealafeld
Secretary/Treasurer
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