(To see this complete Update for Alumni and Friends for Summer 2024 in PDF form, with information on honors our students have won and our upcoming Centennial, please click here.)
To our Student Publications family and friends,
I’m writing to update you on how things are going at WKU Student Publications — our students had another terrific year, and they continue to do good work. They play a vital watchdog role for the campus community that has only become more important as the number of people covering news on the Hill for professional organizations shrinks.
We operate one of the most innovative and successful student media groups in the country.
But I won’t bury the lede any further:
We need your help.
We are at a turning point for the Talisman, the College Heights Herald, Student Publications Advertising and Cherry Creative — one that is different but no less crucial than the previous instances when Student Pubs alumni have rallied to save these learning labs where students build the skills to become professionals.
The first time was a threat to the independent voice of students who lead our journalism. Then it was the need for a permanent home.
This time, it’s money.
For whatever help you can provide, we will work to ensure that it will be used only as you intend — to support Student Publications and the work of our students.
This update goes into some depth, as I am trying to anticipate questions you might have and provide background. To try to make it easier, I’ve organized it in key sections.
What’s going on
As many of you who follow news from WKU know, the university is facing financial pressures.
It’s been going on for a decade now, and we at Student Pubs have cut expenses, employed efficiencies and, most important, innovated and created new sources of revenue to offset cuts in our university budgets and shifts in advertiser spending.
But this year is different:
- Across the university, the administration has ordered a 7.5% reduction to the 2024-25 budgets approved in June by the WKU Board of Regents. Officially, they’re calling it a “reallocation.”
- WKU is imposing a 10% “tax,” as one regent called it, on all revenue-dependent operations, such as the College Heights Herald. The university has given no guidance on how the “overhead charge,” as it’s officially known, will be imposed.
- WKU swept money that remained in the Herald revenue-dependent account as of June 30, 2023, taking $49,694.03 to use elsewhere. This comes after the university took $51,018.07 from the Herald account in 2018. I’m concerned that money that remained in the Herald account at the close of the budget year that ended this June 30 — between $5,000 and $10,000 — also will be taken.
While these measures have been put in place across the university, they pose significant peril for Student Publications.
Making the cuts
Cutting a budget by 7.5% would be tough on a one-time basis. But this is the latest in a decade -long series of cuts driven, in part, by a long decline in enrollment at WKU and by a lack of investment in higher education on the part of the state legislature.
We have two budgets funded by the university — Student Publications, which covers pay and benefits for the professional staff and a small amount for operating the office, and Talisman. A 7.5% reduction translated to a target of $46,545.
We could not cut that much without eliminating a member of the professional staff, and we were told the reductions were to be made in operating costs, not personnel.
The Student Publications budget, initially approved at $555,800 for FY25, had just $17,034 in operating funds. We identified $14,800 in cuts from that budget.
The Talisman budget, initially approved at $64,800 for FY25, took $8,800 in cuts.
That amounted to $23,600 of our target of $46,545. My boss, Associate Provost Rob Hale, was able to apply reductions from other areas he supervises to make up the difference.
The ‘tax’ impact
While WKU has not released specifics on how its “tax” on revenue-dependent accounts such as the Herald will be imposed, any money taken from the Herald revenues will have a detrimental impact across our operation.
As most of you know, the Herald receives no direct university funding (although professional staff are paid by WKU and the university maintains the building our alumni helped build).
Every dime in the Herald account was earned by students and professional staff selling advertising and sponsorships, staging events and creating special sections that help clients reach the WKU community through our platforms.
Because that revenue is deposited into a university account for the Herald, WKU considers it to be university money.
Susan Howarth, WKU’s executive vice president who is in charge of university finances, told the Herald’s Cameron Shaw recently that WKU has not yet determined how it will administer the 10% surcharge on revenue-dependent accounts.
According to a list her office provided, there are more than 60 such accounts across the university generating nearly $9 million in revenue. Of those, the Herald is projected to generate about $140,000 in revenue during FY25, or the 17th largest amount. (We tend to be conservative when we make these projections a year in advance.)
Not all revenue is being charged. For example, Athletics generates about $11 million, but is not revenue-dependent and isn’t on the list to be taxed.
The cumulative effect
The combined impact of the budget reductions and the “tax” on Herald revenues — likely at least $37,600 directly — is steep. But it also will place additional pressure on our revenue-dependent side to cover costs that previously were funded through the university budgets.
These expenses include:
- Software costs. Adobe Creative Cloud costs $3,944.20 for the 20 site licenses that students use across our four areas (this is down from 65 licenses just a few years ago, and a minimum number we feel is workable). We have a variety of software and services requiring annual licensing fees.
- Insurance costs. Libel insurance alone is nearly $7,000 a year. We also pay insurance on two vehicles used for transporting students and for delivering publications.
- Gasoline and service for vehicles.
- Repairs to computers as well as photo and multimedia equipment.
- Any new equipment that must be purchased.
What we’re doing
Our students and our professional staff are working to make adjustments to cope with the financial realities we’ve been dealt:
- We have reduced pay across the board for editors and student leaders and will more closely monitor spending on already too-low payments for individual stories and photos by publication staffers. This comes after we increased pay in 2023-24, at the time putting us on par with what we were paying in 2012-13.
- The Herald editorial board has decided to eliminate one print edition of its newsmagazine each semester, meaning we will publish two print editions per semester this year. We also will reduce the press run to 2,500, although we were successfully distributing 3,000 copies of each issue this past year.
- The Talisman editorial board is planning on a fall issue of the magazine that is reduced in page count, paper quality and press run. The spring issue of the magazine will be comparable to what Talisman published in the 2023-24 year. The moves will save on printing costs.
- For the Herald and the Talisman, we will explore ways to reduce newsletter costs. We use Constant Contact as our vendor because, since WKU uses CC, it gets through the spam filters. Our newsletters are our new front page.
- We may have to reduce the number of fellowship partnerships we offer for Summer 2025 to redirect some of that foundation money to helping deal with the cuts. I don’t know the number yet, but this one hurts because our fellowships are some of the best things we do for our students. We support 10 fellowships this summer.
What we’re asking
We need your help.
Our alumni and friends are formidable. We’re asking you to help us weather this financial storm in the short term, but also to consider how you might be able to help us continue to thrive in the long term.
Every dollar you donate will be safe, and it will go where you intend it to help. Your donation will flow into one of our accounts at the College Heights Foundation, which cannot be swept by the university.
I’m hoping to raise money to cover our budget cuts this year, to minimize the immediate impact on our students, to preserve our students’ journalism and opportunities and, with a little luck, to restore at least some of the student pay cuts for the Spring 2025 semester.
To do this, I hope we can raise between $35,000 and $40,000 in the next few weeks. Any amount you are able to give will help. Small donations pile up fast, and together they can make a real difference.
Second, I’m hoping to inspire an effort we started a couple of years ago to build a $3 million endowment that, once fully funded, would generate more than $100,000 a year to ensure the longevity and ongoing success of our program, our students’ journalism and the opportunities that help those students build the skills that land jobs once they leave us.
I firmly believe that journalism — the kind we teach our students at WKU Student Publications — is essential to our communities, to our civic life and to our American democracy. Our students strive to uphold that obligation.
How you can help
To help with our most immediate needs, please give to the Student Publications Legacy Fund.
The Legacy Fund supports the general operations of WKU Student Publications and its four student-led divisions — the College Heights Herald, the Talisman, Student Publications Advertising and Cherry Creative — and can be used to address our areas of greatest need.
The Legacy Fund is a non-endowed fund held in the College Heights Foundation and is used to benefit only WKU Student Publications. It cannot be appropriated by the university for use elsewhere.
As a non-endowed fund, amounts donated can be expended on an as-needed basis. The fund is not invested and does not earn interest.
Money in the fund is available to the director of Student Publications, who can use that money for a variety of ongoing needs that are not covered by university-provided budgets or revenues generated, such as:
- Technology, hardware and software.
- Multimedia equipment.
- Training, including conferences and workshops.
- Vehicle costs.
- Costs of news coverage, including travel.
- Stipends paid directly to students.
You can donate to the Student Publications Legacy Fund by following this link, https://alumni.wku.edu/publicationslegacyfund, or by using this QR code:
We’re also raising money for the longer term, working to build the Student Publications Endowed Fund, which ultimately will provide Student Publications with reliable funding each year to help our students continue doing their work.
There is always potential for further cuts to our university budgets in future years. Therefore, building up this protected, endowed fund is the best hope for the future of WKU Student Publications.
The Endowed Fund is held in the College Heights Foundation and can be used only for WKU Student Publications. It cannot be appropriated for other purposes.
As an endowed fund, only the earnings from investing the amount donated are available for use, and the principal amount is held in trust. Under current spending policies, funds generate 4% per year available to spend.
The fund began to produce proceeds at $10,000 in the fund, not counting future gifts or pledges.
The intention is to reinvest all annual proceeds back into the fund until cash in the fund reaches $1 million. At that point, the endowment would provide about $35,000 to $40,000 a year.
Gifts to the endowed fund can be made through a pledge of a certain amount to be paid in weekly, monthly or quarterly installments over a period of up to five years; a transfer of real property or stock to be converted to cash; an outright gift of cash in a one-time payment; or through a provision in your estate plans, including through your will or trust, a retirement account or a life insurance policy.
Raising $3 million seems like a huge task. But some of our alumni and friends with expertise in fundraising are helping, and we’re working with the College Heights Foundation to build a successful effort.
Currently, the Student Publications Endowed Fund has about $1.2 million committed through estate plans, and about $25,000 that has been given in cash gifts.
Once the fund reaches $3 million in hand, it will generate more than $100,000 per year in annual proceeds, which will be used to benefit the students working at WKU Student Publications.
You can donate to the Student Publications Endowed Fund by following this link, https://alumni.wku.edu/studentpublications, or by using this QR code:
Our circumstances today are different from previous times we’ve needed our alumni and friends to rally, but the consequences are just as significant.
The challenges we face are real. Just as in 1988 and again in the mid-2000s, we need you to help us chart our way forward.
You can help with full knowledge and pride that the program and students you are helping are doing exceptional work, as you can read elsewhere in this update.
Our students today are living up to the expectation of excellence that you, our alumni, established over the years. Let’s ensure tomorrow’s students have similar opportunities.
For more information, contact me at 270-745-4206 or [email protected].
With great appreciation,
Chuck Clark, director
WKU Student Publications