Student Media Board

Revision Date: Standing Committee, last revision May 2021.

Purpose: To review and make recommendations on policies related to The Trail Blazer and NewsCenter.

Membership: Voting membership of the committee shall consist of: one faculty and/or staff member (appointed by the President to represent the President); one non-Communication, non-Convergent Media faculty member representing the faculty at large (appointed by the Faculty Senate); one staff member representing the staff at large (appointed by the President from nominations made by the Staff Congress); the Associate Dean of the Department of Communication, Media and Languages (ex-officio voting in case of tie); one student currently majoring in Convergent Media and not holding an editorship of The Trail Blazer or the directorship on NewsCenter (selected by The Trail Blazer and NewsCenter advisors); one student not majoring in Communication or Convergent Media or serving on the staff of The Trail Blazer and NewsCenter, representing the students at large (selected by the Student Government Association); and the faculty advisors to The Trail Blazer and NewsCenter (ex-officio voting). The editor of The Trail Blazer and the director of NewsCenter shall be ex-officio voting members during their tenure in that position.

Terms for staff and faculty shall be two years with no more than one-half in each category being replaced each year. Terms of service may not be successive. Terms for the students shall be one year beginning each fall, with a possible one-year reappointment. Student members shall 1) be enrolled as full-time students at Morehead State University, 2) be in good standing, 3) carry no less than a 2.5-grade point average in the semester immediately preceding election to the Board, and 4) carry no less than a 2.5 cumulative grade point average.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• To support the student media in their role of serving their readership and viewing audience.
• To assure that personnel are appointed for proper management and production of the student media.
• To adopt and implement policies and procedures necessary for the efficient management and production of the student media.
• To review and recommend an annual budget for each student media.
• To select students for, and where necessary dismiss students from, executive staff positions on each student media operation. The executive positions shall be designated as The Trail Blazer:
  • Managing Editor
  • News Director
  • Assignment Editor
• To monitor the laboratory functions of the student media and to ensure that the academic functions are being carried out.
• To arbitrate in all controversial matters concerning student media.
• To arbitrate in all appeals relating to the discipline or dismissal of a Student Media Board-appointed staff member of a student publication or media operation.
• To approve and implement editorial, fiscal, production, and personnel policies for the student media.
• To review operating procedures as they relate to governmental regulatory guidelines, procedures, and policies.

Officers: Chair - Associate Dean of the Department of Communication, Media and Languages who shall vote only in case of tie; a Vice Chair and a Secretary to be selected by the committee from the membership.

Frequency of Meetings: The Board of Student Media shall meet a minimum of once each fall semester and once each spring semester. Dates shall be set by the chair. Meetings of the Board may be conducted wholly in-person, virtually, or a mixture of both to allow those who wish to attend virtually the opportunity to do so.

Reporting Channels: Recommendatory to the President. Recommended changes in policies and procedures shall be reported to the Faculty Senate and Staff Congress.

Minutes and Proposals Copied to: The Library, Faculty Senate, Student Government Association, and Staff Congress.

Support Services: Associate Dean of the Department of Communication, Media and Languages

MEMBERSHIP

The procedure for resignation from a University Standing Committee is written notification to the University Standing Committee chairperson, Faculty Senate secretary, and the faculty member’s Department Chair. In the absence of a University Standing Committee Chairperson, the notification may be sent to the Faculty Senate secretary and the faculty member’s Department Chair.

• Jeffrey Hill, Chair, Communication, ex-officio, voting in case of tie
• John Flavell, Advisor, Trail Blazer, ex-officio, voting
• Tim Creekmore, Advisor, NewsCenter, ex-officio, voting
• Bella Sailors, Editor, Trail Blazer, ex-officio, 2023-2024, voting
• Beau Smith, Director, NewsCenter, ex-officio, 2023-2024, voting
• VACANT, Student, Convergent Media, 1-year term, 2023-2024, voting
• Thomas Clem, Student, Non-Communication, Non-Convergent Media, 2023-2024, voting
• Amber Hughes, Faculty or Staff, Presidential Appointment, 2022-24, voting
• VACANT, Staff, Presidential Appointment 2021-23, voting
• Roma Prindle, At-Large Faculty, Non-Communication, Non-Convergent Media, 2024-2026, voting