2024 Meeting Minutes

Board members in attendance: Ben Shors, Kedzie Moe, Gabrielle Bowman, Faith Simon, Crystal Delos Santos, Matt Haugen, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, and Richard Miller. Staff: Denise Boyd 

The board meeting was held online. 
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English.
Minutes from Oct. 31 meeting approved.

Introduction
Richard Miller introduced Lucille Stutesman, a reporter at the Daily Evergreen.

Election of spring editor-in-chief
•    Presentation to the board by Gabrielle Bowman began at 4:18pm 
•    Q&A 
Question.  Lorena O’ English – Describe how you intend on building a relationship between the newsroom and Chinook yearbook?
Answer. Continue working with the Chinook on sharing photos, have weekly communication.
Question.  Matt Haugen – I’ve noticed it has been a long time since the website has been updated. How do you plan on improving the website?
Answer.  We are hiring a multimedia editor and plan on editors being involved with the website and reviewing their online pages.
Question. Lorena O’ English – How do you see the future of the Daily Evergreen as an institution, and how will you build a structure that leaves the Daily Evergreen in a better place after you graduate?
Answers. 
1.    Plan on creating an easier transition of power by working with staff, helping them create a structure. Will include job shadowing as part of the training.
2.    Spring boot camps planned, one for editors and the other for writers and staff.  Build skills for editors, leaders, and copy editors.
3.    Run-throughs – Boot camps will have practice sessions in which staffers learn the process of assigning stories, having them turned in, and the procedures leading to publication. 
Question. Ben Shors – Do you have a leadership role planned for the current editor-in-chief?
Answer. I plan on having Kedzie return as managing editor in the spring. We also have a lot of the editors returning and will continue to work on their skills, as well as helping the rest of the staff increase their abilities.

•    Board discussion and vote 
The board voted at 4:45 p.m. and approved Gabrielle Bowman as the spring editor-in-chief
Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Kedzie Moe
•    Boot camps are planned in early spring for editors and staff
•    Production rate: Figuring out what is going wrong, working with Gabby to figure out the weak areas and have a plan to improve
•    Looking at the future leadership of the newsroom – different roles, tasks, print and website. Assigning staff to specific areas
Question.  Lorena O’English – Follow-up question related to our last board meeting.  Have you spoken to the applicant for the multimedia position yet?
Answer.  Due to scheduling issues I haven’t met with her, but I know that Richard Miller has spoken to her this week.
Question. Richard Miller – Follow -up question related to our last board meeting. What is your plan to increase the production rate?
Answer. Assign strict production quotas. We didn’t want to put a lot of stress on new staff since they were just learning. 
Question. Richard Miller – Do you plan on having a minimum of stories due each week and how many reporters do you currently have on staff?
Answer. The plan is to have a minimum of two stories per week, and we currently have 15 reporters on staff. I also plan on shortening the deadlines for turning in stories.
Comment. Lorena O’English – Would it be easier to have the minimum stories at four every two weeks instead of two per week?  
Answer. Yes, I think that would work better for our staff

Yearbook Editor Faith Simon  
Our photographers and section editors are submitting their content. The templates have been finalized, allowing section editors to add text, headers, and photos with ease. Additionally, we distributed flyers to all residence halls to encourage individuals to submit photos and to promote awareness of the yearbook. I believe we are still on track to complete the book by the end of the year.

Design Mananger Samantha Glenn –  No report given

Advertising Manager Richard Miller   
•    Sold a last-minute print ad in this week’s paper, valued at nearly $1,000
•    Story production rate is unchanged since the last board meeting
Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd  
•    Our year-end projection as of Oct. 31 is $38,000
•    We are asking for a 1.3% reduction in our S&A allocation

New Business – None

Public Comments: Lucille Stutesman thanked the board for letting her join the board meeting. Lorena O’ English said there are currently openings on the board if she would be interested in joining. 

Next board meeting: Thursday, Jan. 28, at 4:15 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 4:56 p.m.
Minutes taken by Denise Boyd

 Board members in attendance: Kedzie Moe, Gabrielle Bowman, Samantha Glenn, Faith Simon, James Asare, Kailey Sparks, Matt Haugen, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, and Richard Miller. Staff: Denise Boyd. 

The board meeting was held online. 
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English.
Minutes from Sept. 25 meeting approved.

Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Kedzie Moe
•    Proud of the Halloween special edition, cover and content
•    Newer reporters are getting confident in their roles at the Evergreen
•    Content is getting lined up for the rest of the semester

Miller said he’d been discussing several issues with Moe, and wanted to let her also share her responses with the board. He divided them into three sections:

Production
o    There is a 50% reduction in content/stories compared to 2 years ago 
o    More than half of those stories in the last three weeks have been sports.

Distribution
o    The stories we do write aren’t being distributed. We’ve had only one e-newsletter despite previous plans to make this a twice-weekly distribution method. We haven’t updated our Facebook page in a month and a half, and the website is rarely updated.
o    We have a strong candidate for engagement editor but despite multiple attempts, the EIC hasn’t arranged to meet with her.

Readership
o    Lack of production and distribution has slashed our page views by 62% compared with last year, and page visitors by 29%

Moe’s Response:
•    I’ve had a difficult time trying to set up a time to meet with the engagement applicant. I am planning on meeting with her later this week or next week and get her hired by the end of the semester or sooner.
•    We have a lot of new reporters, and are still working on getting more content. 
•    Working with editors on leadership techniques, and training them on deadlines
•    Restructuring how stories are assigned.

O’English: “How hard is it to get together with a potential applicant? The newspaper is our bread and butter, it is a priority to address these concerns.”

Yearbook editor Faith Simon
•    Organizing the pages so they fit together well in the yearbook
•    Staff is in place, and aware of their responsibilities
•    30 albums of events and photos have been put together
•    Section editors were a bit confused on what was expected of them; sent out an email explaining what needs to happen the rest of the semester
•    We plan to advertise during CUB tabling and on social media.
•    Continually updating Instagram

Denise Boyd: Can the yearbook work with the Daily Evergreen to provide a link to the yearbook’s folder of photos?  
Simon: Will reach out to Kedzie to work on that.

Design Editor Samantha Glenn
•    I’ve lowered the Evergreen masthead a bit so the top banner image and headline are bigger. We’ve just implemented a new system to make front-page jumps simpler. W0e’re still working out the kinks, but it’s a lot easier so far.

Advertising Manager Richard Miller
•    Wrapping up all the fall ad orders. Nothing on the horizon yet for spring.

Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd 
•    Our year-end projection as of Sept. 30, 2024, is close to a $30,000 carry-forward.

New Business
•    Samantha and Faith will be working on an online yearbook ad for the newspaper

Questions from the board:

•    O’English asked if there are plans to cover the election hubs next week. 
Moe responded: We will have reporters at the CUB and voting hubs on campus.
•    Haugen asked, Are you going to have reporters at the Colfax auditor’s office covering the vote counting? 
Moe: In the past we’ve had staff there but trying to coordinate a time that works for the auditor’s office and the Evergreen staff was hard, especially when it came to transportation for the students. 
•    Miller: Congratulations to Jennifer Ladwig on becoming City Editor of the Lewiston Tribune.

Public Comments: None

Next board meeting: Thursday, Nov. 21.

The meeting adjourned at 4:38 p.m.
Minutes taken by Denise Boyd

Board members in attendance: Kedzie Moe, Gabrielle Bowman, Samantha Glenn, Faith Simon, Kailey Sparks, Matt Haugen, Benjamin Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, Emma Ledbetter, and Richard Miller. Absent: James Owusu Asare, Zahra Khodaverdi, Crystal Delos Santos. Staff: Denise Boyd.

The board meeting was held online. 
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English.
Minutes from April 25 meeting approved.

Election of Chinook Yearbook Editor
After hearing her presentation, the board voted to elect Faith Simon as the 2024-2025 Chinook Editor

Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Kedzie Moe
•    Attended the College Media Mega Workshop in July along with Samantha and Gabrielle
•    Staff still small, but we have hired a few new people
•    Team has been hard at work

Yearbook editor Faith Simon
•    Faith had previously provided an overview during her presentation to the board

Design Editor: Samantha Glenn
•    No report given

Advertising Manager Richard Miller
•    Spectrum purchased two months’ of rack cards
•    BECU has contracted to purchase $5,900 in ads
•    Winter Session purchases total $7,275
•    Inland 360 payment from the Lewiston Tribune reduced to $250 weekly
•    Chinook Yearbook sales – working with Justin Barnes to have students sell ads

Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd 
•    Our yearend projection as of August 31, 2024, is a positive $35,300.
•    Our S&A proposal is due before the Thanksgiving break

Design Editor: Samantha Glenn
•    No report given

New Business
•    Lorena sought comment on whether our next meeting would conflict with Halloween plans. No objections were raised.

Public Comments: None

Next board meeting: Thursday, October 31, 2024

The meeting adjourned at 5 p.m.
Minutes taken by Denise Boyd

Board members in attendance: (Full roster not available)

The board meeting was held online. 
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English
Minutes from March 28 read and approved. 

o    Presentation by design manager candidate Samantha Glenn
o    Glenn’s nomination unanimously approved

1.    Reports 
•    Editor-in-chief Alexandria Osborne
•    Yearbook editor Emma Mahler
•    Graphics editor Emma Hewitt
•    Advertising manager Richard Miller
•    Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd

2.    New business

3.    Public Comments

4.    Adjournment until Sept. 26, 2024

Public Comments: No comments given.

The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.                                                                                              

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Augustine Triumph Attah, Cooper Howe, Alexandria Osborne, Ben Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Emma Ledbetter, Matt Haugen, Anna Adams and Richard Miller.

The board meeting was held online.

Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Richard Miller

Minutes from Feb. 29 read and approved. 

Presentations by EIC candidates followed by Q&A

1.      Gabrielle Bowman

2.     Kedzie Moe

3.     Josiah Pike

Executive Session: The board was in executive session from 4:58 p.m. to 5:14 p.m.

Public Session:

The board vote resulted in a tie between the two leading candidates. The board advanced those candidates to a runoff and voted again.

Kedzie Moe was elected the EIC for summer, fall 2024.

Reports: Canceled for lack of time.

Public Comments: No comments given.

 New Business: Miller said the next board meeting would include a presentation by a design manager candidate.

 The meeting adjourned at 5:19 p.m.                                                                                              Minutes taken by K. Denise Boyd 

Emergency Board Meeting

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Emma Mahler, Augustine Triumph Attah, Ben Shors, Lorena O’English,  Matt Haugen, Alexandria Osborne, Richard Miller, Sam Taylor, Emma Ledbetter, Maccabee Werndorf  (for Cooper Howe). Meeting held online.

Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English

Issue at hand: Can the editor-in-chief remain in that position after taking an internship with Athletics? If so, how would their duties be changed to avoid conflict of interest issues?

Presentation by EIC Brandon Willman: He would recuse himself from all football coverage, and football-related coverage. He’d provide maximum transparency through a Letter from the Editor, as well as notes appended to stories. Further, other editors would monitor his work for any indications of favoritism.

After lengthy discussion, the board votes that an Athletics position would be incompatible with concurrently acting as EIC. The board asks the EIC to weigh the advantages of each position, and choose one by the following Monday, Feb. 12.

Meeting adjourns at 5:10 p.m.

Minutes taken by Richard Miller

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Emma Mahler, Augustine Triumph Attah, Ben Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, Matt Haugen, Richard Miller. Staff: Alexandria Osborne, Denise Boyd

The board meeting was held online.
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English
Minutes from Nov. 30 read and approved.
O’English: The minutes from Nov. 30 are incomplete. Because of time limitations, leaders had been asked to submit their reports in writing to Denise Boyd. Please submit those previous reports.

Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Brandon Willman
• November/December: Goal setting, plans for spring, some staff turnover.
• Newsletter will expand to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; new design coming soon.
• Focus on increasing news; hired two more news reporters.
• Planning coverage of ASWSU elections, public affairs.
• Follow-up coverage on the graduate strike
• Working with Ben Shors on news coverage

Miller relays question from Emma Ledbetter, who was unable to attend: WSU alumni are noticing spelling errors. What type of training do copy editors receive?
Willman: We have two returning copy editors and one new one. There is a planned copy editor workshop the week of Jan. 29. It will cover copy editing and AP Style.

Question: How is the newsletter being changed?
Willman: We are adding more stories and visuals. We are also having reporters carry cameras to better cover breaking news.

Yearbook editor Emma Mahler
• Steady progress so far.
• Cover graphics have been created.
• 40 to 50 percent of the pages have been laid out.
• Working with WSU Photo to get more pictures.
• Photos are archived on the Evergreen server.

Graphics manager Emma Hewitt
• Basketball season coverage planned.
• Considering potential covers for spring graduation

Advertising manager Richard Miller
• Four or five new advertisers are now on board.
• Sold about $10,000 in ads in January.

Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd
• Current YTE projected balance as of October is $2,122.

Questions from board/public
Attah: What plans do you have to increase coverage of graduate students?
Willman: We’ve recently covered GPSA, and the strike on campus. We plan follow-up articles as well as increasing features coverage.

New Business
• Archiving of materials
A discussion on how student work is being archived, and if that complies with university policies. Students were urged to archive their work on university servers.

• Newsroom at-large positions
Miller proposes that one of the two newsroom at-large positions be allocated to the managing editor. This would increase student participation. Passes unanimously.

Meeting adjourns at 4:45 p.m. Minutes taken by K. Denise Boyd