Imprint was a huge part of my undergraduate experience. I started as a copy editor in my very first term and I spent many years after that building skills like, interviewing, writing, editing, and photography as well as making connections across the university, with people I interviewed, and with the people I worked with. It helped me figure out what career I wanted to work towards, it helped build my resume, and it helped support me financially.
My time with Imprint highlights an essential part of our mission which is first: to produce a student newspaper; and second: to provide students with opportunities for learning and professional development. We have worked hard over the past few years to create new learning opportunities for volunteers, more paid student positions, and strengthen our overall volunteer experience. For students like me, students with an interest in one of the many moving parts of journalism, these efforts are essential. Where Imprint needs to do better, is in reaching out beyond the pool of students that cares about the reporting the news.
Imprint is at a crucial moment. Faced with the perils of a declining print media market, and changes to student fees brought down by the Ontario government we are at a point where we as a company need to re-examine the value and the reach of the services we provide to UW’s undergraduate body.
Everyone that pays the Imprint fee is a stakeholder in this company, and as your Board of Directors we have a duty to do our absolute best to provide something valuable to each and every one of you. That could be anything from producing a digital or print publication you enjoy, to providing skill-building opportunities, to helping you bring a journalism project to life.
This year the Board’s main priority will be to further that work. We want to know what Imprint is to you, and what you think it can be. We want to find opportunities and projects that appeal to broad audiences and campus niches. We want to hear your ideas, your pitches, your projects. We want to go beyond the scope of a student newspaper and find a way to positively contribute to undergraduate experiences across campus.
The 2019-2020 Board of Directors will meet for the first time on May 22nd in the Imprint Office. All meetings are open for students to attend. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, please reach out to the Board at chair@uwimprint.ca.
We are excited to spend the next year building a new strategic direction, and we hope we can partner with as many of you as possible as we move forward in the face of new journalism.
