Student Media Center Recognized for Innovation

Title: IHL Recognizes UM Innovation with Two Best Practices Awards

Author: Lee Eric Smith

Full Story:
OXFORD, Miss. - The Board of Trustees of State Institutions
of Higher Learning has recognized two programs at the
University of Mississippi with Best Practices Awards for
2007.

UM received a first-place award in technology for its
Online Policy Directory and Administration System and a
second-place award in the student affairs category for the
Student Media Center for media convergence.

The technology award recognizes a system that makes
university policies easy to find online. It also
streamlines the policy approval process using electronic
workflow and makes it easy to research the history of UM
policies.

"We're pleased about the award," said Chief Information
Officer Kathy Gates. "We think it's a good project that
brings a lot of value to the university. Doing this online
brings a lot of structure to a process that really needs
it."

About the student affairs category award, SMC Director
Ralph Braseth said, "It's great to have the IHL to
recognize our work as innovative. We're viewed nationally
as leaders and I'm proud of that for Ole Miss."

The SMC has literally erased the lines between print,
broadcast and Internet journalism by blending The Daily
Mississippian newspaper, Rebel Radio, NewsWatch TV and the
Ole Miss yearbook into one seamless student-run media
outlet. In doing so, the center has set new standards, not
just for academic media outlets, but for professional ones
as well, said Braseth, who is also an assistant professor
of journalism.

"The Gannett Co., which owns USA Today and dozens of other
newspapers, is now revamping their newsroom to an
all-platform media source," he said. "In other words, what
Gannett is now trying to do, we've already had in place two
years."

Gates said the idea to automate the policy manual
originated in the Dean of Students Office and the Office of
the University Attorney, two areas where easy access to UM
policy is critical. From there, lead developer Jie Tang
worked to bring the new system online.

"Before, it was difficult to look up certain policies, and
so it was harder to determine if people were complying with
them," Gates said. "But now, for instance, the Dean of
Students Office can view a policy online and go over it
together with a student or parent as necessary.

"Whenever we've automated something, the rules are more
clear and the application is more fair. By having all
policies available online, we can operate much more
efficiently, and we always know who 'owns' the policy, who
approved it, when it was approved and so on."

UM policies can be viewed at



http://www.olemiss.edu/policies.

Braseth said that dozens of professional and academic media
organizations have toured SMC looking for ideas, and
although there have been bumps along the way, he's proud of
his staff and the university.

"This isn't a flash in the pan," he said. "This is how
media will continue to move in the future. It's been a ride
filled with failure and learning, but if you can't
experiment with new ideas at a university, where can you?"

Visit the UM Student Media Center online at


http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/stu_media.