The Constitution of Exit-109

Mission Statement:

Exit-109 is Radford University’s student-run literary and arts magazine. It exists to publish creative work by RU students and foster an appreciation of literature and the arts by bringing that work into the community.

The History of Exit-109

Exit-109’s immediate predecessor, The Gaelic, was established in 1982 by Anne Patterson Causey as a creative outlet for Radford University students. It ran until 1995. Exit-109 was created two years later by a group of former Gaelic staffers who felt, since the demise of the Gaelic, Radford lacked a cohesive representation of its students’ artistic and literary talent. They wanted to continue with Causey’s original plan. In 2005 the Student Media Committee elected to change Exit-109 from a biannual magazine to an annual one. R. Alan Hepner provided Exit-109’s motto, “CIX: Factus Sum Bene,” meaning “109: I am made well.”

Editors and Staff of Exit-109:

Job Descriptions

Editor-in-chief:

This magazine is headed by an editor-in-chief chosen by the Student Media Committee and willing to abide by the following criteria:

Magazine Content and Production:
  1. Abides by the Honor Code of Radford University.
  2. Accepts full responsibility for magazine content.
  3. Creates magazine deadline structure, accepting responsibility for meeting deadlines and producing one magazine per school year.
  4. Prepares all submissions for blind staff judging.
  5. Establishes direction of magazine content and assist staff in implementation of these plans, making sure staff members are meeting requirements set forth by magazine.
  6. Observes financial guidelines established for the magazine’s budget and approve all magazine purchase orders.
  7. Works cooperatively with all other Student Media leaders, Exit-109 advisors, the Assistant Direct of Student Media and the Student Media Board.
  8. Makes all final editing decisions about the magazine.
  9. Maintains at least 5+ hours a week in the Exit-109 office.
  10. Assists Student Media Assistant Director and production manager with contractual issues regarding the magazine.
Staff Management:
  1. Selects magazine staff using written applications and interviews, screening application for positions according to their ability to perform specific duties on a semester-to-semester basis.
  2. Develops a relevant recruiting and training program, with the help of appropriate staff members and the Assistant Director for Student Media.
  3. Delegates responsibility for directing daily operations in the Exit-109 office, ensuring that office work is maintained.
  4. Reports all relevant budget information to staff members.
  5. Has authority to fire any staff member he or she sees as unwilling or unable to comply with magazine general staff rules and requirements, and/or requirements for a particular position.
External Relations:
  1. Represents the magazine in a public relations capacity with the help of the public relations coordinators.
  2. Responds promptly and appropriately to complaints, comments or problems with the magazine.
  3. Attends, or delegates responsibility to attending, the Student Media Committee meetings as scheduled.
  4. Keeps the magazine office neat and orderly.
Other:
  1. Delegates responsibility for completing the above tasks in his/her absence.
  2. Completes other duties assigned by the Assistant Director for Student Media and/or the Student Media Committee.

Staff:

The editor-in-chief determines the staff positions, with the following qualifications involved. These positions may be filled to help Exit-109 run, however, they do not have to be filled every year.

Assistant Editor
  1. Assists the editor-in-chief in all areas of Exit-109 business and publication.
  2. Attends and hold a minimum of three to five office hours per week (preferably in conjunction with editor-in-chief).
  3. Attends Student Media Board meetings in absence of editor-in-chief.
  4. Is in charge of selling patron places.
  5. Is responsible for the receipts from patron places.
  6. Assists in general recruiting efforts and hiring/firing procedures.
  7. Assists in staff training and retention.
  8. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  9. Organizes premieres in conjunction with Editor and Public Relations Coordinator.
Design Manager
  1. Makes all advertisements for Exit-109, including staff wanted, submission and poetry reading advertisements.
  2. Makes layout and design decisions in coordination with editor-in-chief, assistant editor, head copy editor and art and literature coordinators.
  3. Successfully operates Adobe Photoshop and InDesign2.
  4. Assists the Assistant Director of Student Media and the Editor in Chief with contractual printing issues.
  5. Works cooperatively with printing company.
  6. Finishes layout by time and date designated by editor-in-chief.
  7. Holds a training course for staff members on InDesign2 and Photoshop, layout and design issues.
  8. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  9. Runs production meetings after submission deadline to work on layout and finalize cover design, etc.
Head Copy Editor:
  1. Works with production manager in literature and art layouts.
  2. Performs multiple checkson all literature contents and artwork identification.
  3. Thoroughly inspects final product before sending it to printer.
  4. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
Art Coordinator(s):
  1. Publicizes Exit-109 to RU’s art community by setting up times to talk to art classes or assisting the public relations coordinator with flyers.
  2. Maintains contact with Art Department on frequent basis.
  3. Works with photographer during photographing of artwork.
  4. Collects artwork with submission forms.
  5. Ensures that artists can come pick up their artwork.
  6. Maintains art submission folder to be given to editor-in-chief.
  7. Works cooperatively with printing company and production manager.
  8. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  9. Is responsible for art display at premieres.
Literary Coordinator:
  1. Publicizes Exit-109 in RU’s literary community by setting up times to talk to English classes and/or assisting the public relations coordinator with flyers.
  2. Maintains frequent contact with the English Department.
  3. Works with editor-in-chief in copying literary submissions.
  4. Collects literary work with submissions forms.
  5. Maintains literary submission folders to be given to editor-in-chief.
  6. Works cooperatively with printing company and production manager.
  7. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  8. Is responsible for literary display at premieres.
Public Relations Coordinator(s):
  1. Publicizes Exit-109 (with help of every staff member).
  2. Investigates regulatory restraints.
  3. Chairs non-profit Exit-109 committees or delegates responsibility of committee to staff member on semester-to-semester basis.
  4. Makes outside contact for possible Exit-109 activities.
  5. Creates flyers and posters (at least five per semester).
  6. Leads distribution and hanging of flyers.
  7. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  8. Assists editor-in-chief and assistant editor with organizing and promoting the premiere.
Webmaster:
  1. Designs and maintains an aesthetically pleasing Web site for Exit-109.
  2. Updates Web site as requested by the Editor-in-Chief.
  3. Archives older issues of the magazine online.
  4. Attends weekly meetings and attends all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
Production Staff:
  1. Attends and participates in all Exit-109 production meetings and nights.
  2. Successfully operates creative apps (Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc.).
  3. Creates engaging and visually stimulating layouts for Exit-109
  4. Attends weekly meetings and all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by editor-in-chief.
  5. Assists Editor in Chief and Design Manager with organizing and developing the theme for each issue of the magazine
General Staff:
  1. Abide by the RU Honor Code.
  2. Assist in all areas of magazine productions.
  3. Attend weekly meetings and attend all Exit-109 functions possible, as well as meeting all deadlines set by Editor.
  4. Assist Public Relations Coordinator in posting flyers and giving out handouts.
  5. Collect submissions.
  6. Vote on all literature and artwork that is submitted to magazine. This is extremely important to the continuation of the magazine!!
  7. Help promote Exit-109 to University students and employees as well as the town of Radford.

All Staff members regardless of position will be responsible for the following office procedures, as well as representing Exit-109 in a positive way. Any member refusing to accept their duties, complete their duties or represent Exit-109 and Radford University in anything other than a positive and professional manner will be reviewed based on that member’s performance and the Editor-in-Chief along with the Assistant Director of Student Media, and the advisor of Exit-109 will make decisions regarding further employment.

All Staff members will be required to fill out a staff application form at the start of each year or when they join the magazine. This is to make sure that the Editor in Chief has contact information for each member, as well as to give the staff card swipe access to Tyler Hall. The Editor in Chief of Exit-109 and the Assistant Director of Student Media have the right to refuse card swipe access to any member.

Policies and Procedures
These rules are meant to protect the magazine and the staff from misunderstanding. Students must follow the policies in the student handbook regarding University Activities and Behaviors (see section 2-49 and section 97) and the Radford Honor Code. Staff must also use passwords and phone cards only with permission of the editor-in-chief and for magazine use only. The Student Media printers and copiers are for use by Student Media members only, and only for the purposes of Student Media. Please keep Exit-109 material in our specific area and likewise respect the spaces and property of other student media groups working around you.

Please follow the equipment checkout policy where necessary for Exit-109 use. Anyone breaking these rules will be subject to immediate review by the Editor in Chief and the Assistant Director of Student Media.

Please follow all of the rules provided by the lab technician regarding the use of the Student Media lab. This includes keeping your work area clean and cleaning up before you leave your work area.

Budgeting
Budgeting and purchase requesting is done by the Editor in Chief. If you feel that the Student Media, or Exit-109 needs something to be more proficient, please talk to the Editor in Chief.

Funding:
Exit-109 is SFC funded. Also, SMADS, Student Media Advertising, is responsible for selling ads in our publication, in order to make up the funds that Student Funding Committee (SFC) doesn’t provide.

Fundraising:
Currently, Exit-109 raises its money in two ways: advertising and patronage. For both means, the advertiser or patron receives a copy of the magazine. The monies from both sources must be returned to 213 Heth. An insertion order must be filled out for an ad, while all patrons must fill out patron forms. This is mostly done by SMADS, so Exit-109 staffers aren’t responsible for it.

Purchasing:
To buy materials for the office, purchase orders must be filled out. These purchase orders are then turned into Heth 213. The budget is mainly overseen by the Assistant Director for Student Media, the Student Media Committee and the SFC.

Production of Exit-109

Bids:
Exit-109 goes through many steps to reach the final stage as a physical magazine. First, a bid must be placed with Material Management and Contracts. Exit-109 must then go to them with specifications, called a spec sheet, for that year’s magazine. The specifications are then turned into a bid, which is in turn sent to local printers. The local printers will all respond with their estimated cost of production. Material Management and Contracts selects the lowest bid that meets all the specifications listed. This process can take some time and must be averaged into the production time for the magazine.

Submissions:
At the same time, the magazine should be receiving submissions. Submissions include, but may not be limited to: photography, paintings, drawings, sculpture, poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and graphic design. Students must fill out a submission form before their work will be judged.

A student may submit any piece written for a class, however, the student is not bound to keep a professor’s grade or the changes a professor has made to their piece. The judges of Exit-109 do not see anything besides the piece turned into us, and will not consider any grade a mark on the piece’s value and contribution to our magazine. Submitters should understand that a grade will have no influence (good or bad) over how Exit-109 reads, interprets, edits or judges your piece, and the professor will not be liable for anything that Exit-109 determines.

Selection Process:
After the submission deadline (after which no submissions can be taken) the magazine should go through some stages of judging. Not all of the submissions will be printed in the magazine. Staff members are in charge of judging the submissions as they see fit. Judging is usually done blindly; staffers should not be able to see the name of the writer or artist they are judging. While in the past, work has been selected via a rating system, it was a completely voluntary process conducted apart from meetings, and very few people ever participated. Since the entire staff should be involved in the selection process, from now on voting will take place during scheduled meetings. However, in order to be considered a staff and included in the Staff Page of Exit-109 you must come to at least one of the judging meetings and participate. A sign-in list will be at each meeting to ensure fairness. Further specifics of these meetings should be decided on an Editor-to-Editor basis and recorded by each. For 2009, we will first vote on a No/Maybe basis. All maybes will be voted on a second time, on a Yes/No basis. Exit-109 does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, religion, or political orientation in any way.

Layout Process:
Even before submissions are collected, work can begin on the layout. The layout must be completed in accordance with the bid placed earlier in the year. Upon completion the layout is sent to the printer to be made into the magazine.

Premiere:
When the magazine comes back from the printer, in at least two weeks Exit-109 has a premiere. The magazine is unveiled at a poetry reading and art show, allowing everyone who chooses to read or show their art, especially what is selected for the magazine.

Family of Exit-109

Advisors:
Exit-109 involves a large group of people, outside of student staffers and submitters, interested in the production of the magazine. The faculty advisor and Assistant Director of Student Media are important in the magazine’s structure. They provide endless hours of inspiration and guidance.

Student Media:
Exit-109 is also part of student media, a group of media organizations working together at RU. They include The Beehive, Radford’s yearbook, Radio Free Radford, the internet radio station, ROC TV, Radford’s TV Station, SMADS, the advertising organization, The Tartan, the newspaper, and Whim, the internet magazine. Together, the heads of these organizations make up the Student Media Committee (SMC), which oversees student media.