Spring Break
Students find value in on-campus newspaper program
Thomas Stevens / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: News
All students living on campus contribute to three national and metro newspapers available in the residence halls and Greek Court.
"In general terms, you can say it's about $8 a student in order to have that service," said Mark Hudson, director of University Housing and Dining Services.
The Collegiate Readership Program brings copies of the Chicago Tribune, USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to on-campus residence halls and Greek Court houses Monday through Friday.
The program has been around since 2001 and carries an annual subscription fee of about $35,000. The fee is collected from students' room and board fees.
"In the most recent resident satisfaction survey, they endorsed it overwhelmingly," Hudson said.
The survey is a biennial, comprehensive, 175-question survey that was given randomly to a third of the students living on campus.
Students were asked to evaluate the following statement: "Each year, $10 of your room and board charges goes to fund the Campus Resident Readership Program, which offers newspapers in your halls, specifically the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and USA Today. I feel access to these newspapers is beneficial."
Students answered on a sliding scale that ranges from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
In 2004, 90 percent of resident satisfaction survey respondents strongly agreed the readership program was an asset to on-campus living. In 2006, 96 percent of respondents strongly agreed, as was the case in the most recent survey, collected in 2008.
"It just makes their day a little more enjoyable," said Jody Stone, assistant director of housing.
If a newspaper is taken off the rack, it is counted as read and the university only pays for newspapers that have been read. USA Today compiles those numbers. It also handles the entire distribution process, from setting out newspapers to collecting previous day's papers.
Students read slightly more than 86,000 newspapers in 2008: about 38,000 of the Chicago Tribune, 17,000 of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 31,000 of USA Today.
The budget for the Collegiate Readership Program is based on the previous year's circulation numbers. Any leftover money is reallocated into housing and dining's residence hall operations budget.
Three years ago, the Chicago Tribune backed out of the readership program when it stopped distributing south of Champaign to minimize costs. The Chicago Sun-Times took its place.
In 2007, the Sun-Times dropped out of the program, and no Chicago paper was available to students. A deal was struck with the distributor, and the Tribune is back on campus newsstands.
"I know a bunch of students want to stay in-tune with their local areas," Stone said, alluding to the high percentage of students from the Chicago and St. Louis areas. "I don't think if Mark (Hudson) would have pushed on that the Trib would be here today."
USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch each contribute a third of the cost to bring comedic hypnotist Frederick Winters to campus opening weekend each fall. This will be his sixth year performing on campus.
An annual review of statistics for the readership program will be held in a couple of weeks.
Thomas Stevens can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
"In general terms, you can say it's about $8 a student in order to have that service," said Mark Hudson, director of University Housing and Dining Services.
The Collegiate Readership Program brings copies of the Chicago Tribune, USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to on-campus residence halls and Greek Court houses Monday through Friday.
The program has been around since 2001 and carries an annual subscription fee of about $35,000. The fee is collected from students' room and board fees.
"In the most recent resident satisfaction survey, they endorsed it overwhelmingly," Hudson said.
The survey is a biennial, comprehensive, 175-question survey that was given randomly to a third of the students living on campus.
Students were asked to evaluate the following statement: "Each year, $10 of your room and board charges goes to fund the Campus Resident Readership Program, which offers newspapers in your halls, specifically the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and USA Today. I feel access to these newspapers is beneficial."
Students answered on a sliding scale that ranges from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
In 2004, 90 percent of resident satisfaction survey respondents strongly agreed the readership program was an asset to on-campus living. In 2006, 96 percent of respondents strongly agreed, as was the case in the most recent survey, collected in 2008.
"It just makes their day a little more enjoyable," said Jody Stone, assistant director of housing.
If a newspaper is taken off the rack, it is counted as read and the university only pays for newspapers that have been read. USA Today compiles those numbers. It also handles the entire distribution process, from setting out newspapers to collecting previous day's papers.
Students read slightly more than 86,000 newspapers in 2008: about 38,000 of the Chicago Tribune, 17,000 of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 31,000 of USA Today.
The budget for the Collegiate Readership Program is based on the previous year's circulation numbers. Any leftover money is reallocated into housing and dining's residence hall operations budget.
Three years ago, the Chicago Tribune backed out of the readership program when it stopped distributing south of Champaign to minimize costs. The Chicago Sun-Times took its place.
In 2007, the Sun-Times dropped out of the program, and no Chicago paper was available to students. A deal was struck with the distributor, and the Tribune is back on campus newsstands.
"I know a bunch of students want to stay in-tune with their local areas," Stone said, alluding to the high percentage of students from the Chicago and St. Louis areas. "I don't think if Mark (Hudson) would have pushed on that the Trib would be here today."
USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch each contribute a third of the cost to bring comedic hypnotist Frederick Winters to campus opening weekend each fall. This will be his sixth year performing on campus.
An annual review of statistics for the readership program will be held in a couple of weeks.
Thomas Stevens can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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