UNMC Today has met its first goal of the year: to slim down its publication process.
Posted earlier in the day, the 2-year-old online employee newsletter will continue to carry a full scope of stories, announcements, news-related links and other campus information. In recent weeks, the e-mail notice sent to UNMC faculty and staff each day has been condensed to primarily include news headlines and links to other sections in the UNMC Intranet.
“We want UNMC Today to continue to be the No. 1 news source for employees on campus,” said Karen Burbach, UNMC Today editor. “Under the new system, employees will have access to the same information, but it will be available to them much earlier in the day. Condensing the information in the e-mail allows Lotus Notes to function more smoothly and still directs employees to the Intranet for the latest campus updates.”
The change in the delivery and content of the UNMC Today e-mail summary was dictated by demands on the e-mail system, Burbach said. When the summary is sent out after 8 a.m., it can delay up to 10,000 other e-mail and/or voice mail messages while it-s being processed, causing the Lotus Notes system to severely slow down or even crash.
The content of UNMC Today has expanded significantly since the online employee newsletter was launched in September 1999. The numbers of recipients, plus the lengthier summaries, have slowed down the e-mail system.
To facilitate the earlier delivery, Mitch McKenzie, an intern in the ITS department, created a system to automatically update and archive each edition of UNMC Today. In the past, Burbach did this manually, usually sending out the e-mail notice between 8 and 9 a.m.
“Mitch has done an outstanding job in creating this system,” Burbach said. “It was his initiative and foresight that enabled us to make UNMC Today easier to publish electronically.”
Under the new system, the e-mail message and UNMC Today will be prepared the day before publication. The new edition will be posted to the Intranet shortly after midnight, and the e-mail will be sent in the early hours of the morning so employees will have it as soon as they get to work.
The new system also automatically archives stories by date and headline, which will make it easier to search for past articles. The UNMC Today Rewards and Recognition site and Employee Update pages also have been updated. The UNMC in the News section will be updated daily by 8:30 a.m.
With the change in format comes a new publication schedule. The deadline for submitting information for stories and announcements is noon on the day before publication. For example, if an announcement needs to appear in the Wednesday edition of UNMC Today, the information must be submitted to Burbach by noon Tuesday.
UNMC Today invites readers to provide feedback and/or suggestions for improvement to the newsletter. Comments, as well as announcement information, should be sent to today@unmc.edu.