The Publications Center has developed the following policies and procedures to expedite the development and production of College publications while also ensuring cost efficiency and quality.
Integral to this process is the Publication Center’s Planning Calendar, developed three times each year with clients throughout campus in order to schedule their anticipated publications needs.
The Planning Calendar
Three-Times-Yearly Planning Tool
The Planning Calendar is a master plan that includes all of the projects planned by each client department to be processed through the Publications Center throughout the year. The calendar is developed in the fall, spring, and summer.
Calendar Process
Calendar vs. Unscheduled (Walk-In) Projects
Because of the number of departments contributing to the Planning Calendar as a result of their advanced planning, unscheduled projects are given secondary priority.
Unscheduled (Walk-In) Projects
Appointment times are available for the intake of walk-in jobs. An estimated deadline for your publication to be completed will be set during this appointment. The deadline will depend on Planning Calendar jobs that are currently in production or scheduled. If our deadline is unacceptable for your walk-in or late calendar project, the Publications Center can work with you to secure outside assistance. Your department will be responsible for the cost of such services.
In order to best serve all our clients, new walk-in projects will not be accepted from departments that cancel previously scheduled calendar jobs without notifying the Publications Center in a timely manner.
Contact our Production Coordinator at Ext. 2876 to discuss submitting your project.
Project Services/Types
The Publications Center provides an array of services and professional expertise to College departments, offices, and programs for intermediate and advanced print and Web projects. These services include project conceptualization, sophisticated graphic design, proofreading, vendor print management, and more.
Examples of projects the center regularly accepts are posters, programs, newsletters, brochures, handbooks, special marketing pieces, and course bulletins. The general lead time from concept through design, production, and printing is six to eight weeks, though additional time may be required for more advanced projects.
The Publications Center no longer accepts basic jobs that do not require professional design, such as certificates, flyers, text-only handbooks, etc., which are printed at the Copy Center for limited on-campus distribution. Staff will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a project requires professional design and Publications Center services.
Job Submission Checklist
Please call ahead (Ext. 2876) to schedule a time to submit your project to the Publications Center ’s Production Coordinator. This will ensure that your project receives complete attention. If you have questions about any of the checklist items, please contact the Production Coordinator.
Jobs may be submitted Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. You should include the following information:
Graphics Needs
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Are all images at 300 dpi (resolution)?
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Are all images full size?
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Are all images in jpeg or tiff format?
Please refer to the Graphics Standards Manaul for guidelines on the use of the College logo.
Textual Needs
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Has the text been saved as an unformatted Word document?
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Has the text been proofread by your department? (Once text is submitted, we assume that no major changes or rewrites will be made.)
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Has the text been spell-checked?
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Have all dates, names, titles, addresses, Web sites, and phone numbers been checked for accuracy? (It is a good idea to call phone numbers and visit Web sites to confirm their accuracy.)
Remember that your department is responsible for the accuracy of all submitted text. Please refer to the Editorial Standards Manual for any editorial questions.
Submission Criteria
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Have you included all completed text, photos, and images?
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Have you included a disk or CD of your text as well as a hard copy?
Deadlines
The Planning Calendar was adopted as the best way to coordiate services for all campus clients. When clients meet their Planning Calendar deadlines, the Publications Center is responsible for meeting its deadlines as well. The general lead time for producing publications is six to eight weeks.
As projects are submitted to the Planning Calendar, we look at your required delivery dates and determine when your materials need to be submitted. Each client department receives a confirmation of their submission and delivery dates. In order to meet the requested delivery time, it is imperative that project submission dates are met.
IMPORTANT: Please note that for each day that your project material is submitted late at any point in the process, including client proofs, the delivery date is delayed a minimum of two business days.
Vendor/Printer Management
Many campus clients utilize the Publications Center to manage the print vendor contact for their publications. In such cases, the center handles all aspects of monitoring the job and communicating with these outside vendors.
Bid Specifications
For any project requiring an outside printer, bid requests are generally submitted to at least three printers. This process can often save clients substantial money by going to the lowest bidder offering comparable quality and service.
Purchase Order Requisition Process
Through a mandate from the Office of Central Purchasing/Receiving, all publications involving the services of outside vendors require purchase orders prior to being released to the vendor.
The purchase order requisition must be originated from the department to which the print project will be charged. The Publications Center will supply information regarding the vendor and costs to you to include on your purchase order requisition.
Before we can release the job to an outside vendor, the Publications Center requires a copy of the approved purchase order (P.O.) or verbal confirmation from the purchasing office of the assigned P.O. number.