Today is the first issue of the University of St. Thomas' Bulletin Today using WordPress, a software application well-suited for online news publications.
Expect us to be fine-tuning it this month as we iron out the wrinkles prior to the start of fall semester.
Bulletin Today, the university's official means of communication, is completing its first decade as an online publication. When it was launched in the fall semester of 1999, online publications at colleges were just beginning; St. Thomas had one of the first in the state.
Back then, assembling the Bulletin Today was a little like making sausage; it looked pretty good when it was done, but you probably wouldn't want to watch us make it. More than anything, the new software we are using allows Bulletin Today to be integrated more seamlessly with other St. Thomas Web sites, including your St. Thomas "portal" page and the university's homepage.
Here is something new: Bulletin Today stories now will appear throughout the day, as they are completed, in the "Latest News" section of your portal page. As we have done for the past 10 years, however, a complete collection of each day's stories will be sent to all St. Thomas e-mail boxes each morning.
A new category has been added to Bulletin Today. Called "See/Hear/Do," it will feature stories about St. Thomas-related speakers, cultural events and activities.
The goal of Bulletin Today -- to serve the university as a convenient communications vehicle -- remains the same. The publication is designed so readers can quickly scan the day's headlines and brief summaries in a minute or two, and then click on headlines to read complete articles of interest.
All students, staff and faculty are welcome to send us news. Instructions on how to do so can be found in the right-hand side of the Bulletin Today homepage. Deadlines remain the same: 10 a.m. two weekdays prior to publication.
Bulletin Today traces its history to a one-page memo first published by the President's Office in 1946. The "yellow sheet" for students and "green sheet" for faculty and staff appeared in 1960s.
In 1988, both publications were combined in a printed newspaper, College of St. Thomas Bulletin, which appeared weekly. A daily electronic version, Bulletin Today, first appeared in August 1999.
Bulletin Today editors suggest the following bit of advice, which appeared in the first issue of the "green sheet" in 1965: "Those for whom Bulletin contents are intended should read it."
