Staffer Packet

You must stop in the front office and complete a federal Form W-9 after you file this form!

WKU Student Publications Staffer Packet

Name*
First Last
WKU Student ID (800 number)*
NET ID*
Check which staff you will be working on.*
- College Heights Herald
- Talisman
- Advertising
- Cherry Creative
Do you have another paid, on-campus job?*
Phone Number
Email Address*
Campus / Local Address*
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Permanent Address*
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Student Employment Agreement*
***PLEASE STOP IN THE FRONT OFFICE TO SIGN A W9 UPON COMPLETION OF THIS FORM! Welcome to the College Heights Herald, the Talisman, WKUHerald.com WKUTalisman.com and College Heights Media, all nationally prominent publications of Western Kentucky University’s Office of Student Publications.
We look forward to working with you to help continue the long tradition of excellence these student publications have experienced.
Whether you are employed as an editor, staffer or contributor, your participation is valued. Please feel free to contact any of the professional staff with questions or concerns regarding your employment.
Because what you do on any of the publications has such a prominent and public nature and due to the tremendous impact our student publications have on WKU, the community and the field of journalism at large, it’s important that you understand what will be expected of you professionally, ethically and personally.
The conditions listed below are non-negotiable and your signature of commitment is required. In signing this document you are saying you have read and understand the Student Publications Policy Manual and promise to abide by those policies and procedures.
This form will be placed in your personnel file. Your adherence to the policies below, as well as those in the Policy Manual, will determine your continuance in your job.
Welcome, and thank you in advance for your contribution.
Chuck Clark, Director, WKU Student Publications
Sam Oldenburg, Assistant director, Talisman and Cherry Creative adviser
Carrie Pratt, College Heights Herald multiplatform news adviser
Avari Stamps, Sales manager and advertising adviser
Sherry West, Operations coordinator
Tracy Newton, Office associate

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No Student Publications staff member has any guarantee of a position or a job, and it is understood that a position may be eliminated or a paid or nonpaid employee may be terminated at any time.

All stories written, photographs taken or any other assignments performed for publications on any Student Publications outlet should receive priority over other requests for your work you may received from other media outlets. It is also understood that material submitted to the Herald and/or Talisman may also be published on WKUHerald.com, WKUTalisman.com or either of the print publications. Staffers also understand that the Office of Student Publications may use their work for promotional and marketing purposes.

All news information received during Student Publications employment is proprietary. This includes press releases, news budgets, story ideas and conversations with editors or advisers. Release of such material to a source, to a competing news organization or to any unauthorized person is grounds for termination.

Plagiarism includes use of previously published material as your own, copying off the web or from other sources, and fabricating quotes, people or facts. If you plagiarize, you will be subject to disciplinary action, including termination.

Student employees, paid or unpaid, are expected to be accurate and fair in all of their work. However, if an error does occur, it should be promptly and publicly corrected. Complaints and/or requests for corrections or clarifications must be reported immediately to the student’s editor, who will make the determination whether a correction or clarification should be published.

Staffers are expected to reveal any potential conflicts of interest to their supervisors, including but not limited to employment with other media or activity at WKU, clubs, political and religious organizations. Staffers are expected to avoid any assignments involving close friends or family, or those that may compromise or give the appearance of compromising journalistic fairness and integrity.

Student staff, whether paid or volunteer, who fail to complete assignments, who maintain substandard performance or who do not comply with editorial, business or personnel policies of the Office of Student Publications may be terminated or building-use privileges may be revoked.

Use of office technology: Computers, cameras and related technology in the Office of Student Publications are there for your responsible use in the production of authorized student publications, whether print or digital. Staffers may, however, occasionally use office technology for coursework, provided that no one else needs to use the equipment for publications-related assignments and such use is approved by your publication adviser. Office technology may not be used for unauthorized non-academic projects or personal gain. Passwords and Internet access to the Office of Student Publications server are to be kept in strict confidence.
- I agree to the Employment Agreement
Copyright Policy*
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Revised February 2013, July 2021.

As a condition of being a member of the College Heights Herald, Talisman, Student Publications Advertising or Cherry Creative staff, I hereby understand and agree that the Western Kentucky University Office of Student Publications has joint copyright to any work subject to copyright that I create or prepare and submit for publication in either the Herald or Talisman, for any medium, including items not published or otherwise used.

Such rights shall be granted to Student Publications in perpetuity, allowing publication of my work in projects created or commissioned by WKU Student Publications in any medium.

Additionally, Student Publications may allow my work to appear in third-party publications in order to promote WKU Student Publications. The Office of Student Publications will not distribute my work to other WKU offices and departments for uses unrelated to Student Publications.

For the purpose of use of this material by Student Publications, I understand that I will be compensated for a work one time only.

I understand that I will retain resale rights for my work, allowing me to sell my work to approved third parties, including but not limited to other WKU offices and departments.

I understand that I must receive written approval from the current editor-in-chief of my assigning publication, student leader of my division or the Director of Student Publications before selling work originally created for the College Heights Herald or Talisman to another publication. I will not, under any circumstances, be permitted to sell my work to any publication in direct competition with the Herald and/or Talisman. Likewise, when on assignment for the Herald or Talisman, I understand that I am obligated to submit my work first to the assigning publication before submitting the work to any other party.

Additionally, work published in a third party must credit the student publication that I work for in addition to myself. For example, “AP photo by John Doe via College Heights Herald” or “By John Doe, College Heights Herald.”

The term “work” includes articles, photographs, illustrations, cartoons, designs and any other creative work. A “work” shall be considered to be one article, one photograph, one illustration, and likewise. Multiple stories in a package or multiple photos in a take will be considered to be multiple works.

Furthermore, if the Herald wishes to publish work originally used by the Talisman in the same academic year, or vice versa, the publication wishing to republish the content must receive written permission from the current editor-in-chief of the assigning publication.

Finally, I understand that I retain all rights to use my work for my own personal portfolio or for entries for contests, scholarship programs, internship programs and job searches. Such rights include publishing my work to a personal blog or online portfolio, as well as sharing work with story subjects after publication. I will not be required to seek permission from an editor for such uses of my work; however, I will not allow such use to reflect poorly upon the image and brand of the College Heights Herald, Talisman or WKU Student Publications.

I understand that if I breach any portion of this agreement I will, at minimum, be suspended from staff for the longer of either two weeks or two deadline cycles.
- I agree to the Copyright Policy
Copyright Policy, Cherry Creative Addendum*
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Understanding that much of the work produced by Cherry Creative is produced on behalf of outside clients, I hereby grant the Western Kentucky University Office of Student Publications the right to license such work to the client for any future use, in perpetuity, in exchange for a portion of the licensing fee as outlined in the current Cherry Creative payment policies. I understand that my work will be licensed only to a client that partnered with Cherry Creative for the production and publication of the work and that I retain the right to license the work to any other approved third parties.
- I agree to the Cherry Creative Copyright Policy Addendum
Signature*
Sign to indicate that you understand the agreement and don't have any questions. ***PLEASE STOP IN TO SIGN A W9 UPON COMPLETION OF THIS FORM!