30 years of news: onCampus observes its past and sharpens its focus on the future

1970s

The very top headline in the very first issue of onCampus, April 19, 1971, reads like this: "Appropriations Delay Means Tight Budget."

Some things never change.

Thirty years later, the budget is tight, and onCampus is still here to share the news with Ohio State's faculty and staff.

That first issue of onCampus was just four pages, and in addition to budget news, reported that funds for a proposed day care center were needed, the athletic director doubted that a stadium expansion was feasible, and the largest financial aid grant available to individual students would increase from $300 to $510 annually. It was printed on heavy newsprint paper, roughly the same dimensions as today's onCampus, and featured a four-column format.

Prior to onCampus, Ohio State experimented with several publications, including the Faculty and Staff Bulletin, a calendar of events and listings of faculty accomplishments published on 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheets of paper stapled together.

University administrators admired a Michigan State publication, Blue Sheet, and felt Ohio State could benefit from a similar communication tool for faculty and staff.

"We thought it was a good idea, given the position we were in in 1971. We'd gone through the riots and we were trying to enhance the communication on this campus, so we started this little publication," said Dave Pullman, Ohio State's director of public relations in 1971 and a former Michigan State editor.

onCampus was intended to fulfill a different niche than the Bulletin. "We wanted to have something better-looking with a little more storytelling. The onCampus was more of a feature piece," said Alberta Wilkes, who was onCampus' first editor.

The biweekly paper evolved in size, scope and appearance over the next decade. Although it maintained its original newspaper-style format, it underwent several redesigns -- experimenting with spot color, providing headers for precursors to the current "Memos" and "Calendar" sections, and changing its masthead to match the University's new "OSU" logo in 1977.

The stories and photographs provide a mini history lesson, reflecting major events and trends (not to mention hair and clothing styles) at the University and in the United States. Among the headlines during the decade: "Committee wants woman trustee"; "Affirmative action progress told"; "Acid rain poses serious threat to environment, scientists find"; "OSU political scientist urges non-support of Vietnam War"; "Tests show women may excel in measure of physical fitness"; "Students find political protest an effective method in 1975"; "Parking promise: no more losses"; "Faculty, staff open homes to aid students"; "Energy conservation saves $10.4 million"; and "Semester plan has little support."

Visits from Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Muhammed Ali, Vice President Walter Mondale and President Ford were all documented, as was Ohio State's transition from President Novice G. Fawcett to President Harold Enarson in 1972, the dedications of the new University Hall, Larkins Hall, Weigel Hall, the Drake Union and Dulles Hall, and the renovations of Orton and Hayes halls.

1980s

The 1980s ushered in the technological age for onCampus. Steve Sterrett, community relations director for Campus Partners, was an editor from 1978 to 1982. In the 1970s, Sterrett said the copy for the paper was hammered out on typewriters, then sent to the campus print shop for typesetting and printing. Word processors purchased in 1981 meant copy could be sent to the print shop over the phone lines, eliminating the typesetting step.

As in the 1970s, onCampus headlines during the 1980s provide a glimpse of the era: "Enarson will leave post after 9 years"; "Computer to aid admissions"; "Cuts will force revision of OSU budget"; "Professional women accept salary disparity"; "Marion campus confers its first associate degree"; "University ponders effect of Reagan's budget"; "Swine may be key to AIDS cure"; "Commencement is Ôgreatest day' for Woody"; "Students to let fingers walk to registration"; "Wexner's gift ensures arts center's prestige"; and "President Jennings will return to the classroom."

While serving as a communication vehicle for the Ohio State administration, Sterrett said the staff has always worked for balance in its coverage of University issues. "We wanted to be a credible source of information. I think that we tried to be open to a variety of voices in onCampus. If there was an issue being debated, we wanted to include the different viewpoints, even when they differed from the administration's."

The 1980s onCampus gradually grew to resemble the current rendition, and underwent a redesign in the fall of 1986. The use of bylines became more common; "Newsmakers," a predecessor to the current "InInk" section, was introduced; and the paper averaged eight to 12 pages. Current onCampus photographers also made their debut in the 1980s: Kevin Fitzsimons in 1982 and Jo McCulty (nee Hall) in 1985.

1990s

Major changes were in store for onCampus and Ohio State during the 1990s. E. Gordon Gee was appointed president by the Board of Trustees in the summer of 1990, and his new initiatives and plans were regularly featured in the pages of onCampus. His departure in 1998, and President Brit Kirwan's arrival, ensured that the onCampus staff had plenty of news to cover throughout the decade.

Headlines in the 1990s included: "Trustees appoint Gee"; "Uncertain state budget brings hiring controls"; "Arts to close photography, cinema unit"; "Hagerty's woes call for new business hall"; "Faculty more politically conservative, study shows"; "How cold was it here? No classes!"; "Take classes in Cleveland without leaving OSU"; "University Area task force unveils 13 recommendations"; "ARMS reach out: Project seeks wide input for major improvements"; "Fed shutdown is not hurting much, yet"; "Rose Bowl virus spreads across campus"; "Ohio Stadium will get $150 million renovation"; and "University taps Kirwan."

A 1992 redesign introduced the appearance familiar to today's readers, a five-column format. "When I became editor we did a redesign and recrafted our stories to make them shorter and more lively," said Gemma McLuckie, director of communications for the College of Education, who joined the onCampus staff in 1984 and served as editor from 1991 to 1997. Other changes included increased coverage of staff issues, a new distribution process that ensured mail delivery to all faculty and staff (previously only faculty and some staff had issues delivered via mail, with boxes around campus used to distribute additional issues); and greater use of graphics and visual elements.

Perhaps the most far-reaching change was the introduction of advertising. University organizations were given the option of paid advertisements in September 1992, and external advertisers were introduced in September 1993. Revenues from advertising covered operating costs for the paper, which helped to keep onCampus on its feet during the budget cutbacks of the early 1990s.

Readers appeared to appreciate the changes. A survey conducted by the OSU Poll in 1994 found that 88 percent of faculty and 82 percent of staff read onCampus.

September 1997 marked the debut of theonCampus Guide, an annual special issue that serves as a year-round resource to Ohio State services, organizations, events and benefits. And in February of 1999, onCampus went online. Every issue is posted in its entirety on the Web, at www.osu.edu/oncampus.

2000 and beyond

Today's onCampus continues to grow. The current staff has the advantage of writing, editing, designing and publishing entirely on computer, and works on the newspaper full-time, unlike earlier staffs who more regularly balanced journalistic duties with other development and public relations tasks. The original four-page paper has expanded into an average size of 20 pages, but is guided by the same goal: to enhance communication to and about faculty and staff at Ohio State.

The publication is now a part of the Internal Communications unit within the Office of University Relations, and works in partnership with OSU Today, a daily e-mail sent to all faculty and staff, as well as the University's many Web-based forums for communication. Even in this high-tech era, the paper version of onCampus continues to receive high rates of approval from annual surveys conducted by the OSU Poll. Work is under way for another redesign -- set to be unveiled in September 2001. The new onCampus will keep long-standing sections such as "Memos" and "Faculty and Staff," but will offer readers a fresh look, with touches of color, and some new features -- including a "Forum" page that will provide the opportunity for an exchange of ideas within the Ohio State community.

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