IHSA

IHSA Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - 2007-08

Journalism Advisory Committee

May 7, 2008

The IHSA Journalism Advisory Committee was held at the IHSA Office in Bloomington on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Committee members present were: State final manager - Sally Turner; Advisory committee members, Division 3 - Linda Kane, Naperville (Central); Division 5 - David Porecca, Urbana (University); Division 6 Steve Steele, Taylorville and Division 7 - Herman Albers, Couterville. Division 1 - John Gonczy, Chicago (Mt. Carmel); Division 4 - Dr. Kenneth Jackson and Division 2 - Amanda Urban, Franklin Park-Northlake (Leyden), were unable to attend. IHSA Asst. Executive Director Susan Knoblauch conducted the meeting.

Terms and Conditions Recommendations

1. Item II –A- Dates and Sites

Recommendation: Dates for the contest are: State Final: Friday of IHSA week 43 – Friday May 1, 2009.

Rationale: EIU can accommodate the contest on Friday utilizing the same time schedule which may allow more schools to participate.

approved

2. Item III–C-1- Breach of Contract

Recommendation: Withdrawal after March 30, 2009 will result in a school being liable for payment of its Event Fees ($10.00 per event originally entered) plus a $100.00 late withdrawal penalty.

Rationale: This language is parallel to the withdrawal process for other activities and will assist in urging schools to follow proper entry and withdrawal procedures by the required deadlines.

approved

3. Item III–C-2- Breach of Contract

Recommendation: If a school withdraws one or more event categories after March 30, 2009, it shall be liable for payment of its Event Fees for those categories withdrawn and shall be assessed additional penalties in the amount of $25.00 per category withdrawn.

Rationale: This language is consistent with the penalties assessed to other activities and will hopefully encourage schools to commit to their original entries.

approved

4. Item III-C-3-Breach of Contract

Recommendation: The school shall also be considered in Breach of Contract under the terms of the IHSA By-law 6.040, and the matter shall be reported to the IHSA Board of Director for disposition.

Rationale: This recommendation will be consistent with other activity Breach of Contract language.

approved

5. Item III-F- Tournament Assignments

Recommendation: Substitutions: Changes in Sectional entries may be made until the competition begins provided 1) the sectional manager is notified prior to the start of the contest 2) the principal attests in writing that the substitution(s) is approved due to illness or circumstances beyond the control of the student and that the bona fide student is academically eligible.

Substitutions for qualifiers from Sectional to the State Final Contest shall not be permitted. If a qualifier can not advance the alternate qualifier shall advance following the provisions under VIII –D Advancement of Winners.

Rationale: The substitution language will be consistent in other activity rule books and clearly spell out the rules for substitutions.

approved

6. Item VIII -D- Advancement of Winners

Recommendation: Alternate Qualifier Advancement: In the event a qualified student is, for any reason, unable to advance to the State Final, and provided the IHSA office is notified in writing by the principal of the qualifiers school at least one day prior to the State Final, the fourth place student from the sectional site shall be notified by the IHSA and permitted to advance.

Rationale: This spells out a clear plan for advancement of the next qualifying participant.

approved

7. Item VIII-A-2- Tournament Rules- News Writing

Recommendation: News Writing: Students shall receive both live and written interview information….

Rationale: By having a live interview prompt, student can gather information from a mock press conference to write their stories.

approved

8. Item VIII-A-7-Tournament Rules- Newspaper Design

Recommendation: Students will design a front page, 16-inch….

Rationale: This would clarify that only one page is needed in the Newspaper Design category rather than a front and an inside page.

approved

9. Item VIII-A- 2- Tournament Rules- Feature Writing

Recommendation: Feature Writing: Students shall receive both live and written interview information….

Rationale: By having a live interview prompt, student can gather information from a mock press conference to write their feature stories.

approved

Administrative Recommendations:

1. The IHSA will post the 2008 journalism winners work online at IHSA.org on the journalism menu page http://www.ihsa.org/activity/jrn/index.htm.

2. Sally Turner will lead a group that will work on finalizing the sectional
host managers manual that will provide managers with a timeline and all essential information in order to be consistent host sites.

3. Ranking sheets were reviewed for consistency and editorial revisions.

4. The IHSA will collect a database of interested journalism judges.

5. A broadcasting event will be piloted during the 2009 state final at EIU. Schools will have the opportunity to enter one student in the category.

Items of Discussion

1. Advisers are reminded to confirm that students entered are committed to the two full weeks of the state series.

2. A live interview for sports writing will be added for the 2010 season.

3. The committee reviewed notes and recommendations presented by advisers to the advisory board members.

4. The integration of computers was discussed. Currently if we were to use computers for all writing categories we would need between 100-150 computers for each block. EIU computer labs can not accommodate that number at the state final. Discussion covered having sites use mobile computer labs or having students bring in lap top. Discussion will continue on this topic.

5. The schedule was reviewed and focus was on lunch time. In order to accommodate a longer lunch break, the end of the day schedule could be extended. It was recommended to maintain the current schedules and encourage students to eat breakfast, bring a snack for their 15 minute break and plan to eat a later lunch between 2-3pm.

6. For all categories, students may bring a current AP stylebook and a dictionary for use during the entire contest.

7. The Review Writing genre will be posted on the IHSA Journalism Link menu page one week prior to contest.

8. Sally Turner and James Tidwell and EIU were commended on running the state final at EIU. Their services as state final managers are directly contributed to the success of the event.

10. It was recommended that all sectional sites have a general area for students to congregate.

11. It was recommended to provide consistent information regarding what proctors are allowed to do – have clear information for the proctors so they know the material and the rules – have clear directions regarding what paper to provide for each category.

12. It was discussed to create more yearbook categories. The committee agreed that currently there are three specific newspaper categories: News Writing, Review Writing, Newspaper Design, and three specific Yearbook categories: Yearbook Double Page Spread, Yearbook Theme Development, and Yearbook Copy Writing. The other categories could be completed by either a yearbook or a newspaper student. It would be up to the local school newspaper advisers and yearbook advisers to communicate regarding what students to enter and in what category. It is not an IHSA requirement that competing students need to be actively involved in the schools publications; however, it could be a local policy.

13. It was discussed to look at making prompts similar to JEA.

14. The standardization of digital cameras was discussed. The logistics of a sectional site providing enough of the same cameras was not doable. Nor did it seem possible for the state final to have 21 of the same cameras. The committee did not want to limit the type or brand of camera that the students use.

15. The recommendation of creating information for a sports preview story rather than a report on a sporting event would be a good possibility for 2009.

16. The live prompt/interview will be added in two categories for the 2009 year with the possibility of adding a live interview for sports in 2010. The format regarding the time for question and answers will be spelled out on the updated prompt sheets.

17. The review writing category was discussed. The committee felt that critical judgment should be used in review writing rather than a focus on personal preference. The prompt next year will investigate using short student films for review.

18. The committee thanks John Gonczy for his 3 year term on the advisory committee.

19. The next journalism meeting will be held Wednesday May 13th, 2009.