News and Events provides the Graduate School community with weekly news, registrar information, updates, events, resources, services, and other items of interest to graduate and professional students and the graduate fields.  

News and Events is sent weekly during the fall and spring semesters, and bi-weekly during the summer, when content needs slow down.

The newsletter will not be sent during the following breaks and holidays: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, February break, spring break, and December break. 

We send to all current, active Graduate School students (including Geneva and Cornell Tech), the graduate field assistants and directors of graduate study, vice provosts and academic deans, Graduate School staff, and Cornell staff who opt in. Lists are updated each semester.

News and Events uses the following organizational structure, provided we have content for each section. 

• Leadership Message (occasional)
• Registrar
• News
• Student/Alumni Spotlight
• Kudos
• Special Card (occasional)
• Graduate School Events
• Graduate School Opportunities
• Health and Wellness (Resources and Events)
• From the GPSA (occasional)
• Tips and Takeaways (occasional)

The Graduate School accepts submissions from Graduate School and official college offices or units. In addition, we accept Kudos submissions from students and the graduate fields.

Newsletter best practices dictate that newsletter content should link out to fuller information on a website, and that the content in the newsletter should be available to readers online. The most effective newsletters are easy to scan, feature limited text, and use hyperlinked headlines for stories or opportunities (adding a date for events). Content will be limited to a date, headline, <120 character description, and link for most items.

Additional policies for inclusion are listed below.

Newsletter submissions are accepted until Friday at noon. We post News and Events on Monday evening unless it’s a holiday weekend or over winter break and post every other Monday during the summer.

Events

• Events must be specifically for graduate and professional students.
• Events must be officially sponsored by a university office.
• Events must have a web presence/page to which we can link.
• Most events outside the Graduate School will be published in the Cornell events calendar.

Images

• All submitted images must have credits included with the submission.
• We do not post images copied from the internet or other sources without either explicit permission or unless their rights are already secured (for example, stock footage).
• Images of children MUST have a release form signed by their parent or guardian.
• Submitted images/candid photos of students must have permission from the person(s) depicted. For example, an image submitted for Kudos must have the individual’s permission.

Kudos

• Students mentioned in Kudos must be in good academic standing.
• Students must submit via Qualtrics form, the link for which can be found in News and Events.
• The submission must have approval of the person(s) being mentioned.
• All Kudos must be verified via websites or other documentation. For example, we can’t post award winners unless we can find the information on an official website.
• We cannot use screenshots of social media posts unless we can verify the information via an outside source and we have explicit permission from the person being mentioned. We will ask the submitter to secure permission.

Repeated Content

• We do not repeat items in the newsletter, except Registrar deadlines and Graduate School events, which should be promoted twice. For Commencement, we make an allowance for three times.
• The newsletter does not promote content that students receive elsewhere, including listings for specific fellowship, postdocs, and awards opportunities. This content has been moved to an opt-in listserv.

Research Studies

• We do not promote in process student research or calls for research subjects.
• We do not promote research studies or calls for research subjects from university units or external entities.

Spotlights

• Students must be in good academic standing at the time of the original publication.
• Alumni being spotlighted must have graduated officially.

Student Organization Submissions

• We do not promote activities or events sponsored solely by student organizations.

Surveys

• We do not publicize requests for surveys other than those that originate from within the Graduate School.

Use a strong headline.

Use the subject line to “hook” readers and prompt readers to open the newsletter and read your content.

Include a clear call to action.

If your posting includes a call to action, make it clear and compelling with links and key phrases. Make it easy for readers to see what action to take.

Keep it brief!

Submissions must be kept to a 120 character maximum. If you have content that requires more length, post it on your website and send us a short summary with the link.

Include hyperlinks.

Make it as easy as possible for your readers to find relevant or additional information by including links.

Include images.

Avoid images with text, including posters or flyers. In addition to potential readability issues due to a user’s screen size, text-heavy images pose accessibility issues. Alternative (“alt”) text must be entered for each image to allow individuals using assistive technology to access the same content. There is a character cap on alt text, which means that these users might not be able to access all of the information presented visually.

You can use photos of students in your communities, provided you have the appropriate permissions. Consider to stock photo services or using Cornell’s image library. In both cases, rights are included.  

Please include photo credits with the image.