University of Michigan - Flint

Program Submission Guidelines

Basic Criteria
Allow a minimum of one week for the submission to be reviewed, processed and posted on the website.  The webmaster reserves the right to edit the submitted text for space and other considerations.  The submitting office will, of course, be given final approval before the listing is posted.

The program, initiative, services or event listing should be considered “ongoing” or those which are generally considered permanent such as those which occur at least annually at a specified time of the year.  Examples would include reoccurring summer programs, those which are offered year-round, or those which operate in one or both academic year semesters.  This site would not be appropriate for listing or announcing special or one-time events.  While it would be appropriate to list a series of related events, e.g. a series of several professional training workshops or seminars, or presentations that address K-12 initiatives and partnership issues and concerns, the site should not be considered a place to announce events.  Those should appropriately be placed on the University Events Calendar or on individual websites.

Consideration:  We should avoid any confusion between this site and the events listing that appears elsewhere on the UM-Flint site.  Further, inasmuch as the website will not be maintained frequently once it has been established, we can not presume that one-time event listings can be monitored and eliminated regularly.

Language and Clarity
Language should be age appropriate and tailored to the visiting public.  Avoid jargon as well as abbreviations and acronyms that are not otherwise fully explained, e.g. program titles.  Be concise and observe the word count and website space limitations, e.g. 100-word program descriptions.  Nevertheless, descriptions should be sufficiently explanatory to inform the reader.  In addition to directing visitors to contact the office directly by telephone or email, one should also direct visitors to the unit/department website where more detailed information can be provided.

Participant and Eligibility Criteria
Be clear about the intended target audience or participants.  Be specific about eligibility criteria such as restrictions regarding participant ages and grade levels, schools, districts or geographic areas served, required academic prerequisites or preparation, and related matters.

Consideration:  If possible, provide direct links to the website(s) where appropriate applications, forms, detailed printed descriptive program information other forms can be downloaded, preferably in both portable document files (pdf) and simple text (txt) formats. 

Contact Person
The designated contact person should be one who is readily accessible and available to respond to inquiries as noted in the description, e.g. by telephone, in person, etc.  It would be best if the contact person is someone who is available throughout the 12-month calendar year versus a staff person who only works seasonally.  If a contact person can not be available throughout what is considered a regular work day/week, please note if the individual is only available during limited times of the day or days of the week.

 Consideration:  Please make certain that the contact person is well informed and has ready access to thorough and timely information that will enable him/her to respond well to inquiries.

 K-12 Initiatives Submission Guidelines DRAFT 122504 TWG: Rev 010605