The Future for PTFA News

As some of you may know, we surveyed the association this spring to learn more about preferences in how you receive our PTFA news.  There has been some interest in reviving our quarterly PTFA newsletter in the print format, and the purpose of the survey was to get an idea from our membership of general interest in reading the print version (over or in addition to our new online format) and also to get an idea of interest in supporting the publication of a print newsletter, through volunteering to write, edit, layout, publish, and deliver the newsletter.  Now that the results are in, we would like to share them with you and let you know what to expect from our PTFA newsletter in the future.

To summarize the results of the survey, which you can see in more detail here, 85% of part-time faculty who took the survey feel that it's important that the PTFA continue to publish news in some form, approximately 61% currently read the newsletter, and of those who read the newsletter, 69% prefer the online format.  Of those who said that they prefer the print format, 68% will read the online version when there is no print version available.

While there does appear to be a fair amount of support and acceptance for the online version, the real issue in switching this year from the print version to the online version was a lack of support--in volunteer hours from PTFA members--to continue organizing, laying out, editing, publishing, and distributing a print newsletter.  The online version is simply easier to publish and distribute, and although this was the impetus in the switch from print to digital publication, many of you also noted that you appreciate the environmental savings also.

We are still sensitive to those who still really desire the print version (22% of those who took the survey), and we are working to come up with some options that might make it easier for part-time faculty to print their own newsletters by providing the news in PDF format in addition to link to the link to the blog (more information on this to come).

In addition to the proposed PDF solution, there are still opportunities for interested part-time faculty to get together and revive the print newsletter or to get involved in publishing the online news.  Of those who responded to the survey, 8% indicated some interest (or at least willingness) to assist with the publication of our quarterly newsletter.  Ways to help include organizing, writing, editing, formatting, publishing, and distributing the news.  If you're interested in helping out, please contact Monique Babin at moniqueb@clackamas.edu.

Thank you to those of you who answered our survey.  We will continue to do our best to bring you the most important association news in a format that is simplest for the greatest number of members to access, while also reflecting the best use of the resources at our disposal.  We've asked you to contact us if you are interested in helping with the publication of our quarterly news, but please also contact us with any ideas or concerns that you have about our newsletter.  Many of you offered very specific and helpful feedback that will help to shape our future publications in the terms to come.  Thank you for your feedback and your suggestions!