WSU University Publishing Lands Top National Awards
April 20, 2006
CONTACT: Mary Read, Director, University Publishing, 509-335-3518, read@wsu.edu
PULLMAN , Wash.- The University Publishing operation at Washington State University has been named the best in the nation for its management practices, the International Publishing Management Association (IPMA) has announced.
At the IPMA 2006 meeting, April 24, in Las Vegas, the WSU operation was also honored with a gold award in the digital printing category for the 2005 posters it produced for the women's basketball schedule. University Publishing has historically won awards for printing excellence annually.
"We are honored to receive these awards from our industry's leading professional organization," comments Mary Read, director of University Publishing. "We feel that our submissions to the competition this year indicated that we are on an innovative track with some great products and internal procedures. The management award clearly recognizes the talents and commitment of the entire University Publishing team, as well as our partners in university offices throughout campus."
IPMA is the only professional association dedicated exclusively to the needs of in-house corporate publishing, printing, distribution, and design professionals. Competition to WSU this year came from more than 20 university-based publishing operations as well as such diverse entities as the World Bank, The Hershey Co., Mellon Financial, and LDS Church Printing Division.
The management award is given to only one operation in the U.S. each year, and recognizes an outstanding in-house publishing department for its team effort in support services to the organization. Judging in this category covers equipment inventory and acquisition, budget, productivity, employee relations, safety, new technology, and promotion. Thirteen publishing groups have won the award since 1989-including WSU, which landed the top honor also in 2000.
According to Read, University Publishing had three notable accomplishments to report in 2005. They included: the installation of a full color digital press, which supports short-run, quick-turn, high quality publications and also allowed cross-training of personnel; several new offerings in the area of Web services, including a newly developed content management system, electronic newsletters, and event registration; and notable achievements in the area of safety. The University Publishing Safety Committee received the 2005 WSU Environmental Health and Safety Award of Excellence for "outstanding performance for making WSU a safer and healthier campus" award.
University Publishing has been part of WSU for well over 60 years. It supports WSU's broad mission of teaching, research, and public service, and is the university's official publishing agency responsible for the co-development, production, and distribution of university-wide print and online materials. Its 90-member staff processes 7 million pieces of mail annually, has developed more than 50 internal Web sites, produces 13 million photocopies and 4600 printed publications annually, and has published 158 WSU Press books. For more information on WSU University Publishing, visit its Web site at http://publishing.wsu.edu.