The Funding of Student Media at the University of Portland

Student Media is a form of entertainment, news, and acts resource to those interested. On the University of Portland campus over $145,000 are given to the three main student media each year.

Piles of The Beacon

The three student media, the newspaper The Beacon, the yearbook The Log, and the radio station KDUP, all have a standard budget given to them from the university to stabilize their operations.

According to the Director of Student Activities Jeromy Koffler, the student media budget helps to provide each media with all of the basic functional operations that each of the three medias need to do.

The budgets for each of the three media are given to them by the university but are then allocated into specific categories for each media. Sometimes a media will request additional funds from the student government, ASUP. In that case, the process to obtain funds is different.

KDUP's "The Shack"

Not all students are aware of the behind-the-scenes work in student media, unless they are employed in one of the three organizations. But even then, they may not know much more than the numbers on their paychecks.

The costs in producing and funding each student media are not easy to calculate. Each media had different needs and different amounts of money to sustain themselves. Their budgets do not give much room for change or for unwise spending choices. “They’re funded at a level to subsist,” Koffler says. He notes that student media doesn’t “have a lot of wiggle room to actually take funds from the university and use it unwisely. It's just not possible for them to fall into that trap.”

The Origins of the Budget

Each student media is student-run. The Beacon and The Log both have Editor-in-Chiefs, while KDUP has a General Manager (GM). The three students who hold these positions are given some knowledge of the origins of their funding, as they assist in allocating their own organizations funding.

Rosemary Peters, The Beacon Editor-in-Chief

“To my knowledge they come directly from Student Activities. I’m not sure if that is one-hundred percent sure to be completely honest,” Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, Rosemary Pe

It is an honest response believing the funds from come the media’s parent organization. In a way they do come from Student Activities. A budget is given to Koffler, who then works directly with the advisers for each media to put in requests for what they would need. The advisers also work with the Editor-in-Chief or the General Manager to assess the needs of their media.

The University gave a total of $145,415 to student media this past academic year. This money helps to provide each media to students for free. For The Log, which prints around 1,700 copies a year for students, “It’s an archival document for the university, so we don’t have to sell them back to the students in order to make money to make the book exist. It just does because we pay for it through our Walsworth contract,” Koffler says.

Additional Funding

Certain student media organizations look to their student government for additional funds to provide services and equipment. At the University of Portland, they look to ASUP in order to obtain money outside of their original budgets.

Copies of The Log

Both The Log and KDUP have used this resource. For The Log, “It’s very rare and certain not necessary for them to operate,” Koffler says. The Log has gone to ASUP in the past for certain equipment such a new camera for their staff photographers to use.

Of the student media organizations, KDUP frequently requests funds from ASUP. “We have to submit a budget and we have to go to the senate meetings,” KDUP’s General Manager, Sal Liotta says.

Caitlin Chu, ASUP Treasurer helps decide what funds are given to the radio station when requested. Her and the ASUP senators attend budget meetings every semester to allocate money to the clubs and organizations on campus. They recently had a budget meeting at the end of November to allocate funds for the spring semester. She notes how KDUP is not treated any differently than any other club. “We hold them to the same exact standards, like if you have a band we cap you, or if you're asking for something that's frivolous we'll cut you. You need to know that all of the items we purchase for you are ASUP property,” Chu says.

Awards given to The Beacon

Chu says that the radio station usually requests money for improvements of their building so it can be safe, secure, and functioning. They also ask for money to put on events, such as concerts, on campus. In the case that they want to put on a concert or an event they have not allocated funds for, they go through the same process of reallocating funds as any other club.

The Beacon is the one organization that does not get any funds through ASUP. “I know we have the option of asking for funds from ASUP but we choose not to,” Peters says.

The KDUP Radio Station

As a newspaper The Beacon does not receive funds from ASUP due a conflict of interest. Nancy Copic, adviser for The Beacon and the Assistant Director for Student Media notes, “We choose not to ask ASUP for money because it would be a conflict of interest in our opinion because if we are getting money from ASUP and are beholden to them, how could we really report on them?”

Looking to student government for funding is not always necessary for student media. “It’s not ideal. It would be nice if the university could just fund everything but we live in a world with scare resources and so when it’s appropriate I think it’s good, for KDUP specifically, to formulate some goals and to go to the student body and say “Hey will you support this?” because it actually allows them to be more integrated with the student population and gets their name out their quite a bit more if their actually doing activities. It make sense,” Koffler says.

The Allocation of Funds

Money being given to each student media from the university or ASUP is still being spent to further each organizations general operation. The largest amount of funds is spent printing and student employment. Other than KDUP, in terms of printing, these are the greatest costs for each media.

The Beacon spends over $22,000 on printing alone. “The biggest expense, besides salaries for the students, is actually printing the paper and delivering it,” Copic says.

The Log spends more than $27,000 on their services, including their Walsworth contract, which includes the printing of the yearbook.

For The Log, student salaries make up almost a third of their budget, and they only have nine staff members. For the approximately thirty staff members on The Beacon, salaries are almost two-thirds of their budget. Since KDUP does not have the issue of printing, most of their budget is dedicated to student salaries.

Salaries can range from around $1,000 for a photographer or reporter position on The Beacon staff to over $4,000 for the Editor-in-Chief and General Manager positions.

I In certain cases funds for student salaries are moved around as new positions are created. Such happened with The Beacon last year. “In the past I’ve actually created jobs out of people who applied and I’ve seen their work and I thought that they would make a great design editor but maybe not a great reporter. It’s just rearranging the funds we already have and trying to find a way to pay people to do what they do best,” Peters says.

Other funds are given towards office supplies, events and functions, travel, professional development, and advertising.

The Beacon's funds for advertising are different than The Log and KDUP. Peters notes that they’re required to raise about $8,000 of their own capital. That is done through advertising and people subscribing to the newspaper. The Beacon’s advertisers range from the university, to North Portland businesses, and to national and regional advertisers.

Are their funds enough? How do they compensate?

Shelves of CD's in the KDUP Radio Station

“I think KDUP is given a good amount of money. I think the funds are definitely in place. It’s just really up to the staff and the GM to motivate the staff to produce quality radio shows and quality materials. As far as the size of the radio station right now, I think the money is allocated pretty correctly,” Liotta says.

“I don’t feel like I have anything to complain about in that regard. I feel like financially the money that the university allocates to student media for The Beacon is acceptable,” Copic says.

The student leaders and student media advisers accept the amount of funds they are given but they each see room and hope for improvement. The major concern to Koffler is that they don’t have enough money and that they’d like to do more. He believes it is just scarce resources.
 

“I’d like to see the paper brought up to more of a professional level,” Peters says. She explains that she’d like to see the newspaper have video capabilities in the future, more social events, and more work stations that include the same design and editing platforms. One of The Beacon computers is currently running different versions of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop which makes opening and editing files from one computer to another difficult.

Despite the lack of funds, each student media is able to use their resources wisely to further their media. Most of their additional resources are free for their use.

KDUP has the largest free resource, the students of the university. KDUP had about fifty student volunteers as DJ’s. “We don’t have the budget to pay DJ’s. That would fundamentally alter what the radio station is. But to attract that amount of volunteers is a good thing,” Liotta says.

The On-Air sign at the KDUP Radio Station

They also get free CD’s from record labels, concert tickets from promoters and publishers, and other promotional materials. It is the job of the Music Director to maintain those relationships in order to continue to get these perks.

The Beacon uses the Internet as an additional resource. “I’ve made it my goal to never ask for more money. I think there are plenty of online free resources that we can use,” Peters says. They use the website Issuu, an interactive PDF browser, to be able to publish their newspaper online and in full color. They also use Google Analytics in order to better target certain readers of the newspaper.

Conclusion

As student media is given a large sum of money to operate, they do not spend their money unwisely. Peters comments, “I don’t think you need to be spending a ton of money to do what we do.”

They receive their money directly from the university, and get enough to sustain each of their organizations. If other funds are needed they have the resources available to attain them.

Of course The Beacon’s budget is larger than The Log’s or KDUP’s but in terms of which medium is more prevalent, it makes senses. In terms of KDUP Liotta notes that, “the radio itself is kind of a fading medium which isn’t a surprise to anyone.”

KDUP news clips from The Beacon

Regardless of the amount of money given to each media, the core source of their original budgets is the same. And in terms of where that money goes, depends on what each organization needs each year. It will vary from year to year and from each suggestion of different Editor-in-Chiefs and General Managers. But it is not spent on anything that will be a detriment to the organization.

Each organization has their set budget, it’s allocations, and additional resources to run their media. Though Koffler believes that they do not have as large of a budget as possible, as he knows it is not feasible, but believes that the money given to each student media organization is used as wisely as it can be.

The current issue of The Log and issues of The Beacon can both be viewed online on their respective Issuu sites (The Log, The Beacon). KDUP can also be found on their website where you can view the station schedule and stream the station from your home computer. You can also check them out on their Tumblr account where they post monthly mix tapes and new music for listeners to be introduced to.

Balancing Interests: An Investigation into the Boundary Changes of Portland Public Schools in Northeast

Like it or not, the boundaries of Northeast Portland public schools are going to change. While changing the boundaries is not the only course of action available when trying to balance enrollment numbers, it is the option the Portland Public School (PPS) board will pursue.

According to PPS Director of Enrollment and Transfers Judy Brennan, neglecting to change the boundaries has led to the overcrowding and scarcity of students in elementary and middle school classrooms. This does not mean that PPS has not tried to fix the problem in the past.

Judy Brennan, addressing parents at Community Meeting at Grant HS

From closing down schools that could not be financed and reconfiguring boundaries to creating feeder schools and limiting the number of transfer students per school, the PPS board has been trying to balance the enrollment numbers in schools since 2006.

Rigler School, one of the six schools that will be affected by the boundary change, and its surrounding community has experienced these changes more than any other community involved. Since 1999, PPS has tried to settle the issue of overcrowding with Rigler School 7^th and 8^th graders.

For the past 12 years, PPS has reassigned  Rigler middle school students to eight different schools in an attempt to alleviate overcrowding. However,  multiple middle school closures and overcrowding at designated feeder schools have caused Rigler's students to be jerked from one school to the next.

 Though the changes were necessary, PPS is far from pleased with the results. “It’s not a history to be proud of at all,” Brennan comments. “They really do deserve stability especially because of that history.” Brennan believes that out of all the schools involved, Rigler School’s stability should be the highest priority because this problem has been reoccurring.

Community Concerns

 Parents  of the other five schools involved, Alameda, Beaumont, Irvington, Sabin and Vernon, are worried that something similar will happen in their communities. Jane McFarland, a parent of a Beaumont alumnus, feels that history could just be repeating itself as previous changes have caused problems inadvertently. “Over six years, various processes related to Portland schools have resulted in unintended consequences, and that may be the case again this year.”

Her fears are echoed by many parents who attended their individual school forums and the community meetings held on Nov. 29^th at Grant High School and Dec. 5^th at Madison High School. Her and other parents are searching for clarity in the proposed changes.

The biggest concerns voiced by parents at the meetings, aside from misunderstanding, included sending children to  the "good schools", keeping siblings together and the distance between a family’s home and their assigned schools. Susan Samuelson, a mother whose child will be required to attend Irvington, also brought up the issue of neighborhood friends. “The younger children in my area will all go to Beaumont, because of sibling preference, and my child will be left isolated at Irvington.”

Samuelson is not the only one worried that a child’s neighborhood friends and school friends will differ. Some parents find themselves living in a neighborhood near one school but find themselves being assigned to a school that is farther away. Others are worried about whether their children will be able to walk or ride a bike to school.

Concerned parents, such as Susan Samuelson,
voice opinions at  Community  Meetings

Other concerns include continuing family tradition, being informed regularly during the process, schools being converted from elementary/middle schools (K-8s) to just elementary schools (K-5s) and the importance of attending a separate middle school.

Administrators are concerned as well. Principal of Beaumont Middle School, Elizabeth Casson-Taylor is concerned with how school programs will be affected. “I am concerned that all the pieces won’t be on the table for consideration.” By pieces, Principal Casson-Taylor is referring to programs such as Special Education, ELL and other programs provided by Beaumont.

 She also hopes that when the boundaries are changed, all community concerns will be considered and, most importantly, that the change is permanent. “The final decision needs to be consistent. Flip-flopping like this is not good for students," says Casson-Taylor. 

Kate Anderson, a kindergarten teacher at Sabin, touched on the issue of diversity. “If we’re looking at enrollment balancing… and what is best for student, we should consider bringing in more immersion programs.” Anderson believes that the enrollment balancing could possibly inhibit diversity among the schools.

Not all of the feedback received from PPS forums and community meetings has been negative. Some parents and administrators have praised PPS for their continued diligence in providing information on their website and  their attempts to reach out to the community.

Portland Public Schools Concerns

Even though any feedback from parents is help, Enrollment and Transfers Director Brennan is still wary about what she has received. Brennan is worried that parents from diverse backgrounds have failed to step up and speak out about the proposed changes.


"Understanding the demographic that the school's support, we didn't have a very diverse population there. We support Vietnamese speakers, Somali speakers, Spanish speakers and we have families of color... And that's a concern," Brennan explained. She hopes that those parents will speak out as the changes tend to affect them most.

PPS is also concerned with how parents are responding. While the constant changes with boundaries have exasperated school administrators, faculty and staff, parents and the surrounding Portland community, failure to change the boundaries could cause more harm for students than people realize.

If the boundaries do not change, students could be affected by either a lack of student-teacher interaction or patronizing programs that promote academic excellence. PPS cannot express to the community just how important these changes are.

Pamela Van der Wolf, assistant principal at Alameda Elementary School, agrees. “There definitely needs to be a change. We’ve got huge classrooms. We’ve got 33 to 34 students in a classroom, which for an elementary school, is not good practice.”

Assistant Principal Pamela Van der Wolf

Not only do crowded classrooms affect a student’s individual learning, it has an effect on the schools that are below their school target size. 

Schools such as Beaumont, Sabin and Irvington have reached their target minimum successfully for the last five years.


 However, these schools could be housing more students. The more students a school has, the more funding a school can be allotted. The more funding a school has, the more programs and supplies a school can acquire.

Portland Public School funding is regulated through the state of Oregon’s Department of Education. Each school budget is determined on a per-student basis. Schools can also receive funding through allocated grants related to Title I eligibility, administration support and the socioeconomic status of students.

 For example, Beaumont middle school is allotted $5200 per student. With an enrollment of  455 students  last year, Beaumont’s budget was $2,366,000. The majority of this money is allotted towards faculty and staff salaries while the rest goes to support school programs such as special education or English Language Learning.

A School's budget is dependent on the number
of students enrolled.

With recent state budget cuts, PPS has found itself needing to adjust accordingly and reconfigure the entire budget.


 “Schools that used to be considered small became schools we couldn’t support financially,” Brennan explains.


Schools such as Marshall High School were closed in an effort to consolidate students and resources.

                                               

The Proposals

In an effort decrease the number of students at Rigler and Alameda schools and to increase the number of students at Beaumont, Irvington and Sabin, PPS has developed a two-part proposal. The first part of the proposal focuses on changing the boundary and grade reconfiguration while the second part focuses on changing the transfer system.

Should it be approved by the Superintendent, the boundary change would occur along the western edge of the Alameda/Beaumont boundary. The boundary would shift east, giving more area to the Sabin and Irvington boundaries, assigning more students to those schools.
 

  Proposed Boundary Shift

                       
                                                         View Proposed PPS Grant Area Boundary in a larger map


Along with the shift in boundaries, certain grades would be reconfigured. It has been proposed that Rigler be converted from a K-8 to a K-5 and the extra students be placed at either Beaumont or Vernon for 6^th to 8^th grade. Additionally, Beaumont would become a feeder school for either Rigler or Sabin depending on the results of the first change.

In regards to the transfer system, it has been proposed that transfer students from Sabin to Beaumont either continue to be able to transfer as stated in a previous guarantee but have limited transportation resources or that the guarantee be ended and phase out transportation to the transfer students.


There would also be a limitation to the amount of students allowed to transfer into any PPS neighborhood.
This change is an attempt to discourage families from sending their children to schools outside of their assigned boundary.

The proposal has received both praise and criticism from the Portland Community. While some parents are displeased with the proposed changes, such as Sabin parents who are against the grade reconfiguration, others, such as Rigler parents are hopeful that this change will be the one that fixes the problem.

Some Rigler parents, such as Laura Peraza, are in full support that Rigler students should eventually attend Beaumont. “Rigler students would benefit from attending Beaumont because it’s a middle school, and at Vernon, our children would have to blend in with kids who have been together since kindergarten.”  Peraza also mentioned that at least 66 other parents agree and  they are collecting signatures.

Conclusion

Despite most of the negativity about the proposal, Brennan of PPS knows that you cannot make everyone happy. “We haven’t found a way to change boundaries without a big shake up.” Brennan explains. She realizes that parents  have  made some decisions based on feelings instead of facts.

While all 85 PPS schools are staffed and maintained under PPS, Brennan understands that there are still schools with certain reputations. In this case, schools that are under capacity are sometimes considered to be “bad schools.” 

Brennan understands how parents come to this conclusion but insists it is not true. “If we can balance enrollment between schools, so we don’t have smaller schools with few programs and bigger schools with a lot of programs, then we wouldn’t have the perception that some schools are better than others.”

As for the disgruntled parents, Brennan wishes everyone would look at the bigger picture. “At the end, your kids are going to be fine” she says. “The most important thing that happens for kids, regardless of the school they attend, is the relationship with the teacher...it's the most important thing.”





Additional Information

The PPS proposal was reviewed by the PPS Board on Dec. 12th, 2011. Superintendent Carole Smith will offer a recommendation and the School Board will make a final decision in January.

For more information about Enrollment Balancing or updates on the process, please visit: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/enrollment-transfer/enrollment-balancing.htm