Staff Organization Proposal


10/28/98

Hermes' Decision-Making Process:

Hermes is a collective. It makes decisions through consensus. Consensus doesn't mean a vote--it means we work on a proposal as a body until we come up with something that everyone can accept, even if they don't totally agree with it.
All staff-members should be informed well before any meeting that will discuss structural changes to Hermes. If consensus cannot be reached with a reasonable amount of effort (even if only one person adamantly refuses to approve a proposal), then a proposal can be voted through by a 3/4 majority. A show of hands is acceptable if no-one requests a secret ballot.

Proposal for Changes to Hermes' Staff Structure:

BACKGROUND
Over the last 23 years, Hermes has been organized a bunch of different ways. We've had editorial collectives, coordinators, focalizers, and final approvers. For the past few years, responsibility has pretty much defaulted to anyone who cares about the magazine and knows what they're doing.
When the staff relies on one or two people to work out all the nuts and bolts of production and make sure that the issue gets to the printers, there can be a couple problems. One is that when those people go abroad, burn out, or come down with a thesis, it leaves the magazine strapped. The other is that there's no formal avenue for training new members of the magazine. Any student group has to deal with the fact that its most experienced staffers will graduate at the end of every year. Most that last for more than four years set up some kind of structure that assures that each wave of new members figures out what it's doing by the time that happens.

PROPOSAL

1) Fill coordinators' positions for each issue in order to divide the administrative responsibilities involved in production.
o These should be nut-and-bolts tasks that anyone can carry out as long as they have directions, regardless of 'talent' and with minimal experience.
o The actual staffer occupying a coordinator position can and should change from issue to issue, so no-one is over-burdened with the magazine and everyone gets a handle on how things run. This is a division of labor, not the creation of a power heirarchy.
o Being responsible for the tasks included under a coordinator postion doesn't mean that that staff-member has to personally do them all--just that s/he has to make sure they get done.

2) Production responsibilities shall be divided among the coordinators as follows:

Issue Coordinator:

Basically, this person oversees the production timetable and keeps everyone in touch with what's going on.
o Default meeting facilitator for all meetings up to and during production of the issue. Responsible for transcribing the white board to paper should it fill up and need to be erased.
o Reserves the Student Publications Office (aka Hermes office) for production weekend. This just means marking the days you'll be using the office on the calendar attached to the door so we don't have a conflict with Iahu or Chartreuse or someone.
o Sends out 'nag' phone calls to authors the week before production, checking status and expected length of incoming articles.
o Responsible for creating/finding/soliciting front and back covers as well as graphics for articles.
o Makes sure all submissions are in electronic format on the hard disk, and printed out in the "articles in" bin.
o Calls the staff in for edits.
o Calls authors in to enter changes on their articles. Responsible for correcting factual, grammatic, and spelling errors in any article that the author cannot enter changes on him or herself.
o Calls Rare Reminder to give them a prospective pick-up time and date.
o Responsible for entering changes on the issue after final edits.
o Calls Rare Reminder to confirm/postpone pickup date and time.

Layout Coordinator:

Basically in charge of getting the magazine from edits to final edits.
o Plots out the master layout (i.e. what articles will go on what pages).
o Responsible for getting all graphics onto the hard-disk in usable format (Tif or JPEG).
o Blocks out layout time and page responsibilities. This means scheduling time on the Hermes office computer for layout, and telling people what pages to lay out. We've just updated Quark and hope to have people laying out in the CFA computer lab at the same time as in the office to speed up production. This means someone has to make sure they aren't laying out the same pages at once.
o Responsible for laying out drop-in format pages: the TOC, staff box and campus diary, Hermes Index, etc.
o Responsible for checking dates, tags, symbols, and margins on all pages.
o Calls the issue coordinator to let him/her know when the issue will be ready for final edits.
o Prints out the issue for final edits.
o Responsible for repairing any glaring layout errors immediately after final edits, then goes to sleep.

Distribution Coordinator:

Makes sure that the issue gets everywhere it needs to go and that the office is in good order in time for the next production weekend.
o Organizes/Oversees a clean-up of the office after the issue gets to the printers.
o Checks in the WSA building daily to see if the issue's back from the printers.
o Posts a distribution check-off list and sends out a staff voice-mail when the issue arrives; responsible for getting issues everywhere on the list within a reasonably short period of time (say, 36 hours) and replenishing locations (like the campus center) when necessary.
o Takes one stack up to the office: files six copies of the issue in the Hermes Archives, one on the periodicals shelves.
o Sends out issues to subscribers and article exchanges within a week of publication. Mails nag letters to unpaid subscribers.
o Responsible for seeing that the webpage is updated with the new issue sometime before the next one goes into production (there are instructions for the semi-computer-literate on the WebPage itself, but you can have someone else do this if you're terrified of computers).
o Stops in the office at least once a week until the next production weekend to sort through our mail, check voice-mail, and drop off the current Argus (for our Argus archives). (You'll probably be stopping in once a week to do the cleanup, the mailings, and the webpage, anyway).

3) Guidelines for choosing coordinators:
o The issue coordinator should be chosen at the first meeting after production of the previous issue ends. The other coordinators should be chosen one week in advance of, or going into, production weekend. This way people who know that they'll have a good amount of free time and head-space during production weekend can volunteer. o Coordinators should have already participated in producing a couple issues.
o In the event that not every position is filled for an issue, someone can fill more than one position, or more than one person can divide the position's responsibilities as they see fit.
o In the (unlikely) event that more than one person wants to be a particular coordinator, the one with more hair on his/her chest wins. (Or the group can decide by consensus who's best suited according to any criteria--i.e. seniority vs. need to train new members, past performance/turns coordinating, heads or tails.)

Note: We should have an updated Hermes manual out before next production weekend that will have step-by-step instructions on how to do everything listed under the various coordinator positions above. Until then, just ask Brian (x7195) if you have any questions about anything.

Note on other staffing responsibilities: The WSA asks us to list two contact people for the group. Traditionally these two divide the responsibilities of treasurer and office manager: they put in out budget, watch the money, order office and photo supplies, and keep up with correspondances.