Heersink Newsletter Guidelines

Key Guiding Principles

• Newsletter content must be both
  • Applicable to a majority of the school or a group within the school (faculty, staff, trainees, or students)
  • Feature faculty or staff who have a primary appointment in the Heersink School of Medicine
• Aligns with our core pillars: patient care, education, and discovery
• Features something new, first-of-its-kind, or groundbreaking
• Offer a unique or widely impactful angle

Submission Guidelines

• Newsletter submissions are due by EOD Friday for the following week’s newsletter. Please contact Kelsi Lindemann if you have something timely that cannot be submitted by the deadline.
• Story submissions must include a 680x510 px high quality photo. Priority will be given to submissions with photos over those without.
• All story, announcement, and event submissions should include a write-up that is compliant with Heersink style and AP stylebook, and include a URL to details.
  • Note: PDFs must be compliant with accessibility standards. For this reason, we strongly suggest providing a URL.

Content Inclusion Guidelines

Research

Focuses on scholarly output and funding.

• Grant coverage criteria (must meet one of the following)
  • $5 million+ in total funding (it could be spread across multiple years)
  • Impact aligns with statewide, regional, or national strategic initiatives
  • Cross disciplinary across institution and hold significant importance to a core pillar
• Publication feature criteria
  • Must be published in a top-tier, non-specialty-specific, national publication. Examples: Nature (series), NEJM, JAMA, Cell, JCI, JEM, Science, Lancet)
    • Exceptions to the non-specialty-specific publications are journals with broad significance, such as the American Heart Association.
    • Studies outside this scope could be submitted for consideration for Featured Discovery.

Awards & Recognition

Highlights accomplishments and accolades in and outside Heersink School of Medicine.

• Internal awards at the school and university level
• Notable faculty, staff, or trainee awards/honors by national external organizations
• External appointments of president or similar level role of national organization that encompasses more than one specialty (Ex. American Academy of Pediatrics–no, AAMC–yes)
  • Specialty-specific organizations will be accepted for department chair or higher faculty
  • Tip: Include some context of the magnitude of the award in your submission description.
• Awards from the Heersink Dean’s Office will be shared collectively in one article from the school. Please do not submit individual articles for Dean’s Excellence Awards, Endowed Chairs and Professorships, Brewer Heslin, Pittman Scholars, etc.

Personnel News

Covers leadership internal appointments and notable faculty changes

• Job postings
  • We will only publicize job postings for the following roles
    • Executive vice dean, senior vice dean, senior associate dean, associate dean, assistant dean, regional dean
    • Department chairs
    • Center and institute directors
    • Senior administrative faculty positions appointed by the dean
    • Director, assistant director, and associate director roles for school-wide programs within the Department of Medical Education
  • New leaders and promotions
    • Top featured story, when announced: Dean, senior associate dean, regional dean, department chair, and center and institute director
      • Brief mention when they start in that role (if starting three months or later from the initial announcement)
    • Featured story, when announced: Associate dean, assistant dean
    • Story mention: Department vice chair, division director (department communicator is responsible for writing and submitting for inclusion)
    • Other new or promoted faculty and staff should be celebrated in your area’s newsletter.
    • Endowed Chairs and Professorships
      • Shared collectively by the Heersink Dean’s Office after being honored at a reception. Please do not submit individual articles.
    • Death of a faculty member
      • These are considered on a case-by-case basis and could include employees such as:
        • Dean, executive vice dean, senior vice dean, senior associate dean, associate dean, assistant dean, regional dean
        • Someone who had a significant footprint across the Heersink School of Medicine
      • Circumstances and the family’s preference will be taken into consideration.
      • Must be approved by the dean and central.

Meetings & Events

• Features national experts or has regional, national, international, or school-wide impact
• Cross departmental or school-wide collaboration
• Institutional significance or strategic alignment
• We will not share
  • Standing/repeating events - Example: Grand rounds, journal clubs, etc
  • Event recaps, unless of exceptional importance
  • Training sessions, unless school-wide and strategically aligned
• Tip: Be sure to include a registration deadline, if there is one, and provide the campus calendar link with your event submission

In the News

• Faculty, staff, trainees, and students featured in national or international news coverage can be submitted for consideration of the In the News section.

Other

• RFAs and surveys will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Unit anniversary recognition will align with the university’s marks guidelines: 10^th, 25^th, 30^th, 50^th, 75^th, 100^th
• Educational course or program promotion can be included for new, first-of-its-kind, or groundbreaking courses/programs. An article covering the uniqueness must accompany the request. We will not include routine classes or programs or link out to the courses/programs themselves.
• Other content we look for includes unique and interesting news on topics such as wellness, community outreach, service, volunteerism, collaboration, interdisciplinary work, student stories, etc.

Note

• Newsletter blurbs will be 50-75 words (or less). While additional details are welcome and helpful in providing context, please note that the final version will be edited to meet this threshold.
• All stories must link out to an article on the Heersink School of Medicine, UAB news, or UAB Medicine sites.
• Submission does not guarantee placement. Space constraints may impact content inclusion. Additionally, any items not accepted for the newsletter may be considered for another channel, such as social media, at the editor’s discretion.
• Special topics may be considered based on Heersink leadership guidance.
• Guidelines will be reviewed and approved annually; however, they may be adjusted outside the review period.