Procedures: Media Requests

All requests from the media should first be routed through the Office of Communications and Brand Marketing (OCM). If any member of the media contacts an administrator, staff or faculty member directly, that person is to refer them to the \Office of Communications and Brand Marketing before commenting. This policy does not refer to trade publications, professional journals, academic publications or list-serves.

This policy allows OCM to serve as an intermediary to find out the angle of the story and potential questions. This will enable us to provide you with time to consider/prepare your answers.

We very much encourage you to comment to the news media on topics in your area of academic or professional expertise, and when doing so, you can freely use your university affiliation and title. We want the general public to know that we have a multitude of experts on the campus capable of speaking on any number of academic or professional topics.

To help us in this endeavor, we have established a Media Resource Guide that lists faculty members and administrators and their areas of expertise. This guide is distributed to the media annually to help them in their reporting. It does not include contact information as we route the requests through the Office of Communications and Marketing.

To update or add your information to this guide, contact Marissa Rodriguez at marodr33@uiwtx.edu.

Administrators/faculty wishing to utilize their university affiliation and title with the news media on issues outside of their areas of expertise, whether it's in a newspaper column, a letter to the editor, commenting in a news story, or any other such medium, must first notify the Office of the President. They will determine whether it is appropriate to use your UIW affiliation. Please note that if you simply want to be identified as a private citizen without your University affiliation, you do not have to contact the Office of the President.

University Media Policy

The University of the Incarnate Word recognizes that freedom of speech and academic freedom are an integral part of our country and the university community. The Board of Trustees has the responsibility of protecting the integrity and the reputation of the University of the Incarnate Word. It is the policy of the Board of Trustees to recognize that members of the administration, faculty or staff have the right to free speech. In exercising this right, if an individual(s) desires to directly associate him/herself with the University with the news media on issues outside his or her area of expertise – whether it is in a newspaper column, letter to the editor, editorial piece, electronic medium or any other such medium, then he/she is required to submit the proposed comments or article to the President of the University prior to submission. This policy does not extend to items placed in professional journals, professional list-serves, academic publications or to being interviewed by the news media as an expert in a discipline.

Please note that if you simply want to be identified as a private citizen without your University affiliation, you do not have to contact the Office of the President. This policy was developed in order to prevent confusion among the general public, including all media, as to who is authorized to serve as official spokesperson for the University and its affiliated communities on all matters, namely the President of the University or an agent(s) designated by the President.