by Allianah Bolotaulo | May 25, 2023
After two academic years of opening applications in August, Silliman University (SU) student publications returned to their “original time frame” so that the editorial board is in place before the incoming school year, said Melita Aguilar, Office of Information and Publications (OIP) Director.
The applications opened last May 10 for the Weekly Sillimanian (tWS), the university’s official weekly publication, and the Portal Yearbook 2024.
Aguilar said that before the pandemic, the University Publications Committee (UPC) “already met and decided” on the next editorial board for both publications before the end of the school year.
She said, “[During the pandemic] we had to do the digital version where everything was online, [but] now that we are back to the face-to-face [modality], the situation is different.”
Current editors-in-chief Anna Avery Zapanta of tWS and Kaye Angelie Bacasnot of Portal agreed on the importance of opening applications early.
Zapanta said that it will give the staff “sufficient time to be trained and oriented with their jobs, roles, and responsibilities.”
“This will guarantee that the staff is prepared to do coverage as early as the beginning of classes and cover important events such as [the] Hibalag during August,” she added.
For Bacasnot, the staff can “plot the things they need to do” when appointed earlier.
She said, “It was late for 2023, so there were things that got rushed and overlooked.”
Zapanta and Bacasnot expect the next student publications staff to have strong initiative and a sense of urgency.
“I’m hoping for people who are proficient in the field of journalism, with academic loads that aren’t too heavy so that they don’t have to stretch themselves thin trying to cater to both academic and extracurricular commitments,” said Zapanta.
“I expect them to be challenged to come up with innovation in terms of the process and to really think outside the box,” Bacasnot said.
To join the tWS or Portal staff, interested students must submit their application, take the qualifying exam, and if qualified, be interviewed by a panel from the UPC.
The qualifying exam is scheduled on May 27 and 31 at Emilio T. Yap Hall.
