UA Alumni Magazine Wins National Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Office of Alumni Affairs’ Alabama Alumni Magazine has received an Award of Excellence in the 2005 APEX Awards for its winter 2004 edition.

The APEX Awards for Publication Excellence are for professionals who write, edit and manage business communications. Selections of winners are based on excellence in editorial content, design and overall communication effectiveness.

“The most important benefit earned is some much-deserved recognition for my student staff members who have proven they can compete successfully on a national level with large, professionally staffed publication offices in major businesses and universities,” said Janice Fink, manager of alumni publications at UA.

“Each year, two to three undergraduate student interns work in the Alumni Publications office as editorial assistants, helping to produce the magazine and other projects. These awards will make a valuable addition to their resumes after graduation,” Fink explained.

In the 2005 competition, APEX received almost 5,000 entries in 109 categories under 11 different headings. UA won in the area of Magazines and Journals. Other winners listed in this area include the American Red Cross, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Caltech, George Washington University Medical Center, Merrill Lynch, Toyota Motor Sales, the Society of Women Engineers, the University Of Tennessee Institute Of Agriculture and the University of Texas at Arlington.

“These awards are particularly important to us because we are being compared to thousands of business and corporate magazines and journals from around the world, along with higher education publications, so the competition is particularly challenging,” said Fink.

The Alabama Alumni Magazine has been published for more than 125 years, and recently has undergone some changes. The format is longer and the content focuses on feature articles, personality profiles, sports coverage and book reviews all tied together with a common theme. The magazine also provides much of its own photography with the help of student photographers.

“We are one of the oldest continuously published alumni publications in existence today. As well as going to more than 28,000 active National Alumni Association members, the magazine is distributed to leaders in the UA community, state and national legislators and other decision makers, and to other universities across the country.

“And through the Internet, our articles are read around the world,” Fink noted.