Standard X		Physical Resources
Rosemarie K. Cummings		rcummings@wellesley.edu

The Wellesley College Office for Public Affairs, comprised of the Office for Public Information and Government Relations and the Office for Communications and Publications, presents well-documented, up-to-date and accurate information of the College to students, parents, alumnae, the media and other interested parties.

The director of public information and government relations serves as the principal spokesperson for the College and offers statements of record and responses to inquiries by the media and others. The annual financial report of the College is available upon request from the Public Information Office. In 1998 the College also issued a separate president's report, To Make a Difference: Lessons of Leadership from Wellesley College.

The Communications and Publications Office is responsible for all major College publications. They include the official College catalog and prospectus; brochures about financial aid, minorities, international students, athletics and Davis Scholars; literature about continuing education and postbaccalaureate study programs; a visitor's guide, a fact sheet listing vital statistics of the College for the year in which it is published, academic department and library literature, application and informational material for prospective and entering students, brochures about graduates, posters, commencement, baccalaureate and convocation programs; admission video; admission web site; and publications announcing and describing special College programs.

Major College publications including the catalog, overview, visitor's guide, prospectus, and financial aid, ALANA (description of Wellesley's diversity), athletics, international student, Davis degree and postbaccalaureate program brochures are accessible through the College's admission web site.

The College catalog (bulletin) is the authoritative document of record for the academic year in which it is published. Published each August, the catalog includes: statement of purpose, admission and financial aid criteria, academic calendar, curriculum, academic policies and procedures, continuing education programs, special academic programs, courses of instruction, facilities and academic resources, student fees and expenses, student and resident life, the Honor Code, student government and services, complete roster of faculty, administration, Board of Trustees, officers of the Alumnae Association, and members of the National Development and Outreach Council. The College catalog also indicates the availability of programs, courses and faculty for the academic year. Refer to Page 75 in the 1998-99 catalog for a legend indicating availability status.

The College fact sheet, the College overview, and the College catalog provide a comprehensive and accurate description of the College's facilities and academic resources, current student body and the range of extracurricular activities offered (all publications cited are available in the reading room).

Though a Wellesley College degree signifies a student has reached the required level of academic achievement, the College makes no specific promise of placement or success in a given field by virtue of earning a degree here. However, the many and varied accomplishments of the College's alumnae are readily observed in national media, professional journals and organizations, in the College's own recognition of its graduates through annual Alumnae Achievement Awards, and through alumnae membership in the Business Leadership Council. The College publishes employment and graduate school statistics for recent classes in its annual fact sheet.

A notice of Wellesley's reaccreditation and a call for public comment was published in the fall 1998 issue of Wellesley alumnae magazine, which is distributed to all alumnae and parents (please see copy in reading room). It was also published on the public and faculty-staff electronic bulletin boards available through the Campus Wide Information System.

The responsibility of the Office for Communications and Publications is to provide information that is accurate, informative, and prompt -- in print, via the Internet, in video programs, and in alumnae outreach. It is also the responsibility of the Office for Communications and Publications to insure that the College's academic and student life is presented truthfully and realistically in its print and electronic publications.

The College publications are reviewed and revised annually by the appropriate departments responsible for the various sections in each publication. In addition, to ensure factual accuracy and truthful representation of the College's mission, educational policies, and recruitment programs, at least three people read and review each section before publication and approve content, style and revisions or additions. Once the accuracy of facts and statistics are established, every effort is made to ensure that they are reported consistently across all College publications.

Before each publication is written, students, faculty and members of the administration are consulted and interviewed to ensure an accurate description of the College's mission and life on campus. In addition to a detailed account of Wellesley's academic programs and student life activities, major publications include the most recent curricular developments and innovations and a realistic portrayal of student life on campus. Individual interviews with members of the faculty and students are conducted regularly to find out about new teaching methods and classroom technologies, and student attitudes and expectations. The completed publication is published only upon final approval of the appropriate department or person.

Each year the entire publications program is reviewed to evaluate its continued effectiveness. In these times with fast changing attitudes and expectations every effort is being made to be sensitive to the needs of all representative groups of the Wellesley community and to make their voices heard. To be aware of these changes and expectations is an ongoing challenge for the College, but one that the College is committed to addressing and solving. To that end, the College is conducting an in-depth admission marketing study. As part of the study, focus groups of first-year students have been asked to describe how Wellesley was portrayed vs. what they found upon matriculation. The recommendations resulting from the study will be incorporated into the publications program as part of the College's ongoing effort to remain responsive to the needs of an evolving student body.