Student achievement is important, and the University of Iowa makes it a priority to share this news as widely as possible, including through hometown news releases prepared by University News Services. However, because of limited resources, the time involved in gathering and disseminating hometown news releases, and a growing trend among newspapers away from printing lists of award winners, UNS gives priority to graduation, president’s and dean’s lists.
UNS will consider preparing hometown news releases for other awards and achievements as time and resources allow. In those cases, precedence will be given to awards that bring national recognition and visibility to the students and university (for example, Fulbright Scholar Awards and Rhodes Scholarships).
To determine how UNS can assist you with your hometown news question, please refer to the relevant information below.
Graduation, President’s and Dean’s Lists
UNS is notified twice a year of students who qualify for the president’s list and three times a year of students who qualify for the dean’s list. We also receive the list of UI graduates in May and December. UNS, in turn, announces these achievements to newspapers based on the primary parent addresses listed in student records, so long as students have not restricted this information from publication.
To qualify for the dean’s list, a student must earn a minimum 3.5 grade point average (based on a 4.0 scale) for current work and have completed at least 12 graded hours during the most recent semester.
To be included on the president’s list, a student must have a minimum 4.0 grade point average in all academic subjects for the preceding two semesters, with at least 12 graded semester hours of credit per semester in that period.
For a variety of reasons, qualifying information may be submitted to newspapers up to a year after the semester ends or graduation occurs—for example, a student might take an incomplete grade in a class and not immediately satisfy course requirements. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents UNS from commenting on a student’s academic status; once a month, however, UNS will submit to newspapers any newly verified information.
Hometown news releases for other major awards
Before sending us a news release, please check with your college or department’s contact in UNS or UI Health Care Media Relations so he or she can help you determine the best channel for your news. You can view a list of contacts at http://news.uiowa.edu/staff.html.
If we determine that a hometown news release is the best and most appropriate vehicle for your news, the college, program or department requesting the hometown news release will be responsible for providing the information in a standard format using one of the templates below.
Hometown News Templates
To download one of these documents, right click and then search for "Hometown" in your download folder.
Here is a sample release.
Hometown new releases should include 100 or fewer students, and email addresses should be included for out-of-state newspapers to which the hometown release should be sent. We require at least one week after the release gets final approval to distribute it.
For more information about hometown news, contact Deborah Thumma at 319-384-0006, or deborah-thumma@uiowa.edu, or Lois Gray at 319-384-0077, or lois-gray@uiowa.edu.
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