Howdy from HOW!

Hunter Online Weekly (HOW) is the new email newsletter brought to you by members of the Hunter Life Committee!

HOW is an experimental new project that delivers news about the community to the community—students, faculty, and parents. HOW is launching this week and will be a weekly email containing the upcoming week's activities, events, and other important information. The Hunter Online Weekly Delivers You (HOWDY!) information about events such as:

• Club activities and fundraisers
• Events, performances, games, sign ups, etc.
• Term announcements
• Announcements from faculty
• Other opportunities for Hunter students

One of the main goals of the HOW is to gather all of the information contained on the signs posted throughout the hallways of Hunter and deliver it directly to your inbox every week. The information on your signs could reach a larger audience, save paper, and be easily accessible at a later date.

The best part about the Hunter Online Weekly is that you are welcome to contribute! If you have an announcement you’d like to see included in HOW simply send an email to  HOW@hccs.hunter.cuny.edu. Information included in HOW will be submitted weekly by students and faculty. Here are some examples of who should contribute:

• Club leaders
• Term council members
• Publication editors
• G.O. officers
• Club advisors, faculty members, department chairs, administration, etc.

Including your announcement in HOW is optional, but we hope for full participation so that it presents a robust picture of the many activities and opportunities that exist at Hunter. HOW will be organized into various sections for easy reference.

This project is launching in late May on a trial basis with the goal of continuing next year. We are starting now so we can work out any kinks and have a smooth beginning in the fall. If the last month of the school year goes well for HOW, we will be able to bring news to the Hunter community in the first few weeks of school.

HOW does not endeavor to replace any pre-existing method of communication such as the HCHS website, calendar, or Hilites newsletter, but instead aims to deliver new and time-sensitive information directly to community members. If you miss a poster or sign in the hallway, forget to check the website, or if there is simply a change or an announcement to be made, HOW might be able to fill in the gaps.

HOW it works:

• Announcements for the following week must be received by 4pm each Saturday, no exceptions (example – announcements for June 1st through June 5th need to be submitted by 4pm on May 30th).
• The HOW email will be sent out on Sunday.
• The Hunter Online Weekly will be sent to all students:
  • 7th - 9th grade students should check their HCHS email accounts (if you do not use this email, please check the “Student Zone” section of the HCHS website for instructions on how to forward your HCHS email to your personal account).
  • 10th – 12th grade students will receive HOW at the email address used to set up their Naviance accounts.
• The Hunter Online Weekly will be sent to all faculty members.
• PTA list-serve users will receive the email.
• Guidelines for submitting to HOW:
  • Include all relevant information – who, what, where, when.
  • Announcements should be brief. You may include a link to a website, an email address, or give another way for people to find out more.
  • You are welcome to suggest a category for your announcement.
  • Announcements should be edited! Send your information in a format that can simply be copied and pasted directly into the newsletter.
  • All submissions should pertain to the coming week.
  • Every club, department, term, organization, etc. should designate a member to send relevant announcements to the HOW email address.
  • Here is an example:
  • Best Club Ever (name of club or organization)
    

We are raising money to make our club even better! (brief description)
Monday, June 1st (date of event)
4th, activities, and 5th period (what time)
In the GO Foyer (location)
Baked goods will cost between 50 cents and 2 dollars. (any additional information or links you would like to include)

Please submit a short announcement to be included in next week's issue! Submissions are due by each Saturday at 4pm. The email will be sent on Sunday.

Hunter Online Weekly won’t be an effective communication tool without your submissions! Send your announcements about next week’s activities to  HOW@hccs.hunter.cuny.edu.

Thanks for reading this whole email! We hope to publicize your event or activity soon!

Howdy from HOW!

Hunter Online Weekly – Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Hunter Online Weekly?

A. HOW is an experimental new project that will deliver news about the community to the community—students, faculty, and parents. HOW is a weekly email containing the upcoming week's activities, events, and other important information.

Q. How does HOW work?

A. Members of the Hunter community submit announcements to  HOW@hccs.hunter.cuny.edu by 4pm each Saturday. Information is categorized and emailed to students, faculty, and parents the afternoon.

Q. Why do we need HOW?

A. Have you ever missed a bake sale or luncheon because you didn’t see the signs posted in the hallway? Or find out too late about a contest, audition, guest speaker, or extracurricular? Well, maybe you haven’t, but some people have! HOW will gather all of the information contained on the signs posted throughout the hallways of Hunter and deliver it directly to your inbox every week. Signs can still be put up, but if the information is also submitted to HOW it will reach a larger audience, save paper, and be easily accessible at a later date.

Q. How is information organized in HOW?

A. Information will be arranged by topic (clubs, sports, publications, G.O., etc.). If there is grade-specific information, that will be reflected as well.

Q. How do I make sure I receive HOW?

A. HOW will be sent to faculty email addresses. 7th – 9th grade students will receive HOW at their HCHS email addresses and 10th – 12th grade students will also receive at the email addresses they use to access Naviance. Parents will receive HOW through the PTA list-serve. Please see the Hunter website to learn how to forward email from HCHS email accounts to personal email accounts.

Q. Can I find HOW anywhere else?

A. There will be a link to a HOW blog on the HCHS website (COMING SOON!).

Q. Why is HOW being launched at the end of the school year?

A. The Hunter Life Committee has been discussing the issue of communication all year and HOW is an outgrowth of those discussions. Since HOW is starting in May, we will be able to hit the ground running in the fall so that new students will begin to learn about Hunter’s many opportunities right away. If we wait until the fall to begin HOW, it might get lost in the excitement and activity of the new school year.

Q. Isn’t this going to be a big job?

A. Not if everyone contributes! Hopefully students and faculty members will submit a ton of announcements and information to  HOW@hccs.hunter.cuny.edu and we won’t have to do a lot of legwork to gather it. We will simply copy and paste your announcement into the HOW email newsletter.

Q. What does the Hunter Life Committee have to do with this?

A. A few Hunter Life Committee members were inspired to launch HOW after many discussions in which students, faculty, and parents shared frustrations about sending and receiving information in the Hunter community.

Q. What are the rules for submission?

A. Submissions should be emailed by club leaders, faculty members, and others with relevant announcements about the next week’s activities by Saturday.

Q. What should be included?

• Include all relevant information – who, what, where, when.
• Announcements should be brief. You may also include a link to a website, an email address, or give another way for people to find out more.
• You are welcome to suggest a category for your announcement.
• Announcements should be edited! Send your information in a format that can simply be copied and pasted directly into the newsletter.
• All submissions should pertain to the coming week.
• Every club, department, term, organization, etc. should designate a member to send announcements to the HOW email address.
• Here is an example: 

Q. Something is missing! Something was changed! Why wasn’t my event included?

A. Perhaps the information was incomplete or needed clarification. Please email  HOW@hccs.hunter.cuny.edu if you have additional questions.