 Why
be a Nexus volunteer?
As a Nexus
volunteer, you have the opportunity to keep yourself and others
informed about the events and issues pertinent to college life.
Nexus volunteers are also eligible for weekly draws at our Editorial Meetings, Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.
What do volunteers do?
Although writing, photography, and production
are the main volunteer areas, help is also needed with distribution
and promotion of the newspaper. Those who contribute in any
of these areas also participate in the decisions that affect
the operation and organization of the newspaper.
Who can volunteer?
Anyone enrolled at Camosun College in at
least one 3-credit course is eligible to volunteer at Nexus.
Where is the Nexus office?
The Nexus office is located in Richmond
House 201 (west of the cafeteria) at Lansdowne.
When is the office open?
Office hours are between 9:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Monday through
Friday.
How much time is required to be a volunteer?
This varies from person to person. As a rule, your volunteer
commitment should complement your school schedule. Most volunteers
commit to between 2-4 hours per week.
What kind of skills are needed?
While print experience is helpful, it is not essential. Some
volunteers have never worked for a newspaper or published
an article. Training is an ongoing process and is provided
by the editors and other staff. Written materials
are also available. A willingness to learn is the most important
ingredient for a Nexus volunteer.
What kind of task are available?
Writing, Typing,
Proofing, Photography,
Graphic Design, Cartooning,
Distribution, Web Design,
Ad Sales (pays on commission basis).
WRITING
News, Sports and Entertainment
We need writers to cover campus and community events, and
interview people around the college about issues relevant
to student life. All the articles must have a close connection
to Camosun. Whether it's news, sports or entertainment, it's
all an important element to a well-rounded and informative
newspaper.
- News stories are about current occurrences that happen
either on campus or in the community but, in either case,
have significant relevance to Camosun students. Sometimes
the stories aren't about a person or place or event, but
about an idea or issue or philosophy.
- Sport is a very interesting area. Camosun has volleyball,
basketball and golf teams who go under the banner of the
Camosun Chargers. The games are covered by a
reporter and by a photographer. Often, this is the same
person. Sports is not limited to the college teams, however.
The Recreation Department is involved in providing facilities
for weightlifting as well as offering a number of courses
in which students can enroll. These include yoga,
dance and aerobics. A number of free drop-in activities are available
as well, like table tennis and floor hockey. Sports can
also include such topics as bike riding, running, and swimming.
Whatever sports students might be into, there's a story
somewhere.
- Entertainment includes preview articles of local theatrical
plays, music concerts, art exhibits, etc. so the readers
have an opportunity to attend versus being told about it
after the fact. If it's happening in Victoria and of interest
to our readers, we'll cover it. Our entertainment section
also includes larger articles about local artists as well
as reviews of new release CDs, books and movies.
Columns
If you have a really good idea for a column and can prove
you are reliable and able to carry the column throughout the
year, you are invited to submit your idea to the editors and
editorial committee along with 2-3 examples of the column
you are intending to write.
Features, Personal Profiles, Editorials,
etc.
Some articles fall into other writing categories; like features,
personal profiles, editorials, etc.
- Features are decided by the Nexus student editorial committee
with the input from all volunteers and staff. They are assigned
to volunteers with a proven ability to produce a lengthy
and well-researched article. They are usually between 1,500
- 3,500 words long.
- Editorials are written by members of the editorial committee.
Subjects are chosen by the committee based upon what's currently
relevant or of particular interest to students. Guest editorials
are often accepted, so if you have an opinion to share,
ask the editors for guidelines on how to go about this.
The acceptance of guest editorials is subject to the approval
of the editors and editorial committee and subject to available
space.
- Personal profiles are stories about interesting people
who either attend or work at Camosun College. These people
are usually profiled because they have achieved something
of significance or because they have interesting ideas or
participate in interesting pastimes. If you know someone
who has a great story to tell, let the editors know. If
you don't want to write it, chances are someone else will.
A lot of the stories we cover can be enhanced with a visual
element. If such an opportunity exists, we like to make sure
we capture it for our readers. Sometimes it's a one-time happening,
sometimes it's a person, sometimes it's a way to visually
express an idea. All of our photography is done
on digital cameras. You need a good eye and you can't
be shy! Good pictures usually require effort and creativity.
Do you have a really GOOD sense of humor? Can you draw? Basically,
that's it. Oh, subject matter must be relevant to college
life. We need people who can provide regular comic strips,
editorial cartoons or draw graphics to match certain stories.
Do you have well-developed Pagemaker, Corel, Photoshop or Illustrator
skills? Do you have the time? We can use your skills for building
and designing ads or laying out the paper itself. Some projects
are individual in nature, meaning it's one piece of work that
can be done in an hour or so. Laying out the paper, though,
requires a significant time commitment for an extended period
of time. For example, we would need you to commit a certain
number of hours each week or every second week and stick to
that schedule for at least a whole semester. The other key
element to this job is that you must be able to take direction,
be accurate and precise, be prepared to make as many revisions
as required, and be open to constructive criticism.
Do you have above average grammar and spelling skills? Are
you a stickler for accuracy and pay attention to detail? Every
two weeks, just before we go to press, we need a couple of
people to read our layout sheets for typos, inaccuracies,
omissions, inconsistencies, etc. Your eye can save us great
embarrassment if we can catch our errors before they get published.
A few hours of time is sufficient.
This is actually a paid position, paying a commission on whatever
local advertising you sell. If you are an outgoing, mature,
professional person with sales experience or a sincere interest
in gaining some sales experience, please contact us. We require
a commitment of at least a full semester but prefer your commitment
to last throughout the school year. Continuity is key for
our clients. Good service is what builds our reputation. You
must be able to deliver both service and continuity to be
considered for this job. Your sales will be based upon the
number of hours you can devote weekly to this position. Former
sales reps have been able to earn up to $500 a month putting in part time hours.
If students can't pick up a paper, it won't get read. You can also enhance our box distribution by handing out copies of the paper when it comes fresh off the press. This is a great way to increase readership and awareness of the paper. A weekly commitment of about one to two hours per week should be sufficient. Three distribution territories include Interurban campus, Lansdowne campus and other campuses in Victoria (Music Conservatory, Saanich Adult Education, Royal Roads, UVic, etc.).
If you have well-developed web design skills, we'd like to
talk to you. We need someone each year that knows what they
are doing in this area and is prepared to commit a few hours
each week. At minimum, we want to make sure our static information
on our website is up-to-date. Our goal, however, is to incorporate
our paper into our website and update it as each new issue
is released. This requires a commitment of about five hours
every two weeks. In the future we may be incorporating some
advertising into our website as well. Give us a call if you
are interested in volunteering your time in this area.
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