UBCO Life Newsletter

UBCO Life is a semi-monthly newsletter sent to continuing undergraduate students from mid-August to April. Content is driven by campus community members, sharing university news and key messages, while also promoting social and academic activities relevant to student life and success on UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Upcoming newsletter dates:

The UBCO Life newsletter is released on the first and third Wednesday of each month throughout the regular academic year.

Winter Term 1 release dates and deadlines

Wednesday, December 20 | Submission deadline: Friday, December 15

Winter Term 2 release dates and deadlines

Wednesday, January 3 | Submission deadline: Thursday, December 21
Wednesday, January 17 | Submission deadline: Friday, January 12
Wednesday, February 7 | Submission deadline: Friday, February 2
Wednesday, February 21 | Submission deadline: Friday, February 16
Wednesday, March 6 | Submission deadline: Friday, March 1
Wednesday, March 20 | Submission deadline: Friday, March 15
Wednesday, April 3 | Submission deadline: Friday, March 29
Wednesday, April 17 | Submission deadline: Friday, April 12

Submit

Submissions to UBCO Life can be sent via an online form.

Submissions must include:

  • A clear and appealing headline
  • A short blurb about your topic (150 words maximum)
  • A clear call to action (e.g. “Learn more” or “Register now”)
  • A URL linking to a webpage where readers can find more information or register (Note: email addresses will not be accepted)
  • Optional: a high-quality image (.jpg or .png) at 600 pixels wide, in landscape orientation. UBCO Life may add a suitable image if one is not provided.

Follow the UBC brand guidelines with any post.

SUBMIT to ubco life

Subscribe

All registered continuing UBC Okanagan students are automatically added to the UBCO Life mailing list at the beginning of each term. Anyone else who wishes to receive the newsletter can manually subscribe here.

In order to ensure that the newsletter is valuable and timely, the following guidelines have been established for those interested in contributing content.

Guidelines

Disclaimer: UBCO Life reserves the right to exclude submissions determined to fall outside of the newsletter’s mandate.

  • Submissions are accepted from early August to early April
  • The newsletter will be distributed on the first and third Wednesday of each month.
  • The submission deadline for all content is the preceding Friday. Late submissions may be included in the next issue, at the editor’s discretion
  • Please keep submissions to a maximum of 150 words. We reserve the right to edit content for length or clarity. If applicable, please include the link to where the content originally is natively hosted on an ok.ubc.ca website. Be sure to submit the accurate URL and ensure the referenced webpage is up-to-date
  • Newsletter content should follow the university’s writing style guidelines
  • We are unable to include attachments (other than images) as part of the newsletter
  • If space permits and the content is still relevant, your submission may run in multiple issues

Submission Criteria

Who can submit articles?

  • UBCO faculties and academic units
  • Registered student groups
  • UBC administrative units
  • Other groups with messaging relevant to the broad student audience, at the editor’s discretion

What kind of content is appropriate?

  • University-wide news/information; for example, executive announcements/messages (from the president, provost, etc.).
  • Notices regarding events, workshops, and services affecting undergraduate students
  • Event announcements (club meetings, service projects, fundraisers, social events) open to the entire student body
  • Promotion of student services and programs
  • Volunteer opportunities
  • Guest speakers
  • Research opportunities

What kind of content is not appropriate?

  • Lectures, seminars or symposia that are by invitation only
  • Appearances by faculty, staff, or students at other institutions outside UBC
  • Administrative or other meetings among a group of faculty, staff, or students that are closed to others
  • Third-party promotion of programs or services with no UBC affiliation
  • Announcements that include images for which permission has not been obtained (e.g. copyrighted images, images of individuals who have not signed a photo release form)
  • Content that is confusing, unclear, has spelling or grammatical errors, or fails to meet UBC quality standards

Image Formatting

  • Including an image can make your submission more engaging
  • Please submit images in a separate .jpg or .png file named with the same title as your submission and in RGB format
  • Images should be 600 pixels wide, in landscape orientation with a maximum height of 350 px. Online tools like Fotor.com can be used to crop photos
  • An image is not essential; however, we may choose to include an image if you have not done so
  • Images that are of poor quality will not be used
  • We are unable to use images for which permission has not been obtained (e.g. copyrighted images, images of individuals who have not signed a photo release form)