The Office of Student Publications was created in 2004 for two primary reasons. The first reason is that the student body approved a small fee, now called the Publications Fee, which is $7 per regular undergraduate student per semester. This fee supports everything the office does. Secondly, Dr. Leslie LaChance, a previous faculty adviser for BeanSwitch magazine, sought permanent funding for printing the magazine because the English Department budget could not support the higher printing costs. Therefore, BeanSwitch; the former yearbook, The Spirit; and the office’s flagship publication, The Pacer, were brought under one office.
BeanSwitch
Before becoming a part of Student Publications, BeanSwitch was a literary magazine that was primarily an English Department publication. Now, BeanSwitch is a literary and fine arts magazine that now involves the Visual and Theatre Arts Department and the Mass Media and Strategic Communication. The current faculty adviser, Dr. Maari Carter, has cemented that collaboration by hiring student employees from all three departments – the executive editor is from English, the design editor is from VTA, and the social media editor is from MMSC.
Taking Flight
UT Martin’s yearbook The Spirit was split into semester magazines in Fall 2008. Its emphasis changed again with the introduction of two different magazines in the 2012-2013 academic year, but the Spirit name and yearbook elements were incorporated into the two new magazines. The first magazine created from the yearbook was Taking Flight: The Spirt of UTM, which first printed in Fall 2012. It replaced The Pacer’s previous First Flight freshman issue of the newspaper and added more yearbook-style, comprehensive elements.
Soaring to Success
The second magazine that was created in replacement of the yearbook was The Spirit of UTM: Soaring to Success, which first printed in Spring 2013. It is a graduation magazine that includes the names of all graduates – with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees – and lots of photos from the students’ time at UT Martin. Before this, The Pacer had actually printed a newspaper issue with the names of the graduates in Spring 2012 and decided to make it a full-fledged magazine going forward.
