Staff structure
Topic Overview
This topic discusses the roles and responsibilities of a yearbook team.
In creating a great yearbook in the short timeframe that you're given, you're going to need lots of help. The more students you have helping you, the more variety of ideas you get! It's a good idea to form the yearbook committee as early as possible; often the senior staff are chosen before the beginning of the summer, and the junior staff join in as soon as the school year begins.
Your school may have already implemented a staffing structure, however, this topic covers the most common staff member roles.
Yearbook publisher
Every yearbook publishing company is different. Your school may already have a contract with a certain publisher–however, it may be a good idea to look into other yearbook publishers that are available. Talk to other yearbook committees from other schools about their experiences with different yearbook publishers, and decide what works for your school in terms of time, budget, and other factors.
Advisor
The advisor is usually a teacher sponsor who acts as the bridge between the lead editor and the yearbook company. They also manage the yearbook staff, and make sure that deadlines are met. The role of the advisor is to answer questions from any faculty member of the school, consult the yearbook staff, and also iron out wrinkles that the yearbook team cannot handle.
Editor
The editor is both a motivator and a worker. While being understanding and encouraging, editors also listen to staff problems and deals with them effectively. An exceptional editor is one who is enthusiastic, optimistic, and knowledgeable with everything that has to do with yearbook production. They set the example among their staff members.
The editor is responsible for several tasks:
- Finalizing all aspects of the yearbook
- Designing and assigning tasks
- Maintaining staff unity and morale
- Conducting staff meetings
- Making sure deadlines are met
- Keeping tabs with everyone's work timelines
- Helping with writing, layout, design, captions, headlines, and photo selection
- Helping section editors with their tasks
Graphic Design Editor
The graphics design editor is responsible for graphical and design consistency across the entire yearbook. In some yearbook teams, the graphic design editor is responsible for creating all templates within the yearbook. With the help of the lead editor, the graphics editor decides what fonts and design-related photos to use in the book. They also check colour, typography, proximity, and layout accuracy when proofs come in.
Copy Editor
The copy editor's role in the yearbook team is to take care of all the copy in the book. They help in writing articles, headlines, and captions. They also help check for grammar and spelling mistakes.
Section Editors
A section editor is responsible for writing and designing sections of the yearbook. One section editor supervise the production of one section of the book–such as student life, academics, sports, clubs, ads, and so on.
Photography Editor
Photography editors take care of all photos in the yearbook. They make sure equipment is signed out and returned on time, as well as pull significant weight in what photos are included in the book. In addition, they help the graphic design editor by processing photos in photo editing software (such as Adobe Photoshop) so that they are appropriately formatted for print.
Business Manager
The business manager assists the yearbook advisor in controlling budget, keeping records of book sales, and ad contracts.
Staff Members
Staff members do lots of field work, under the guidance and instruction of section editors and the lead editor. In the field, they take photos, write articles, and conduct interviews.
What you've learned from this topic:
- You can distinguish different roles of yearbook production
- You now know who to ask when you're unclear about something
Next topic : Working with deadlines