Hornet Weekly Division Coordinators Guide

Updated January 2026.

The role of a Hornet Weekly Division Coordinator (DC) is to compile Hornet Weekly (HW) submissions for your division/department into a Word document each week during the fall and spring semesters, and to submit it to the Hornet Weekly Editor for inclusion in the newsletter.

Submitters select the appropriate division from a dropdown menu on the submission form, and their responses go to your division’s selected inbox. As a DC, you will then process and edit submissions, go through a proofing/approval process with the submitter and then submit your document (using a provided template). A separate tracking document is recommended to stay organized and for your own record keeping.

It is your responsibility to ensure all submissions appeal to a general, wide audience of currently enrolled undergraduate students. There is also a separate section for graduate students that is managed by a DC in Grad Studies.

It is important to note that while HW is aimed at reducing the number of emails sent to students, it is not intended to replace targeted emails sent to sub-populations via SacSend. Targeted emails should continue to be handled via pre-established processes in your department/division.

The step-by-step guide below provides best practices for completing this task each week, along with pro tips and important information.

Have questions or need help? Email the Hornet Weekly Editor.

Overview of the Process and Deadlines

Hornet Weekly is sent to all currently enrolled students each Tuesday (with exceptions for holidays and campus closures/breaks).
Submissions are due to Division Coordinators by 1 p.m. on the Thursday before the send date.
Completed Word documents are due to the Hornet Weekly Editor by 1 p.m. the Friday before the send date.

Scheduling Your Time

Depending on how many items you receive, we recommend setting aside several hours weekly for processing/editing.
While most submissions are received on Thursdays, you’ll receive submissions throughout the week, so it’s good to process upon arrival, as time allows.
It is NOT recommended to wait until after the Thursday deadline to edit/compile because A) you don’t want to run out of time before the 1 p.m. Friday deadline, and B) you want to give submitters time to proof.
Important: If the Hornet Weekly Editor receives your Word doc after the 1 p.m. Friday deadline, it WILL NOT be included in Hornet Weekly. No exceptions.
As a DC, you will be added to a special Teams chat to stay up-to-date and communicate with other DCs and the HW Editor.

Preparing Your Document/Using the Template

When beginning as a DC, you will be provided a Word document template and an Excel tracking document template. You should set up a shared folder to store these and your weekly documents.
Navigate to the dedicated FOLDER where you store your template(s) and Word docs. This should be on OneDrive/SharePoint so it is backed up in the cloud, but it should be a shared location so others can access it when filling in for you.
Make a copy of your HW Template Word document and rename it for that week’s edition (Format: mmddyy Hornet Weekly – example: 090225 Hornet Weekly).
In this new document, update the date at the top (example: Sept. 2, 2025).
Delete the placeholder items from each section.

Processing New Submissions

Navigate to the INBOX where submissions are received for your division.
It’s best to start with the oldest submission and work your way up.
We recommend first copying each submission to Notepad (Notes on Mac) to strip out any background coding.
For each submission, copy/paste into Notepad/Notes the following:
1. Headline
2. Body
3. URLs/preferred embed text
4. (FOR EVENTS) If applicable, add ADA pre-written text:
  
  To request ADA reasonable accommodations, contact [Contact Name with embedded Email Address] at least five business days in advance.
  1. ADA contact name/email
  2. Revised time element, if submitter prefers
5. Submitting office (preceded by: Submitted by)
6. ALL run dates - the current edition, plus any Reminders date(s)
Repeat step 4 for ALL submissions you’ve received thus far.
Once you've processed all your items using the steps above, fill out your tracking document. This is easier if done before moving your items to the Word doc.
1. The tracking document asks for several pieces of information about each submissions and is for tracking who is submitting what each week as well as keeping track of dates for Reminders. It's a good way to stay organized but if you receive a low number of submissions, it is not required.
Lastly, copy/paste (as plain/unformatted text) all your items to the top of your Word doc above the News and Announcements section.
1. Pro tip: You may need to change the formatting above the News and Announcements section so when pasting, the text is not large/bold. You may instead need to paste using the "merge formatting" option.

Keeping Your Inbox Organized

We recommend keeping track of your progress within your inbox. You can do this how you like, but a good method is:
- If using your own work email instead of a shared inbox in your department/division, set up an Outlook rule to auto move all the submissions to a dedicated folder to keep them together.
- If using a shared inbox, you may still want to create folders or organize items by new (inbox) and processed (separate folder) or something along these lines.
- In Outlook, after processing each item, flag the email.
- When replying to the email to send the edited item back to the submitter for proofreading, check off the flag as completed.
After completing each email, mark all emails for that week with a color using the “categorize” option (week 1 = green, week 2 = pink, etc.) so you know with which week emails are associated. Set five colors, one for each week of the month (including occasional fifth week).
- Pro tip: Not only does this help keep you organized, if you ever need to find an email from an earlier week for any reason, this makes it much easier!

Formatting and Editing Submissions

Your goal is not to rewrite submissions! Perform light copy editing. If rewriting is required, SEND THE ITEM BACK TO THE SUBMITTER FOR REVISIONS. If something is unclear to you, it will be unclear to students!

IMPORTANT: Hornet Weekly style is based on Sac State and/or CSU style.

Whether using the provided Word document template or your own version: All text in the Word document you submit to the Hornet Weekly Editor (aside from section heads) should be Verdana, 10-point. For more details, see the Hornet Weekly Style Guide.

Follow steps 1-8 for EACH SUBMISSSION you pasted into your Word doc.

Headline Format:
1. Bold (ONLY the headline should use bold for emphasis).
2. Headlines should fit on ONE line (hence 72-character limit) and not include any dates, times, locations or specific details.
3. Sentence style (only capitalize what you’d capitalize in a sentence), no period.
4. Feel free to edit headlines. They should be descriptive, catchy (fun!) and conversational.
5. Voice: Casual for a student audience (unless dealing with a serious topic).
Body Format:
1. Character count the body. Character counts include spaces and should never exceed the limit, per item type. Character counts do NOT include the headline or Submitted by line, nor do they include pre-written ADA accommodations text.
2. Body MUST include the following (with certain exceptions):
  1. A call to action (link, contact info, etc.)
  2. For Events: date, time, location – Format: Thursday, Aug. 7, at 4 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom.
  3. Basic summary of key details.
  4. For Events, a basic overview and a link to Trumba for more details is required.
"Submitted by" Format:
1. Italics (ONLY the Submitted by line should use italics for emphasis).
2. Note: All items MUST be submitted by an official office, department or campus organization. They CANNOT be submitted by an individual person or a non-Sac State sponsored/affiliated group. Student-sponsored events should be submitted by their affiliated department.
Embed links: Add all URLs to requested embed text.
1. For emails: The embed link is mailto:email@csus.edu.
2. Pro tip: Be sure to test ALL links after embedding.
EVENTS ONLY: If the submitter has not included any details about ADA accommodations in the body of their text or a link to a registration form that allows for accommodations requests, they should indicate via the submission form that they want to use our pre-written text. If they've done none of these things, feel free to address it with them as accommodations should be offered for ALL events.
1. If the submitter chooses to add pre-written text (below), it is your responsibility to add it at the end of their submitted body text.
2. To do this, add the text (copy/paste from below or copy/paste from the submission email) and embed the provided email address in the provided name where indicated. Place the pre-written text block at the end of the body text but before the Submitted by line.
3. To request ADA reasonable accommodations, contact [Contact Name with embedded Email Address] at least five business days in advance.
4. Note: The submission form also offers an option to change the "five business days in advance" portion to a different time frame (such as "before the event"), so check for that when processing submissions in your inbox.
Proofread: Once formatted, read your item line-by-line, editing for clarity, voice, style, grammar/spelling.
Move your item to the appropriate section: Once your item is fully edited, cut/paste it into the correct section (News and Announcements, Events, Know Your Resources, etc.) and place in the desired order among any previously edited items in that section (see item order later in this guide).
Once an item is placed in the desired section, head over to your inbox to begin the proofing process (see next section of this guide).
Repeat steps 1-8 for EACH SUBMISSION.

Proofing with Submitters

Copy/paste the edited item into an email reply to the submitter with a note asking them to review.
Your email should include the following:
1. Ask submitter to check links and look over your edits for approval.
2. Verify run dates with submitter.
3. Ask any questions that may have come up during the formatting/editing process.
4. Add any reminders about style/formatting/character count/etc. to help them learn to follow the guidelines in the future.
CRITICAL: Because submission emails are sent from Qualtrics, clicking reply will reply to Qualtrics! Delete the Qualtrics email address from the “to” field and replace it with the email of the submitter – found at the bottom of the response email.
What to know about proofing with submitters:
1. It helps to ask proofers to highlight any revisions in yellow or bold when replying so you know what changed.
2. You will sometimes need to go back and forth with submitters to discuss timing for the submission and its Reminder date(s), exception requests, revisions, etc.
3. Remember to update your tracking doc if a discussion with a submitter results in a change to the run dates.
4. IMPORTANT: Not all submitters will respond to your proofing email. It is entirely up to you at that point as to whether to run the item or drop it.
5. Pro tip: You can set up an automatic message in Outlook (You may need to add MyTemplates in Outlook) to make this easier.
Upon reply from the submitter: Make any requested changes to your items in your Word doc based on feedback you receive during the proofing process.
If you have remaining submissions to edit, return to the Editing/Formatting section and repeat for EACH SUBMISSION.

Examples of Edited Items

The following images show examples of edited items to help you visualize how they should look after they've been revised. It is also recommended to look at past editions of Hornet Weekly via the Archive to get a feel for how they're done.

News and Announcements:

An example of a Hornet Weekly News item.

Events:

Know Your Resources:

General Item Order/Sections

There are three main categories in HW.
1. News and Announcements: Need-to-know information affecting all or most students.
2. Know Your Resources: Information on new, existing or updated tools and resources available to students.
3. Events: Campus events that welcome a general student audience.
4. Grad Corner: This section - which houses news, announcements, resources and events for graduate students - is managed separately by Academic Affairs Graduate Studies.
Response emails will indicate which type of item is being submitted, but sometimes submitters get it wrong or there is a category that fits a bit better. Use your discretion on this, but it’s good to verify changes with the submitter.
1. Note: Sometimes, for example, it’s appropriate to include an event in News and Announcements if it’s something that rises to a much higher level, such as Commencement (an event, but a very important one).

Item Order Within Sections

The Hornet Weekly Editor will order items from ALL divisions/departments in the newsletter based on the order you use in your Word doc.
You know your area best so order within each category is entirely up to you. However, here is some general guidance.
1. News and Announcements/Know Your Resources: In general, “need-to-know” goes higher up and “want-to-know” goes lower down. Example: Major deadlines, updates, etc. up higher and a new student podcast announcement goes lower.
2. Events: Generally, put Events in order of date with the soonest higher up and the latest lower down. For events with a “register by” date, order by that deadline. However, we recommend keeping events from the same department or org together, regardless of date. You may also choose to order Events with the most popular/wider audience high and more targeted lower.
3. Grad Corner: Grad Corner houses all news, announcements, events and resources for graduate students. They should follow that general order from top to bottom and the Grad Studies DC can use their own preferences for order beyond that. Grad items that apply to all students may go in the general sections and should follow the guidelines above.

Reminders

For HW, items may run one initial time as a new item in News and Announcements, Events, Know Your Resources or Grad Corner – and one additional time in the Reminders section. Run dates may be consecutive or non-consecutive.

Please use your discretion to make exceptions to the above rule. There will be some items that may require inclusion more than twice and discretion is recommended.

You may either choose to manage Reminders on your own by including them in each desired Word doc you submit (it is recommended to use your tracking doc to keep track of this) or by using the method below.

How to indicate Reminders to the Hornet Weekly Editor each week:

When submitting a Word document each week, indicate below each NEW item ALL the dates it needs to run (please use red font). The Hornet Weekly Editor will add this to their tracking document and will know to add your Reminders for the additional edition(s) you've indicated.
Example:

An example of a Hornet Weekly item.

Submitting Your Word Document to the Hornet Weekly Editor

Once you have edited all items, have them in the correct order, Reminders are placed in the document OR Reminders dates are noted under each item in red, and all items are proofed/approved (to the best of your ability), give your document a final read and make any finishing touches.
Be sure to COMPLETE the submission process via the form NO later than 1 p.m. on Friday.
1. How to submit: On the form, choose Option 3 “Word Document (Division Coordinators only)” and follow the steps to submit.

CRITICAL NOTE

Your document MUST BE accurate, edited, approved, in the correct order/format and ready to go BEFORE submitting.

The Hornet Weekly Editor WILL NOT edit any submissions.

We WILL NOT re-send HW due to mistakes or inaccuracies.

Hornet Weekly Style Guide

Type Face: Verdana, 10-point.

Voice: Casual, fun, conversational for a student audience, but keep professional and serious for policy or other higher-level items.

Character Counts (for body only): Character counts should adhere to the rules laid out in the submission form for each item type.

News/Announcements; Know Your Resources; Grad Corner - 500 characters with spaces
Events - 350 characters with spaces

Headlines (the only place where bold is allowed):

Bold
One line (72 characters max with spaces)
Sentence style – only first word, proper nouns capitalized, no period
Headline/title style (Join us for the Serna Center Open House)
Descriptive, catchy, conversational
Do NOT include dates, times, locations or specific details

Submitted by lines (the only place where Italics is allowed):

Submitted by (Italics, don’t capitalize "by;" do NOT use a colon)
Add “the” when needed (Submitted by the Dreamer Resource Center, not Submitted by Dreamer Resource Center)
Avoid “Office of” unless needed for clarity. Use Department of, not NAME Department (unless with a proper name, i.e. Police Department) Only use when needed for clarity. Examples: Department of English, not English Department. Don't use Office of the Dean for a college, but Office of the President (not President's Office) is OK.

Date, time, location (usually in this order):

Spell out days, shorten months with a period, use a.m./p.m.
Noon, not 12 p.m. and midnight, not 12 a.m.
Don’t include the year unless it’s a new year (usually just for January) or you’re referencing a different year than the current one
At or on a location (at the University Union; on the Quad) and in a building (in the University Library; in Lassen Hall 3014)
Ex: Thursday, Aug. 7, at 4 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom.
Date may be spelled out when it stands alone. “Deadline: October 6.”

Phone numbers: 916-123-4567

Colorful punctuation/emojis: Occasional emojis, exclamation marks, etc. are OK.

Note: Refrain from overusing emojis as there is no way for us to mark them as cosmetic, so screen readers will read them. Also, never use emojis to replace words. They should be for emphasis.

Call to action: All events and most news, announcements and resource items should include a call to action of some sort (link to register or learn more, email contact, deadline and link to apply, etc.)

For all other styles, please follow the CSU Style Guide and/or the Sac State Style Guide.

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