Canadian University Press
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Canadian University Press is a non-profit co-operative and newswire service owned by almost 80 student newspapers at post-secondary schools in Canada. Founded in 1938, CUP is the oldest student newswire service in the world and the oldest national student organization in North America. Many successful Canadian journalists got their starts in CUP and its member papers. Its head office is in Toronto. Prior to 1996, the head office was located in Ottawa. In Ottawa, CUP ran a printing company, called Common Printing Group, which it owned jointly with the National Union of Students, which was located in the same building as CUP for several years.
A national conference, which doubles as an annual general meeting, is held once a year in a different city. Each region holds two conferences a year as well, one in the spring and one in the fall, with the exception of the Western and Prairies & Northern regions who gather together for a single fall conference (PWRCUP/WPNCUP/FUCCUP) every year. Each member paper exercises one vote at conferences. The president and national bureau chief are elected at the national conference, or Nash, while the regional CUPboard members and bureau chiefs are elected at the spring regional conferences.
The current structure for CUP, of a permament newswire offered to Canadian University newspapers including the full-time president, was established at CUP 22 in Quebec City in 1959. Prior to this date the service was looser and more oriented towards an exchange of clippings between the papers. One of the delegates at CUP 22 was future Canadian Prime Minister, Joe Clark, representing the University of Alberta paper, The Gateway.
CUP is divided into five regions: WRCUP (Western, including British Columbia and Yukon), PNCUP (Prairies and Northern, including Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Saskatchewan), ORCUP (Ontario), CUPbeq (Quebec) and ARCUP (Atlantic, including New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). Other acronyms for regions include CUPberta (Alberta), and CCUP (Central CUP, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). It also has five special issues caucuses to promote diversity, address the under-representation of marginalized groups and encourage discussion of social issues: Colour Caucus; Disabilities Caucus; Francophone Caucus; Queer, Trans and Allies Caucus; and Women's Caucus.
Member papers contribute articles to the CUP wire, which also runs stories authored by CUP staff. There are news, features, opinions, arts, sports, graphics and supplements wires. After stories are edited by the national bureau chief, they are made available on the wire for publication in CUP member papers.
CUP wholly owns a multi-market ad placement agency, Canadian University Press Media Services Limited, which operates as Campus Plus, offering advertisers one-stop access to student newspapers. It's also the sole member of the John H. McDonald Journalism Foundation, named after CUP's first president.
In 2005, CUP declared the last full week of every January, Sunday to Saturday, would be observed as National Student Press Week to celebrate the achievements, diversity and freedom of the student press.
CUP has also established an alumni database, which alumni can add themselves to by visiting the cup website: www.cup.ca/alumni.php
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[edit] CUP National Bureau Chiefs and other National Office staff
Now and in recent years, the national bureau chief has also served as CUP's vice-president. In some previous years, the national executive was made up of three or four staff and also included a national features editor (who also held the title of vice-president) or national affairs writer. These staffers held their positions at the conference listed and were elected at the previous conference. In CUP's early days, the titles of president and secretary were awarded at a conference to a newspaper, which would then fill those roles from among staff members.
[edit] CUP Board of Directors
Up until recently CUP was administrated and controlled between National Conferences by only the President and National Bureau Chief. While the staff was required to execute the will of members are agreed upon at plenary, many major decisions were could be made by the national office on its own. After the Agent Magazine problems, a movement spearheaded by staffers at the Ontarion drafted and approved motion calling for the creation of a CUP Board of Directors. Approved at Nash 63, the Board guarantees every region at least one Director. Any region with twenty or more member papers receives an additional director. All Directors are elected at the Plenary of their spring regional conference.
At Nash 69 in Vancouver CUP membership voted to add to position of a Continuity Representative to the Board of Directors as a voting member. A staff member (President/NBC/Regional Director) from the previous year fills the position. It was created as an attempt to stabilize CUP's leadership since it goes through an almost yearly changeover.
Currently the break down of the CUP Board is:
- 1 Western Region Director
- 1 Prairies and Northern Region Director
- 2 Ontario Region Directors
- 1 Quebec Region Director
- 1 Atlantic Region Director
- 1 Continuity Representative Director as a non-voting member
- CUP President as a non-voting member
- CUP National Bureau Chief as Secretary and non-voting member
At the first meeting of every year the Board elects a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Human Resources Representative, and Campus Plus Board Representative from among its members.
[edit] National Conferences
Every year since its inception, CUP has held a national conference. The conference moves around the country and serves as the annual general meeting of the organization. It also features a number of training seminars and high-profile keynote speakers. The New Year's Eve parties were sometimes raucous events, as the new year was rung in five times to mark each of the nation's time zones. The extinguishing of a motel fire put a damper on the party at North Bay, Ontario, on the last day of 1983.
[edit] See also
- Student newspaper
- News agency
- List of Canadian student newspapers
- Agents of social change
- National Student Press Week
