Postgraduate Booklet Guidelines

Why do we produce these booklets?

It is assumed that departments produce their booklets to promote their department, their area of study and the courses they offer - both taught and research. The University produces the Introduction to the Graduate School to cover general University issues including accommodation, how to apply etc. This thin reduced version of the full prospectus is produced so that departments can use it to send out to enquirers together with a copy of their own booklet. Thus, information need not be repeated in the two publications and they should include cross-referencing where appropriate (although not to numbered pages). Polylopes are provided with the Prospectus and are big enough to allow a departmental booklet to also be inserted.

Most departments try to update their booklet every two years to keep costs down. If this is not possible, some savings can be made by printing the outside covers to last for two years even if the text and the inside covers need to be printed every year.

Design and layout

Standard booklet:

Inside text need only be black and white;
Use of photos/images inside - b/w low quality photos are best avoided, line art works well and does not involve extra printing costs (although there will be a cost per image for scanning). Colour photographs are costly to incorporate and, for the most part, are unnecessary (especially as the prospectus is in full colour).

Cover:

Can use two or four-colour covers - depending on departmental budget and proposed image. If you use two-colour, one must be either corporate purple or red and the second is chosen by the department;
The University logo, the Graduate School logo, Department of XXX, and Postgraduate Studies should appear in the same position on all booklets.

Copyright

Departments need to be aware of copyright issues - mainly a problem in relation to use of images for the cover but also for images used inside. The general rule is that you need to seek permission to use artistic works unless it is 70 years since the death of the creator. For photographs it is 70 years from the end of the year of first publication. Once you have permission, you will usually have to credit the artist using precise wording given by the owner of the copyright. The Publications Office can provide further details on copyright law and can undertake copyright investigation on behalf of departments if necessary. One way to avoid copyright problems is to have the University designer design an original cover for you.

Content

Suggested Standard Headings:

The following is the minimum that should appear in booklets. Individual departments may have further headings to add.

Standard inside front cover text, including disclaimer (available from both the Publications Office and the Print Centre);
Introduction;
Department information including resources and facilities;
Taught degrees (including entry qualifications);
Research degrees (including entry qualifications);
Staff list, interests and publications (in University set style as in Prospectus);
Brief information on applications process and reference to main prospectus (where this is all covered in detail);
Standard inside back cover text, including University statements (available from both the Publications Office and the Print Centre).

(Headings which appear in the contents list should correspond to the main headings in the body of the text. Sub-headings may also appear in the contents, in which case they should be indented).

It is essential that you ensure the entry qualifications are clearly visible for all courses on offer in your booklet. This will ensure that not only do students have access to this information when picking prospective universities, but that time is not wasted by departments in processing applications from students who do not have the necessary qualifications. For advice on the most appropriate way to present these entry qualifications, please contact the Head of Publications.

Extensive general information on the University or on the Graduate School, dates of term, and a map of the University are not necessary in the booklets - as these are in the main prospectus (cross refer).

Disclaimers and University statements should appear in all publicity material.

Interdisciplinary schemes:

Each department should include in their booklet details on any interdisciplinary degrees it contributes to or is involved in, as no separate publicity material exists for most of these degrees.

Help from the Marketing Office

The Head of Marketing is responsible for undertaking quality and acceptability checks on all promotional material produced in the University (including the postgraduate booklets). This includes checking for consistency, accuracy, style, conformity to University policy and the avoidance of unnecessary duplication. Text for the booklets can be checked either before it is typeset at the Printing Centre or at proof stage (allow two or three days for this check); is available to advise departments on all matters relating to the production of the booklets; can supply copies of the Standard Information which departments are advised to include in their booklets and copies of the University House Style sheet.

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