Building upon the pilot Readership Program from last year, USA Today representatives have returned to campus with newspapers.
Today and tomorrow USA Today will be joined by the New York Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch representatives to gather student opinion on newspaper readership.
“We’re trying to assess whether or not students would be interested in the program,” said Lisa Thompson, assistant director of Residence Life.
The Readership Program will have a tent setup in the quad filled with Ted Drewes frozen custard for all survey participants. In addition, a raffle for Cardinals’ tickets will be conducted.
Last spring, residents on campus had the option of free newspapers for over a month in their residence hall lobby.
Before and after the pilot Readership Program, students completed surveys with their views on newspaper reading.
Residence Hall Association President Chris Coleman said, “It really helped the campus by bringing new papers to campus.”
“From the pilot program, we know students are interested,” said Lin Courtois, account manager for USA Today St. Louis market.
USA Today has taken the initiative to move forward and get the program active in universities, Courtois explained.
While the decision whether or not to subscribe to the program could have been made based on last year’s survey, RHA and Residence Life wanted to hold off and get some input from incoming students, Thompson said.
Another major factor in the decision will be cost-approximately $10 per person per semester according to Courtois.
Thompson added that RHA, actively involved in the decision-making process, will help to determine where the resources will come from.
“The funding is one of my major concerns,” Coleman said.
As to the timeline, the results of this week’s surveys are expected to be presented to RHA by mid-September. However, with many RHA positions to be filled, the University won’t be able to run with the program until at least October.
Courtois believes the Readership Program increases awareness of current events and develops a lifelong readership habit.
“Students feel it’s helping them,” Courtois concluded.
