The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) named University of Miami’s 2015 Ibis yearbook a Crown Finalist. Edited by School of Communication graduate Holly Bensur, ‘15 B.S.C, the Ibis is one of four college yearbooks that will receive a Crown in March at the College Media Association (CMA) conference in New York City.
All Crown finalists are winners, with some publications receiving Gold Crowns and others Silver Crowns. During the CSPA ceremony at the CMA conference, the Ibis staff will learn whether they will receive a Gold or Silver Crown. The Ibis has been a consistent Crown winner since 2002, having earned three Silver and nine Gold Crowns from CSPA.
“This is a super honor for the Ibis staff and shows that the hard work they put into recording the history of the UM school year was seen as a success by an outside source. I am very proud of them. The university community is very lucky to have a dedicated staff that makes sure the Ibis staff records in permanent printed form the history of the school,” said Randy Stano, Ibis editorial adviser.
The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from CSPA’s members. Publications are judged on their excellence as shown by their design, photography, concept, coverage, and writing. Crown winners are selected for overall excellence in a juried head-to-head comparison. The University of Miami’s Ibis along with yearbooks from North Carolina State University, Baylor University, and Loyola Marymount University are the Crown Finalists for the 2014-2015 academic year.
“The CSPA offers three annual competitions to honor excellence in student publishing: Medalist Critiques for written evaluation, Crown Awards for overall excellence and Gold Circle Awards for individual student recognition,” said Edmund Sullivan, director of CSPA.
The Crown Awards require a different judging process from the CSPA’s Medalist Critiques. Regular CSPA members are invited to submit a second copy of their publication for Crown judging. From among those entries submitted, the Crown Awards are considered at Columbia by panels of invited judges, working in small groups to review each publication. In contrast, Medalist Critiques are the work of a single adviser-judge. Crown Awards summarize overall excellence in the entire publication while Medalist Critiques compare each publication against a printed set of standards. Crown Awards function as a “top-down” view of general excellence; Medalist Critiques offer a “bottom-up” perspective, noting specific strengths and weaknesses.
