The Piper Suggestion Guidelines
The Piper, published by the UCM Internal Communications team, aims to inform, engage, inspire and celebrate the people of CMU through the curation and dissemination of timely and relevant news and information. The Piper is sent to global faculty and staff and Pittsburgh students at their Andrew email weekly on Thursdays during the school year except breaks, and biweekly in June and July. New employees and students are automatically added to the list. Issues are archived at www.cmu.edu/piper.
Suggestion Guidelines
To suggest an item for The Piper, email piperweekly@andrew.cmu.edu no later than 2 p.m. the Monday prior to the issue date (the earlier the better). Suggestions should be concise and include a link to a news story, web page, social media post or PDF for more information. Content should be relevant or interesting to a cross-section of faculty, staff and students and have a direct connection to CMU. Events should be submitted to the CMU Events Calendar first to be considered for The Piper.
The Piper sections include the following criteria:
- Features – Top stories of the week from any category, selected by The Piper editorial staff
- Research – Stories about impactful research at CMU, written for a general audience
- Around CMU – Stories about academics, arts, athletics, campus life, events, outreach, admissions, major gifts, etc.
- People – Staff, faculty, student and alumni spotlights, leadership hiring announcements, news about significant awards and achievements
- Events – Events open to a broad cross-section of the CMU community or to the public
- Announcements – Actionable information and reminders, such as resources, benefits/perks, professional development and training, opportunities to get involved, transportation/construction updates, technology updates, event/series announcements, service drive reminders, etc.
- Did You Know? – Fun facts about CMU’s history, campus, culture or people
- CMU in the News – Recent stories by media outlets featuring or written by CMU people
The following types of content are generally NOT accepted:
- Subject matter that is relevant or interesting only to people in a specific division or field
- Stories using overly technical language or jargon not easily understood by general audiences
- Obituary or retirement stories
- Stories/announcements about the publication of a book or academic paper
- Stories/announcements about best paper awards or awards specific to a conference
- Stories about attending, presenting or speaking at a conference or panel
- Solicitations or fundraisers not formally affiliated with the university
- Items without a link to a news story, web page, social media post or PDF for more information
Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of The Piper editorial staff.
Suggesting an item meeting these guidelines does not guarantee publication due to space constraints.
Questions? Email piperweekly@andrew.cmu.edu.