By: Lee McQueen—Retired, University of Nebraska at Kearney, and CAPPA Historian
This article discusses CAPPA’s publishing of a newsletter through the years, and the volunteer editors.
CAPPA is managed by a Board of Directors. President, Vice Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer are roles familiar to most. However, Newsletter Editor as used by CAPPA is a role that may not be as familiar.
The CAPPA newsletter was effectively the social media hub, with stories and dates captured on paper and delivered by horseback (more or less). When telephone access was expensive and limited, the newsletter provided new, tested ideas and solutions. In the first model, each state had a newsletter “bureau chief” who encouraged and received stories. These were passed along to an editor who assembled, printed, and mailed the document. Most schools received one copy that was shared within the department.
The first meeting of the ‘CAPPA group’ was held December 7 and 8, 1953, at Kansas State College. That group elected its first Executive Committee, which included a President, etc. Newsletter editor was not included.
Text below is copied from CAPPA’s Bylaws discussing Newsletter Editor. Note the Newsletter Editor serves an open-ended term. This is why CAPPA has had only ten Newsletter Editors, compared to about 70 presidents.
Editor of the Newsletter
- The Board of Directors shall appoint a member of CAPPA to be the Editor of the CAPPA Newsletter. The term of the appointment shall be open-ended and shall continue as long as it is mutually agreeable to the Editor and to the Board of Directors.
- Power and Duties
- Shall publish and distribute a minimum of two issues of the CAPPA Newsletter per fiscal year;
- Shall serve on the Awards, and the Information and Communications Committee;
- Shall be a member of the Board of Directors.
CAPPA’s first newsletters were published in 1977. Rex Dillow was CAPPA’s first Editor. You may recognize the name, as APPA’s annual newsletter award is named in Rex’s honor. In Newsletter #147 (2012) CAPPA Historian Art Jones wrote:
‘The CAPPA newsletter was first published in January of 1977, by Rex Dillow [University of Missouri], under the direction of CSRA President Paul Crall [University of Texas Health Science Center]. Rex continued as editor until March of 1988, when John Rulfs [Stephen F Austin University] took over as editor. John served as editor of the newsletter until May of 1992, when Rex [in retirement] once again took on the responsibility. Rex published issues 54-69, and in April of 1995, Leo Yanda [University of Arkansas] assumed the responsibility of the newsletter. Leo published the newsletter until February of 1997, when Tom Jones [University of Texas Southwest Medical Center (retired)] took over. He compiled and published the newsletter from February 1997 to September 1999. Ed and Jan Bogard [University of Nebraska Medical Center (retired)] picked up with issues 109 – 124, which were published between September 1999 and September 2004. Vickie Younger [Missouri State University] started as editor with issue 125 and faithfully published the newsletter until her retirement this fall. Vickie published 22 issues of the newsletter over a period of eight years. CAPPA has a rich tradition of volunteerism throughout the history of our organization, but the newsletter editors certainly did more than their share [emphasis added]. Laurie Lentz [University of Texas – Austin] has stepped up to the task of serving as our editor for the foreseeable future. I wish Laurie the best of success and encourage each of you to personally thank Laurie for her efforts on behalf of CAPPA.’
Laurie published #148 – 151. After her, Angie Mitchell (Southeast Missouri State) and Jenny Cundiff (Oklahoma State) stepped up, continuing to gather information and provide a newsletter, Angie providing #152 – 157, and Jenny providing #158 – 173. This issue, #174, marks the start for Jeannie Knott (University of Texas at Dallas). I want to give huge thanks to Angie and Jenny. I wish Jeannie the best of success. I encourage each of you to personally thank Laurie, Angie, Jenny, and Jeannie for their efforts on behalf of CAPPA. (And send Jeannie stuff!)
