Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Memberships for Student Media

Membership is offered in two forms: Regular (with critique) and Associate (without critique). BOTH forms of membership include two items: eligibility in the Crown Awards and eligibility for the first 40 prepaid entries in the individual Gold Circle Awards

Questions about membership

What are the benefits of regular membership?

Each member receives the following:

• Entry into the annual Crown Awards competition.
• 40 free entries into their Gold Circle Awards competition.
• One (1) copy of the CSPA 2008 Special Awards Edition CD-ROM.
• Adviser's membership in the CSPAA (scholastic members only).

Why is the deadline for newspapers and magazines June 15th?

To permit timely returns of Medalists critiques, it is essential to have all newspapers and magazines submitted in June. We have more adviser-judges available to complete an evaluation at this time. We encourage yearbooks to submit their edition as soon as it is printed. The sooner we receive it; the sonner we can get it to an adviser-judge. Late summer and fall delivery yearbooks have until October 15th to send in their publications.

Join as a Regular Member. Enter your newspaper, magazine or yearbook by completing the Membership Form. Make sure you check off the appropriate box on the form to indicate that you want Regular Membership.

CSPA membership runs from July 1 through June 30 for both Regular and Associate Members. The first service provided to members is to evaluate their publication from the prior academic year. This gives the staff a "baseline" to start their desired improvements during their membership year.

Yes, by choosing an Associate Membership for your student newspaper, magazine or yearbook. You’ll receive all CSPA benefits except the written evaluation contained in a CSPA Critique booklet and a Medalist certificate. When you complete the Membership Form, Make sure to check off the box on the form to indicate that you want Associate Membership.

Download form

Click the icon to download the form for regular and associate memberships.


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