U of A students, faculty and staff will soon receive subscriptions for full access to The New York Times website, thanks to the Associated Student Government‘s Student Program Allocations Board that voted to fund the project.
The subscriptions will work through email addresses with the uark.edu domain and allow full and unlimited access to the Times, as well as its complete archives, called the TimesMachine, back to its first issue in 1851.
In addition, faculty will have access to the Times‘ vertical, The Learning Network,” which contains wide-ranging resources for educators across such topics as the arts, social studies, English as a second language, science and math, and current events. The vertical offers instructional material for educators, activities for students, and contests.
The digital subscriptions will also include popular features such as the New York Times Magazine, Times Journeys (travel), and its full slate of podcasts and vaunted food, wine, and cooking pages.
Activation of the NYTimes.com subscriptions is expected in March and will extend 16 months before renewal is required.
The University of Arkansas joins several universities, including fellow SEC school Vanderbilt, in providing full access to the New York Times‘ digital offerings.
The effort was initiated in early 2019 by Bret Schulte, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, who wanted to provide students access to New York Times‘ stories for assigned reading for in-depth reporting classes.
Talks with the Times‘ subscription office made it clear that economy of scale made it possible to expand the program to all campus.
Schulte and Student Media director Robyn Ledbetter reached out to ASG, which agreed to fund the program.
Katelynn Tyner, the ASG chair of the Razorback Readership Program, took the lead in finding the resources for the subscription service. She received support from Kelley Fox from the Office of Student Activities, as well as from PJ Martinez, assistant director and advisor for Student Government Leadership in the Office of Student Activities.
Sophia Tarlas, who manages these subscriptions for The New York Times, will arrive on campus in April to provide informational seminars on how to best utilize the resources of the Times‘ website.