Deb Toftness: the woman behind the Falcon Daily

Since the first issue of the Falcon Daily was sent to UW-River Falls employees on Nov. 1, 2005, the email newsletter has provided the university’s faculty and staff with news and information relevant to UWRF and its community. “Employees and others may submit short blurbs about events, speakers, retirements, new employees, condolences… to [the] Falcon Daily,” said Deb Toftness, who has been the editor of the Falcon Daily since its 2005 debut.

Toftness will edit these submissions, and provides additional information, checks facts and links, and prepares the submissions for publication in the newsletter. Over 1,500 people are currently subscribed to the Falcon Daily; over 850 of these subscribers are UWRF employees, who are automatically added to the newsletter, as well as UWRF volunteers. “The Falcon Daily is an important tool on campus to communicate with all employees since we are not all located in the same building or even all on campus at the same time,” Toftness said.

The Falcon Daily was created to be a quick and efficient way for faculty to stay up-to-date with basic information each day. It replaced UWRF’s “This Week” publication, which included much of the same information but was published less frequently. “It was hoped that a daily digest of campus information would be more useful than a weekly offering,” Toftness said.

In 2005, email newsletters were a new concept, and the Falcon Daily earned various national awards around this time. Since then, the content and purpose of the newsletter have remained the same. “It has always included a quote, announcements, upcoming events, HR news, campus reminders… as well as a sampling of important higher education news,” Toftness said. “A daily highlight photo of an event or happening on campus was added soon after it debuted.”

Toftness said that she starts work on an issue of the Falcon Daily each day at around 7:30 a.m. and finishes it at around 11:00 a.m. First, she reads over submissions. “There is no way I can know everything that is going on around campus, so I rely heavily on submissions, the FalconsConnect event calendar and word of mouth,” Toftness said. Next, she includes a quote, upcoming events, a “Now You Know” item, and links to articles related to higher education. UWRF campus photographer Pat Deninger provides the daily highlight photo.

Toftness is the only person who works on the Falcon Daily, and, as the newsletter editor as well as a communications specialist, her schedule is a busy one. Besides her Falcon Daily responsibilities, she works on the UWRF website, edits and distributes UWRF news releases, and edits various campus publications, such as Falcon Features and Falcon Online. These are just a few of her many responsibilities. “There is never a dull day,” Toftness said. “It’s a lot to keep track of, but after all these years, I have a system that seems to work rather well.”

Toftness graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a print journalism and business administration degree. After she moved to River Falls in 1985, she worked first at Chalmer Davee Library, then in the English Department, and finally, at the News Bureau, which is now the University Communications and Marketing Department. Toftness has been a part of the UWRF community for many years, and had this to say to the university’s students and employees: “Meaningful small things add up to strengthen our sense of well-being and help us feel part of the UWRF community, which is very important to our mental health.”

The Falcon Daily is a small but important part of that community. The newsletter is available to anyone and can be subscribed to at www.uwrf.edu/UCM/FalconDaily.cfm.