By Diane Luckow and Stuart Colcleugh

This issue of Simon Fraser University News marks the end of an era.

After 47 years of publishing, the university’s twice-monthly newspaper is ending its print edition and transitioning to an all-digital format by the fall of 2013.

Change is nothing new for the paper, which has altered its frequency, appearance and name several times since it began as the Simon Fraser University News Letter on Jan. 31, 1966.

But throughout the years its mandate has remained the same: to showcase the news and accomplishments of SFU students, staff and faculty.

Co-editor Diane Luckow’s experience with the paper dates back to the mid-1970s when as an SFU undergraduate she used to read SFU Week, whose editor even featured her in an article about a summer project.

In 1999, she was surprised to find herself in the co-editor’s seat, working in the same department as Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, who edited the paper when Luckow was in university.

Stuart Colcleugh began freelancing for SFU News in 2000 and joined the paper as co-editor in 2005 when his predecessor Howard Fluxgold retired.

In moving beyond print, SFU joins universities across North America and throughout the world that have switched to an all-digital format to deliver more immediate news to more people in new and creative ways.

Luckow and Colcleugh have begun the process of transforming SFU News into an online daily site that blends text, photos, graphic images, video and social media components to deliver news in a more timely and engaging manner.

But one thing will not change. Throughout its history, the editors, writers, photographers and designers of SFU News have worked hard to create a newspaper that informs and entertains the SFU community and evolves with the times.

That tradition of service to our readers will continue.

We don’t look at this as the end, but rather the beginning of a new era for a publication that remains true to its past even as it moves into the future.