Medill junior Nora Shelly was named The Daily Northwestern’s next editor in chief, the newspaper’s publisher announced Thursday.

Shelly, currently the In Focus editor, previously served two quarters as city editor and one quarter as managing editor. She will serve as editor in winter and fall 2018. Current editor Peter Kotecki will return to the position in spring 2018.

Shelly said she looks forward to expanding The Daily’s reach online and growing a group of talented staff from all undergraduate schools.

“I’m looking forward to making the newsroom a more welcoming place for everybody,” Shelly said.

Previously, editors served for two continuous quarters. However, due to an increased number of opportunities for students to leave campus, the Students Publishing Co. board decided it would be “more realistic” to break up the next term, said Charles Yarnoff, chair of the board.

Yarnoff said the board liked Shelly’s ideas about a future mentorship program that would pair Daily Senior Staffers with new reporters to help them navigate the newsroom, retain members and make them part of a community.

“We really like the idea of her creating a structure at The Daily that would make people feel like The Daily is part of their time at Northwestern and beyond,” Yarnoff said.

Kotecki said Shelly is a great leader with a deep understanding of Evanston issues.

The Weinberg senior said he has worked well with Shelly in the past and looks forward to the transition. They most recently collaborated on an In Focus about a contentious meeting from March 2016 between political science Profs. Jacqueline Stevens and Alvin Tillery.

“Nora will do an excellent job as the next editor of the paper,” Kotecki said. “I’m excited to see her expand our digital presence even more and make The Daily a more accessible news source.”

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Twitter: @ericasnoww