On September 16, the 26th Annual Faculty Convocation, acknowledging the quality and excellence of VCU faculty, marked the official kick-off of the 2008-2009 academic year. During the convocation event, President Eugene Trani and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Stephen Gottfredson, recognized four honorees for their outstanding accomplishments in the areas of teaching, scholarship, service and overall excellence.Among the educators honored was our own School of Mass Communications Associate Professor, Jeffrey South. South received the Distinguished Teaching Award for his accomplishments in the field of journalism and his contributions to VCU’s School of Mass Communications.
An enthusiastic learner as well as teacher, South is known as an “evangelist” for technology and is an active proponent of incorporating it in the classroom. South also makes time to share his insight with fellow teachers and journalists. He has participated in more than 90 panel discussions and workshops covering topics such as performing ethical training sessions, writing for the Web, and using the Blackboard course management system.
Among South’s accomplishments are his many published articles in the American Journalism Review, Online Journalism Review and other publications. In 2007, he took his teaching expertise beyond VCU when he spent six months training journalists in Ukraine under the prestigious Knight International Journalism Fellowship. South calls the opportunity life changing. “It really opened my eyes to what’s happening in Eastern Europe,” he says. “Understanding how the press operates in another country was a wonderful experience for me.”
After returning to VCU, South worked with other mass communications faculty members to revamp the school’s curriculum. The new courses successfully began this fall and, like most of what he’s worked on, the end results prepare students to reach their full potential and excel as professional journalists.
