Associate Professor Jeff South receives distinguished teaching award

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.

National Press Club and VCU's School of Mass Communications present a panel discussion on the media

The National Press Club, the world’s leading professional organization for journalists, and the School of Mass Communications are teaming up to present a panel discussion on the future of the news media and how to protect its core values.

The October 6 event will begin at 7 p.m. at Harris Hall on the university’s Monroe Park Campus. The event, part of Mass Comm Week 2008, is open to the public and admission is free.

The NPC Centennial Forum on “The First Amendment, Freedom of the Press and the Future of Journalism,” features some of the leading journalists shaping the news business.

• Reid Ashe, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Media General


• Nancy Kent, news director for NBC-12
  
• Bob Sullivan, technology correspondent for msnbc.com


• Jeff South, VCU School of Mass Comm associate professor who specializes in multimedia journalism.

The panel will be moderated by Gil Klein, a veteran national correspondent for the Media General News Service, past NPC president and director of the club’s Centennial Forum Project.

This forum is part of a nationwide conversation the National Press Club is holding during its 100th anniversary to look at where the news business is going and what news consumers should be demanding. This is one of 35 forums the club is hosting this fall.

The event begins with a preview of the club’s centennial documentary, “A Century of Headlines,” which follows the history of American journalism through the lens of one of its leading institutions. Everyone who attends this forum will get a copy of the documentary.

“We’re excited to be hosting this forum and are especially excited that it will give our students the opportunity to hear from these journalists and newsroom executives about the transformation taking place in the news industry,” said Dr. Judy VanSlyke Turk, director of VCU’s School of Mass Communications.

Let Mass Comm Week '08 inspire you!

Continuing its tradition of excellence, the School of Mass Comm brings its students and community a week full of informative and interactive learning sessions focused on the field of Mass Communications. Featuring experts from around the country, check out how Mass Comm Week can inspire you!

Student Advisory Board seeks six new members

The School of Mass Communications Student Advisory Board is seeking six new members for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Established in 2005, the Student Advisory Board meets monthly to assist the school's faculty and administration in identifying important student issues and assists with school activities such as open houses, the internship fair and graduations.

The SAB consists of 12 members – presidents (or designees) of the five MASC student organizations and seven at-large members representing MASC freshmen through seniors. Two at-large members fill the position of chairman and vice-chairman. The openings include five at-large positions and one vice-chairman position.

All students within the School of Mass Communications are urged to apply. Applications are due Friday September 19 by 4 p.m. For more information contact Board Chairman Allyson Hunter at hunterag@vcu.edu.

Fall 2008 Meeting Schedule:

October 6, 4pm
November 3, 4pm
December 1, 4pm

Journalist and writer David Hadju to discuss the surprising tale of comic books in American history

To commemorate Constitution Day, the VCU School of Mass Communications is cosponsoring a talk by David Hadju, journalist and author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America.

This free event will take place Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Harris Hall Auditorium. The School of Mass Communications and the VCU Student Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists are cosponsors of the event, along with VCU Student Media, VCU Libraries and the VCU Division of Student Affairs.

Learn more about the book and the author now.

Mass Comm professor honored for promoting diversity in newsrooms

June Nicholson, associate director and associate professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Mass Communications, has received the 2008 Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award. The award was given by the Scholastic Division of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication.

Nicholson, a VCU faculty member since 1984, was honored for her significant contributions over more than two decades to promoting diversity in America's newsrooms through work in scholastic media programs.

"June is passionate about bringing more young people of color into journalism education and the profession of journalism," said Judy VanSlyke Turk, director of the VCU School of Mass Communications. "She has done a remarkable job of pursuing that passion and creating undeniable results."

From 1985 to 2007, Nicholson directed VCU's Virginia Urban Journalism Workshop, an intensive summer workshop founded to provide experience and training for minority high school students interested in journalism. A dozen participants spend two weeks each year at VCU, learning the basics of journalism and producing a 20-page newspaper. The workshop is sponsored by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the national Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, VCU and the Virginia Press Association. In 2007, the workshop adopted race-neutral admission criteria.

A number of graduates of the Urban Journalism Workshop during Nicholson's tenure advanced to careers in journalism and journalism education. Among them is George Daniels, assistant professor at the University of Alabama and a 1987 participant in the workshop program.
"Her willingness to not give up is exceeded only by her passion for young people that has lasted for decades," Daniels, who nominated Nicholson for the Knight Award, said in his nomination letter. "It is fitting that we pause to recognize and salute her for the time and talent she has brought to ongoing efforts to make our nation's newsrooms more reflective of the diversity in their communities."

Nicholson is co-developer of the Society of Professional Journalists' (SPJ) diversity curriculum that is part of the organization's newsroom training program, and is a former member of the national SPJ committee on diversity among journalists. She is the chair of national SPJ's International Journalism Committee and served as chair of SPJ's national Journalism Education Committee from 2000-07. She is former president of the Virginia Professional chapter of SPJ and a current board member.

The Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award is given by the Scholastic Division of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication to recognize any media organization or individual who has made significant contributions to promoting diversity through contributions to high school or middle school media programs.

School of Mass Comm recruits for four new professors

Want to have a hand in shaping future mass communications professionals? At VCU's School of Mass Comm, you can impact the future! We enroll 1,200 majors and pre-majors in journalism, advertising and public relations and 200 graduate students in advertising and public relations. VCU has a diverse student body of more than 28,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

Current Job Openings (Beginning Fall Semester 2009):

• Assistant or Associate Professor, Broadcast Journalism
  (Two Positions Available)
  
  
• Assistant or Associate Professor, Advertising
  (Two Positions Available)

VCU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.