Summer's Rushing In
May! Is it possible? Spring commencement. Maymester. Summer session.
The end of a semester always leaps out at us, not that it hadn’t been on our calendar for months. But it’s a careening time of year when we rush from one event to another, admiring student portfolios and handing out plaques and certificates. There’s a litany of such honors in this month’s eNews.
Each of those items celebrates a student, faculty or alumni accomplishment which we are proud to share. Too many to list here, but we hope you will follow the links to more detailed information.
We’re also putting the spring edition of the college’s alumni magazine InterCom to bed these days. Watch for it around the first of June in your mail. For all we talk about multimedia environments, we think it’s still important to reach out to you in a variety of ways. Hence, the electronic and printed messages. You can reach back to us almost any way you choose, and we hope you will. We’re just as excited to hear from our brand new alumni as our Centurions.
Let us know what you’re up to and what’s on your mind. Have a great summer. We’ll still be in touch.
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College News
School Library Media Program Receives National
Ranking . . . Again!
Our School of Library and Information Science continues to be #2 nationally for the School Library Media specialty, according to U.S. News and World Report’s new 2009 rankings. SLIS Director, Sam Hastings, is pleased with the rankings, which include an overall program rank of 17th out of 62 accredited schools nationally. “Being ranked No. 2 in the nation for our school-library media program validates our mission to produce the best qualified leaders in our field," she says. "It helps us compete with an ever-challenging distance education market that recruits students without regard to geographical boundaries. Our faculty and students are the best. Being in the top 20 overall is important, and as we continue to improve and grow, we will continue to receive good rankings.” Read more>
The Daily Gamecock is on Our Story
Architects from The Boudreaux Group recently began a series of meetings with students and faculty in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications to collect ideas for their design and renovation of a new home for the school. The Daily Gamecock reporter called the next day and this article appeared on April 24th. Thought you might like to see it. Click here>
The design phase for renovating the old health sciences building will occupy us for the weeks and months immediately ahead. Our goal is to design a building not just for now, but for the future—10 years from now and beyond. Forty years in the Coliseum have at least given us the perspective of knowing how much a communications program can change over time. We’re open to wild and crazy ideas—we’ve already considered the hot tub and pool. So, think back to your days in the Coliseum and tell us what a new home for the college and j-school ought to include. You can send ideas directly to the dean at bierbauer@sc.edu.
Sixth Annual I-Comm Week a Success
For the sixth year, our spring I-Comm Week (that’s “I” as in information and “Comm” as in communication) celebrated all we do as a college by bringing students, faculty, alumni and professionals together in a variety of events. This year’s events included a major gift announcement to the SJMC, An Evening of Storytelling in Honor of Augusta Baker, the Cocky Award and many others. If you missed the events, click here for comments and photos.
May Carolina Alumni Weekend, May 15 – 17
May Carolina Alumni Weekend is a new tradition at the University of South Carolina. Springtime affords alumni and friends an opportunity to revisit the gorgeous and growing campus when the magnolias are blossoming and the morning dew canvases the greenery of the Horseshoe.
Meet former classmates and bring your family back to Columbia for exhibits, lectures, tours and baseball in the new state-of-the-art ballpark!
View a description of activities and register for May Carolina Alumni Weekend 2009, taking place on Friday, May 15, through Sunday, May 17 by visiting www.mycarolina.org.
Our college will host the following two events:
Friday, May 15, 2009
- Newsplex Tour
3:30 - 4:15 p.m., S.C. ETV
Newsplex was built to help news organizations adapt to a future in which people acquire news and information in different formats and across platforms. It is a laboratory where new techniques and technologies are evaluated. You’ll tour this state-of-the-art facility and see why it is used by some of the leading news organizations in the world. |
Saturday, May 16, 2009
- Cocky's Reading Express: Eliminating Illiteracy
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM, Davis College Room 209
Learn how the School of Library and Information Science and YOU can help eliminate illiteracy. SLIS and USC’s student government leaders are spearheading a statewide initiative. Cocky will be there, too! |
Alumni News
Alumna
Named Executive Director of Richland County Public Library
SLIS alumna Melanie Huggins will join RCPL as its executive director in July. Prior to this, Huggins has served as director of the St. Paul Public Library for three years, where she worked to increase partnerships with the business and cultural communities. She worked at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County for nearly 10 years before going north to Minnesota. Huggins received her MLIS in 1995 from SLIS.
Alumnus Teaching Course About Finding Your Life’s Great Purpose
SJMC alumnus Jerry Bellune wants to help others find their purpose in life. He’s written a book titled “Your Life’s Great Purpose” and will be teaching a course in September at Midlands Technical College. The course aims to explore eight key areas of life and set goals in each. Read more>
Student News
Guerillas in our Midst
The SJMC’s National Student Advertising Competition Ad Team took 4th place honors and received a special award from the judges for “Best Guerilla Marketing” for its campaign to reduce binge drinking on college campuses at the American Advertising Federation District 3 Competition April 24. This year’s client was The Century Council.
New Course in SJMC Wins Stewardship Award
One of the service learning teams from SJMC’s pilot special topics course, JOUR 563A Cause Related Advertising and Public Relations, won an environmental stewardship award on Earth Day from the School of the Environment. Visual communications major Greg Bajan, also an Eagle Scout, led the team in its work to raise awareness of the Sierra Club and create a student chapter at Carolina.
The Carolina Reporter Earns High Honor
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The SJMC’s practicum newspaper has been named the best non-daily collegiate newspaper in a four-state region by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).
SJMC students also received first-place awards for in-depth reporting and online reporting, as well as several second- and third-place awards among schools from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. First-place winners go on to compete in SPJ's national Mark of Excellence awards.
Members of the Carolina Reporter also won a total of six awards in the South Carolina Press Association contest. Read more>
Many Students Honored at SJMC Award Night
Outstanding seniors in the advertising and public relations sequence, the print and electronic journalism sequence, the visual communications sequence, as well as the graduate program, received recognition at the journalism school’s annual Honors and Awards Night celebration April 16. Honor graduates and Kappa Tau Alpha Scholars were also recognized. Read more and see photos>
Advertising Student Awarded Prestigious Internship
Junior Erika Sturino has been named one of the top 15 students in the country
by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). In addition, Sturino has
been awarded the AAF’s prestigious Vance Stickell Internship. She
was selected as the most outstanding member of the University of South
Carolina’s student chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
The 10-week paid internship will be with the Richards Group in Dallas,
which works with Amstel Light, Bridgestone, Chick-fil-A, Motel 6, Zales
and other high-profile clients. A stipend of $5,500 accompanies the internship.
She is also a McKissick scholar and a Capstone scholar at the university.
Read
more>