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16 | April & May | College News public relations and advertising classes within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication during the presidential election and included videos of students sharing their personal reflections on the benefit of taking part in service learning with a focus on civic engagement activities. Sara Shields , Cindy Royal and Jon Zmikly were invited to speak at the Texas State AI in Teaching and Learning Sympo- sium, where they shared innovative strategies for integrating AI tools and exercises across the courses they teach. Their talk focused on creating a learning environment that empowers students to explore AI creatively and ethically, helping them build confidence and critical thinking skills in the evolving digital landscape. Sara Shields presented her newly developed social media course at the annual Broadcast Education Association confer- ence in Las Vegas. The session highlighted the importance of client-based learning, where students collaborate with re- al-world clients to produce content, gaining valuable hands-on experience and essential skills that prepare them for careers in digital media and communications. [7] Texas State AI in Teaching and Learning Symposium Several members of SJMC faculty spoke at the first AI in Teaching & Learning Symposium at Texas State March 26- 27, highlighting ways in which artificial intelligence is being integrated into media curriculum. Cindy Royal , Sara Shields , Jon Zmikly and SJMC master's alum Ashley Hebler (engi- neering manager at FloSports) spoke on the panel AI Inspires a New Era of Innovation in Media Education. Kristen Sussman gave a presentation entitled From Black and White to Tech- nicolor - Exploring Undergraduate Classroom Capacities for AI-Assisted Data Analysis, and Kelly Kaufhold spoke about Applied AI in Mass Communication Education. STUDENT ACCOLADES Texas State CommCats receive national recognition in PR competition. The Texas State CommCats team landed as a top-12 finalist in the PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition for their stra- tegic campaign mobilizing lawmakers and communities along the I-35 corridor from Austin to San Antonio to advocate for libraries. Bateman is the premiere public relations competition, and 45 teams from across the country took part this year. The judges' comments sum up the success of the CommCats team, comprised of public relations students D’Aaron Castle , Andrea Estela , Marrah Fuentes , Jasmine Lozoya , Saliyah Parker and Maddy Ramon : "Excellent package and campaign!" 7 8 9 The Texas State CommCats team, alongside Debra Price landed as a top-12 finalist in the PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition The Women Communicators of Austin honored Debra Davis with the Outstanding Austin Communicator Award Cindy Royal and graduate students Lisa Jackson, Alexan- der Tawiah and Desarae Saathoff were among the SJMC contingent who attend the International Symposium on Online Journalism at The University of Texas