January & February 2018 College News

Cindy Royal received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for $75,000 to host the first PhDigital Bootcamp: Preparing Future Faculty to Lead Innovative Curriculum. The program received 85 applications for 20 seats. Participants will begin online modules in March, leading to an in-person workshop May 14-20 hosted at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In January, Royal was named to the inaugural EducationShift20 by MediaShift, honoring innovative journalism educators. SJMC Electronic Media lecturer and graduate program assistant Dan Seed was selected as a 2018 National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Faculty Fellow. As a NATPE Faculty Fellow he attended the Miami Marketplace and Conference from January 14-18 in Miami Beach, FL. STUDENT ACCOLADES Texas State University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) welcomed 135 attendees to campus on Saturday, February 10 for the PRSSA 2018 Regional Conference: Deep in the Heart PR. Attendees included PRSSA National President, Andrew Cook , and representatives from 11 universities throughout Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, and two Texas high schools: San Marcos High School and Vidal M. Trevino School of Communication and Fine Arts. Students had the opportunity to participate in professional development sessions, learn from professionals about the various sectors public relations practitioners can work in, and network with their peers.Deep in the Heart PR was organized by SJMC students, Alana Zamora , Charlcee Cervantez , Jacob Schatte , and Andrew Terrell , and SJMC lecturer, Paul Villagran . [2] The conference was sponsored by the School of Journalism & Mass Communication and D.D. Hachar Visiting Hispanic Media Professionals Program. There was a Diversity and Inclusion session at the PRSSA Regional Conference. Speakers Ana Toro , APR, Fellow PRSA and Immediate Past PRSA National D&I Committee Chair, Gretel Perera, head of Global PR, HomeAway and co-founder, Latinas in Tech and Marsha Burney , Communication Studies lecturer, shared challenges and how to address these proactively through solid PR strategies to meet D&I specific needs. Students attending from chapters in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas universities filled the room to standing only. D&I materials were also provided. Olga Mayoral Wilson , APR, Fellow PRSA, moderated this panel. The Hachar Program, a grant dedicated to funding education related activities specifically addressing youth in Laredo, hosted ten students and two instructors from Laredo’s Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts to attend the PRSSA Regional Conference at Texas State University. This is the first time that the students attended a Public Relations-specific conference where they explored the field in detail and networked with other students and well known field pros from PRSA National, Austin and Texas State University. Olga Mayoral Wilson , APR, Fellow PRSA, and Hachar Program coordinator led this initiative at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. SJMC graduate student Eun Jeong Lee , [3] Marketing sophomore John Lee , and Communication Study senior lecturer Dr. Michael Burns are working with NBC covering the 2018 Winter Olympics. You can learn more in this University Marketing piece. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 11 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Kristin Marcum (BA Public Relations) was recently named President at Elizabeth Christian Public Relations in Austin. She is a communications strategist with more than 15 years of experience in media relations, public affairs, crisis communications and special event management. Kristin services a variety of high-profile clients including St. David’s HealthCare, Texas Mutual Insurance Company, Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare and SouthWest Water Company, among others. She is a graduate of Leadership Austin, a former Austin Area Research Organization McBee Fellow and a 2016 AU40 finalist.