November December 2023 College News

College of Fine Arts and Communication | 13 University Center at Junction in Junction, Texas, on Oct. 14 to photograph the Milky Way on a moonless night as well as being in a community with nearly zero light pollution. As a bonus, the students witnessed the annual solar eclipse earlier in the day with special glasses. On the way back, the photography students covered a protest at the San Marcos Regional Airport. Their photos were published in a photo gallery on the Austin American-Statesman web site, Statesman.com, as well as in the printed product. Chiecchi also moderated a panel discussion Nov. 2 at the LBJ Student Center on Bobcat Mental Health Care. Among the panelists was Dr. Emilio Carranco Jr., assistant vice president for Student Success and director of the Student Health Center. Ali Forbes ' article "Targeted Social Media Harassment: A Comparative Analysis of Toxicity Directed at Men and Women Sports Reporters" will be published in the journal of Communication & Sport . DeeAnne Heath was a finalist for Educator of the Year by AAF Austin. [2] Kelly Kaufhold served as vice president and research chair of the 2023 Southwest Colloquium of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. Authors from 10 states, and from the Middle East, presented their scholarship at Arkansas State University on October 27 and 28. Dr. Kaufhold will serve as president of SWECJMC for the 2024 conference, to be held at Tarleton State University. Cindy Royal gave the presentation "AI 101: Getting Started with Artificial Intelligence" at The Power of AI: Own Your Future in the AI Generation workshop held by the Women Communicators of Austin. The event, attended by more than 100 participants, was held on October 27 at KMFA Studio in downtown Austin. In her presentation, Royal outlined the history of artificial intelligence starting in the 1940s, discussed key terms and demonstrated some personal and professional uses of the AI platform ChatGPT. Jon Zmikly held a VR workshop for high school students at the Building Your IT Career 2023 Rush Enterprises IT Symposium in the LBJSC Ballroom. He was joined by members of the TXST Innovation Club who assisted and talked to prospective students about career opportunities in immersive spaces. This was the 16th annual symposium put on by the Texas State Information and Analytics department. STUDENT ACCOLADES Sofia Psolka , was named the recipient of the Isis de la O Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Education. Ms. Psolka earned the award because of her outstanding work as a student in the faculty-led Education Abroad trip to Japan in June 2023 in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and as a student ambassador for Education Abroad. Nominated by SJMC Japan Academic Program Director Gilbert D. Martinez , Psolka distinguished herself with an excellent blog post and interesting feature stories about Tokyo and Kyoto. She also shared an insightful personal travel essay and created a minidocumentary that featured an interview with a tea master in Kyoto. In addition, she improved her skills as a storyteller, videographer and photographer while in Japan. Pictured in the photo are Isis de la O, Education Abroad associate director (left), Sofia Psolka and Gilbert D. Martinez. [3] Current and former KTSW 89.9 staff members received national recognition for their work at two college media conferences held in October. At the College Broadcasters, Inc. National Student Production Awards, the radio station claimed the 1st and 4th spots in the Best Sports Play-by-Play Audio category, 2nd Place in the Best Newscast Audio category, and 3rd Place in the Best Website category. Two weeks later, at the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards, KTSW claimed top honors in the Division 1 Best Audio Sportscast category, 3rd Place in the Division I – Best Audio Promo/PSA and Four-Year Broadcast Station Website of the Year categories, and Honorable Mention in the Division I Best Audio Newscast category. Ten Texas State public relations students got the chance to shadow communication professionals in Austin to learn about a day in the life of the industry, thanks to the annual Pro-Am Day hosted by PRSA Austin. Thank you, PRSA Austin, for providing this professional development opportunity for our students! JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION Advertising, Digital Media Innovation, Electronic Media , Mass Communication, Journalism, & Public Relations FACULTY ACCOLADES Nandini Bhalla published her first authored research paper in Octtober. It is published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication , one of the top Strategic Communication journals with a high impact factor. Jenny Buschhorn and four students, Luca Poloma , Grace LeMay , Collin McCaw and Franchesca Jennings traveled to New York the first weekend in November to meet with other AAF chapter students from across the country to learn about the real world of advertising. More than 150 attendees visited the offices of advertising agencies, Goodby Silverstein and Partners, Omnicom, Magnolia Bakery, OMD, and IAB. On day two, students attended sessions at the BBDO offices with presentations by McCann, Infillion, TikTok, Amazon, Google, and Sales Fuel. To end the sessions, students met with recruiters from Dentsu, RPA, VMYLY&R, OMD, Havas, and Wieden+Kennedy. AAF Texas State President Luca Poloma said, "The Student Advertising Career Conference was an invaluable experience that I will never forget." [1] Clay Craig , Jenny Buschhorn, and Kaitlynn Turner presented their research at the National Communication Association annual convention. Kaitlynn Turner presented her undergraduate thesis “Branding Beyond the Rainbow: An Exploration of Authentic Advertising for Gen Z’s LGBTQ+ Community” with Dr. Craig. Jenny Buschhorn and Dr. Craig presented their research “Developing Professionalism through Experiential Learning.” Eraldo “Dino” Chiecchi took three photography students and one grad student to the Texas Tech Jenny Buschhorn took four students to New York City to meet with other American Advertising Federation chapter students DeeAnne Heath was a finalist for Educator of the Year Sofia Psolka won the Isis de la O Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Education. 12 | November and December 2023 | College News 1 2 3