Journalism Alumni Society Board of Directors Meeting
Alumni Center Board Room
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Present: Jim Grim, Brian Hayes, Julie Johnson, Bob Jonason, Sam Keyes, Sarah Maisto (via phone), Juli Metzger, Deborah Robinson, Sarah Swan, Shavonne Tate (via phone), Dan Waechter, Greg Weaver and Marilyn Weaver. Guests attending: Ed Shipley, BSUAA President and Ron Green.
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order by President Juli Metzger at 10:09 a.m.
Minutes:
A motion for a correction to the previous meeting minutes of September 12, 2009, was called. The first sentence of the department report will be struck from the minutes, as well as online. Jim Grim moved to accept the corrected minutes, Dan Waechter seconded, and they were passed by voice vote.
Business:
A. Award Nominations: The awards committee met on January 12 to choose recipients of the journalism alumni awards. The following nominees were recommended to the board of directors to receive awards - Hall of Fame Award: David Knott, Hank Nuwer and James Wright; Journalism Alumnus Award: John Dye; Outstanding Young Alumnus Award: Deana Haworth. A motion to approve the nominees was passed by voice vote. Dan Waechter will go before the faculty for approval on February 1. The board of directors reviewed the current active nominee list and re-nominated some alumni whose terms would expire. A discussion was held on how to get more nominees to send in current updates. Brian Hayes suggested sending a letter to all those on the active list asking if they are still interested to please send updated materials. Metzger suggested all board members take 2-3 nominees and make a personal call to each to ask for updates. Metzger challenged the board to bring to the next board meeting three names for 2011 award nominations.
B. Position Openings: Ron Green will replace David Knott on the board. There are currently two open positions. Gary Graham and Jennifer (Ross) Driscoll have resigned their positions. Recommendations for board membership include: Gerry Appel, Kathleen Burton, and Hillary Tribbett. A board nominations sub-committee was formed and includes: Jim Grim, Bob Jonason, Juli Metzger, Deb Robinson and Marilyn Weaver. More information on the nominees has been requested for the next meeting.
C. Future Alumni Events: Discussion was held on upcoming BSUAA events that Journalism alumni could join. The item was tabled with more event information to be discussed at the next board meeting.
Department Update: Hayes reported that secondary ed is continuing with the same summer programs. Forty advisors and 20 students attended the multi media workshop this past summer. The standard teaching license for journalism remains the same. IPS now has a magnet school named Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities. They have four magnets within the school: Humanities, Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Media Communications. Students must apply, audition and be accepted. The department is now offering a new public relations master’s degree program online only. Two courses offered Spring 2010 will be J601 and J680 and are core courses required of both PR and journalism MA students. More courses will be offered in the summer and fall as the program grows. Curriculum for PR and advertising is being updated and/or changed beginning Fall 2010. Students will now take classes in international public relations and new media. The new news curriculum officially launches Fall 2010. Students will now take more major content courses during their first two years of school. Multiple 1-credit-hour courses will be offered and will focus on specific components of writing, editing, design and storytelling. Students get immersive experience working on special projects out in the field. Curriculum is a collaborative effort between TCOM and journalism, giving students an exposure to multimedia storytelling across platforms. Weaver gave an updated report on accreditation to take place February 7-10. The department has given the accreditation team a full report with support materials. The five person team will make recommendations to the council for approval. Weaver told the board they may be called by the accreditation team. The Unified Media project developed into a more expensive remodel than originally thought. More creative ways are being considered to reduce cost. Bob Jonason is working with alumni communications through the department website. The goal is to supplement information linked to the BSUAA website geared toward stories and articles featuring alumni which would also include audio, video and photos. The site would be updated on a regular basis. Discussion was held on anticipated budget cuts of possibly 5% in the future. A search is ongoing for three positions: NewsEd, PR, and department chair. Marilyn Weaver will retire at the end of this academic year.
Alumni Council Update: Hayes reported the Director of Communications search is still open. The Alumnus magazine will probably have three print issues and three online issues to reduce costs for this current year. The February issue will be electronic only. The Bold Campaign has reached more than 90% of its goal. New media includes 3775 members on Facebook, 3120 members on LinkedIn and 800 Twitter followers. Alumni Council will meet again February 5 & 6.
Future Dates: Journalism Alumni Awards Luncheon – April 21, 2010, at 11:30 a.m. in Cardinal Hall. Board meeting to follow in the Founder’s Room located on the third floor.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Julie Johnson
Alumni Staff Assistant