E-ALERT - June 30, 2006

Dear Friends of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies:

You want Fourth of July fireworks? We've got some and we're excited to share them with you.

• Our Library School has received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant for $720,000. The award was announced at the ALA Conference in New Orleans on June 28. This grant is the fuel to launch the doctoral program in our Library School. We hope to enroll our first doctoral students as early as Fall 2007.

• Do you need interns? How about job placement assistance? The Journalism School has your person to talk to - Beverly W. Dominick - who will join SJMC mid-July as our new internship/placement coordinator. Beverly brings more than 25 years of professional experience in corporate recruitment, training and placement at various news organizations including The State newspaper, Gannett, Inc. and Media General.

• Nearly 30 J-School students recently hit the red carpet on the School's first Maymester trip to Atlanta, Ga. Students met with some top media executives in Peachtree City, including a few of our very own - alumnus Stephen Brown with Manning, Selvage & Lee; third-year print student Alex Riley at the Georgia Dome; and alumna Susan Gordy for the works at that Atlanta institution Varsity Junior. The course focused on issues that students, public relations practitioners and journalists face daily, specifically those in Atlanta. Professors Beth Dickey, Kent Sidel and Lisa Sisk coordinated this Atlanta experience. See our attached picture.

• Journalism School's Carolina Reporter will receive AEJMC's Honorable Mention in Newspaper Division Project Award in August for its project, "Not Forgotten: A Tribute to South Carolina's Fallen Heroes." The students reported on each SC serviceman who died in Iraq. The special edition was published in 2005. This project was created by Journalism School Professors Cecile Holmes, Doug Fisher and Scott Farrand.

• One of SJMC's recent graduates, Staci Jordan, received a special honor this May for some great work she completed as an undergraduate. Staci is the primary author on a paper, accepted for presentation at AEJMC in August, examining graphics editing practices in six Carolina newsrooms. It is quite unusual for an undergraduate to have a paper accepted and especially in one of the most competitive divisions, newspapers.

• New Library School director Samantha Hastings comes on board August 1, following Dan Barron's retirement.

If you have news to share about alumni of either School, please email Cindy Kellett, Director of Development for the College, at kellett@sc.edu.

More info about more things, as always, on www.sc.edu/cmcis. If you have an address, phone, email or job change, send those to Elaine Taylor at etaylor@sc.edu.

Have a rocketing, but safe, Fourth of July.

Charles Bierbauer, Dean