[440]MTSU STAFF MEMBER LANDS TOP CASE DISTRICT III PRIZE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2008
CONTACT: News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919

MTSU STAFF MEMBER LANDS TOP CASE DISTRICT III PRIZE
Rollins Teams with DNJ to Win 2008 Creative Partnership Award

(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU’s Lisa L. Rollins recently was awarded one of four Grand Award prizes in the 2008 communications contest sponsored by District III of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education at its annual conference held in Atlanta, Ga.
Rollins, who serves as director of special media projects for News and Public Affairs and as an adjunct professor, accepted the award during the recent district conference on behalf of her 2007 journalism students, the School of Journalism at MTSU and the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro.
The Grand Award is the highest honor bestowed by District III, which is an eight-state area, and Rollins’ entry, “Promoting Student Learning in Print,” earned the contest’s Creative Partnership honor. Rollins received the award for a partnership she initiated on behalf of students enrolled in her writing courses with editors at The Daily News Journal.
During the course of the project, about 19 of Rollins’ journalism students had more than 30 stories published by the DNJ, garnering the junior- and senior-level student journalists real-world, hands-on learning.
“The Lifestyles department has been especially lucky to benefit from the feature writing classes of Lisa Rollins, who helps the students develop story ideas and work those concepts into publishable stories,” said Sandee Suitt, section editor. “The students also contact the newspaper with photo ideas to accompany their work. They get the complete picture of what makes a good story, gain an understanding of requirements for publication in a daily newspaper and learn about the details they not have realized go along with being a journalist.”
Related to this, DNJ Editor Jimmy Hart, said, “The Daily News Journal management is dedicated to the education of our future workforce. The partnership with MTSU ensures journalism students stay up-to-date with changing styles and needs, and it provides the newspaper with some pretty darn good stories to share with our readers.”
The 2008 CASE District III contest received more than 1,300 entries, making it one of the most competitive such contests in the nation, observed CASE representative Jon Jones.
In presenting the Creative Partnership honor, Jones said, “’Promoting Student Learning in Print’ is an exciting and well-balanced, cooperative venture, which benefits both parties. MTSU benefits by providing students with real-world, hands-on learning, writing and editing experience; by enhancing the
journalism school’s presence in the community; and by meeting several goals and objectives of the News and Public Affairs office.
“The Daily News Journal benefits by receiving a regular influx of quality stories … and a ready supple of interns and potential future staff members.”