MURFREESBORO — The winter 2015 edition of MTSU Magazine profiles, arguably, MTSU’s
most recognizable college — the College of Mass Communication — at a time when
its multifaceted and innovative media offerings are coming of age.
Mass Comm is comprised of a
Department of Recording Industry that’s one of the best in the country, a
Department of Electronic Media Communication, whose students and
state-of-the-art facilities have attracted national recognition, and a
tradition-rich School of Journalism that houses the John Seigenthaler Chair of
Excellence in First Amendment Studies.
For Mass Comm to fulfill its
potential, though, new dean Ken Paulson, who was hired in 2013, and who was on
the team of young editors that launched USA
Today in the 1980s, knew the College also needed retooling.
“All traditional media have been
buffeted by digital technology, and that in turn has led to cutbacks and job
losses,” Paulson says in the article. “But there will always be news. There
will always be music. And film. And commercial art. And communication. Our
challenge is to prepare our students for the new era of opportunities.”
Preparing students to succeed
despite those realities isn’t just about having tech-savvy faculty and
cutting-edge tools, Paulson says. It’s about reinforcing traditional
communication skills (research, writing, ethics and critical thinking) while
breaking down traditional academic barriers, thinking beyond traditional media
platforms, and finding nontraditional ways to communicate.
“It’s not enough for us to just
teach journalism, media and production skills,” Paulson says. “We need to
anticipate the future and help reinvent these industries.”
The article details efforts
underway to make the college as contemporary, innovative and prominent as
possible. That includes a strategic shift that will meld the college’s two
aforementioned journalism programs — the School of Journalism’s traditional
program, for print, and the Department of Electronic Media Communication’s
multimedia program for practically everything else — into a single, vibrant,
multiplatform program poised for roll out in the fall of 2015. From a
curriculum perspective, it’s a savvy shift in approach by the college that
better reflects the media industry students will enter after graduation.
Dwight Brooks, director of the
School of Journalism, says in the article that there will always be a need for
trained journalists in a democracy. “But we’ve got to prepare our students for
the careers that are out there,” he says. “And they all involve being able to
shoot video and write for the Internet, in addition to the traditional skills
of reporting and writing. That’s the tricky thing: balancing.”
In addition, Paulson plans to
expand the role of the Mass Comm’s nationally recognized Center for Innovation
in Media as “a laboratory for change, anticipating where the media are going
and how we can ensure that our students get there ahead of it.”
Other articles in the new edition
of the magazine include:
- A photo essay of MTSU’s new, $147-million Science Building, which
opened for instruction late last year;
- the story of how biology professor Dr. Ryan Otter found truth in
the ashes of Tennessee’s worst environmental disaster;
- a profile of MTSU professor and folklorist Patricia Gaitely, who
studies the widely misunderstood Appalachian tradition of snake handling
in churches;
- a look at two Honors student-athletes who excel on the field and
in the classroom;
- and an alphabetical list of 26 ways MTSU proves it is committed
to student success.
Readers may also download MTSU Magazine free for their iPads
and Android devices. The MTSU Mag app, available in the iTunes store and now at Google Play, includes special multimedia content built into
every issue that’s not available in the print editions.
Printed copies of MTSU Magazine are distributed twice
annually to more than 105,000 alumni readers. The publication also is
distributed to interested community members, including state lawmakers and
members of the Tennessee Board of Regents.
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