DePaul Creates Industry-Academy Link With New Fellowship Initiative

by Sydney Dillard, Ph.D., DePaul

I am delighted to announce the successful launch of the Visiting Industry Professionals Fellowship (VIP Fellowship) at DePaul University, a groundbreaking initiative that bridges the gap between academia and industry by bringing C-suite caliber professionals to our Public Relations and Advertising program. Made possible through a generous Quality of Instruction departmental initiative grant, the VIP Fellowship has already made a significant impact on student learning and networking opportunities.

This innovative program not only enriches classroom experiences but also extends learning beyond the lecture hall. Specifically designed to engage with industry leaders with a strong history of benevolent endeavors and sense of purpose grounded in shaping tomorrow’s trailblazers, VIPs not only share their wealth of knowledge but also provide real-world insights, mentorship, and curated experiences for students.

The fellowship infuses curriculum with current and new communication insights that meet the fastpaced challenges associated with industry trends by addressing three areas:

Career Advancement: Providing a unique opportunity for students to interact with and learn from seasoned professionals, the VIP Fellowship aims to catalyze career advancement by exposing students to real-world challenges and innovative solutions.

Industry Engagement: By bringing industry leaders into the academic environment, the fellowship fosters meaningful connections between academia and the professional realm. This engagement not only benefits students but also contributes to the ongoing evolution of industry practices.

Curriculum Enhancement: To ensure the program remains at the forefront of industry trends, the VIP Fellowship actively contributes to curriculum development. The infusion of up-to-date insights ensures graduates are well-equipped to navigate the fast-paced landscape of public relations and advertising.

Meet our Inaugural VIP Fellows:

Scott Farrell: Retired President of Global Communication at Golin - Bringing 45 years of public relations experience, including leadership at Golin, Farrell is an expert in crisis communications and international campaigns. His role at DePaul follows a distinguished career, and he continues to contribute to the academic community.

Lewis Williams: Executive Vice President, Head of Brand Impact at Weber Shandwick - With over three decades of Total Market and Multicultural consumer marketing experience, Williams has an extensive track record working with global brands. Recognized as an advocate for diversity and mentorship, he is committed to shaping the future of the communications industry.

Tonise Paul: Retired Chairman and CEO of Energy BBDO - A driving force behind 24 years of brand growth, Paul is not only a distinguished industry leader but also an advocate for female leadership.

This initiative underscores DePaul University’s commitment to providing students with a dynamic and industry-relevant education. The VIP Fellowship sets the stage for ongoing collaboration between academia and industry, creating a pathway for students to become the next generation of leaders in public relations and advertising.

I invite anyone in our CSM community to reach at sdillar2@depaul.edu if interested in learning more about the VIP Fellowship, replicating a similar program, or getting involved in shaping the future of student-industry collaborations. Together, we can continue to foster an environment where academic excellence meets real-world success!

Sydney Dillard is Associate Professor, Public Relations and Advertising & Academic Graduate Director of the Graduate Program in the College of Communication at DePaul University.

Conference Corner

CSMN Members to Present During 2024 NABJ Convention in Chicago

If you’re planning to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Convention this summer in Chicago, please make plans to attend two panels featuring members of the Commission on the Status of Minorities. Also, a book featuring two CSMN members will be part of the 2024 NABJ Author’s Showcase.

Former CSM Head Dr. Marquita Smith of the University of Mississippi is leading a panel titled “Next Generation Impact on the Media and Local News Scene” on Thursday, Aug. 1 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Also on Thursday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Dr. Smith joins Dr. George L. Daniels of Alabama and Professor Ryan Dearborne from Western Kentucky University for a panel titled “Assault on DEI: How Academic Arena is Engaging in the Fight.” This afternoon session will be moderated by the chair of the NABJ Academic Task Force, Dr. Libby Lewis of California State-Los Angeles.

During the conference, Mas Biswas, Loyola University of Maryland, and Dorothy Bland, University of North Texas, will have their book Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategies: Learning from Journalism and Mass Communication Programs with Professional Impact featured in the NABJ Author’s Showcase.

The 2024 NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair takes place July 31-Aug. 4 and will culminate with a kickoff to the association’s 50th-year celebration that continues through the 2025 convention in Cleveland.

Commission’s AEJMC Panels

In an addition to its now-standard AEJMC conference programming, the Commission on the Status of Minorities has sponsored its research call for faculty- and student-led abstracts. The abstracts will be discussed in a high-density refereed session on Thursday, August 8, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Topic I is “Empowering the Silent: Effective Communication in the 21st Century,” with Cathy Jackson and Mia MoodyRamirez are discussant and moderator. Topic II, “Documenting the Challenges Marginalized Communities Face Using Various Platforms” focuses on the top submissions by faculty and students, with Kathleen McElroy and Carolyn Walcott as moderator and discussant.

Here are other panels involving the Commission on the Status of Minorities and a few related divisions:

Thursday, August 8

At 2:30 p.m., CSMN is the main sponsor, with the Commission on the Status of Women as co-sponsor, of the teaching panel titled “Experiential and Inclusive Pedagogy through Teaching Practice: Why Hackademics Matter.” Carolyn Walcott will moderate, with scheduled panelists and former journalists Dorothy Bland, Uche Onyebadi and Maha Bashri discussing an industry-academy blend of teaching and learning to enable immersive experiences for students.

CSMN joins the Public Relations Division at 4:30 p.m. in presenting a PFR panel titled “Mentoring Across Differences: Best Practices in Mentoring a Diverse Pool of Future Professionals and Academics,” which explores “how mentoring can help bridge differences to champion students as young professionals.” Vanessa Bravo will be moderating, with the scheduled panelists Maria De Moya, Natalie Asorey, Mia Moody-Ramirez, Elishia Cohen and Natalie Tindall.

That panel coincides with one that might be of special interest to CSMN members: “Authors, Editors and Reviewers: Looking Forward” in which the AEJMC Publications Committee will discuss the research publication review process with authors, editors and reviewers.

Another interesting panel starts at 2:30 p.m., “Teaching Experts Are In: Preparing Educators for Teaching the Next Generation,” which includes Shearon Roberts, the 2023-24 Chair ESC Teaching, as well as Gabriel Tait, and Mia MoodyRamirez, both on the Standing Committee on Teaching.

Friday, August 9

Grab some coffee and attend MAC Awards meeting at 7 a.m., and honor the recipients of the awards honoring Félix F. Gutiérrez and Clint C. Wilson II, Lionel C. Barrow Jr. and the Barrow Minority Doctoral Student Scholarships.

Starting at 10:30 a.m., MAC and CSMN will host the teaching panel “Spanish-English Bilingual Journalism Practices: From College to the Newsroom.” Federico Subervi-Vélez will be moderating, and the scheduled panelists are Lourdes Cueva-Chacón, Jessica Retis, Ana Lourdes Cárdenas, Elio Leturia and Alejandro Alvarado Bremer. The panel will discuss “how new generations of Latino/a/x/e journalists are being trained in higher education institutions” and also “seeks to survey the most recent bilingual journalism news products to assess if higher ed is meeting industry standards and demands.”

Starting at 2:30 p.m., the Scholastic Journalism Division and CSMN will host a PFR Panel titled “Implementing Diversity in the J-School Newsroom: Part II,” which builds on the successful panel that Jesús Ayala moderated last year. The scheduled panelists are Keonte Coleman, Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante, Rachel Grant and Nathian Rodriguez. As the panel blurb puts it, “Come learn from fellow educators and newsroom advisers who have successfully taught how to build cultural competency to diversify news coverage.”

At 4:30 p.m., CSMN joins the History Division in presenting the teaching panel “Lest We Forget: History and Inclusivity Are Fundamental.” Moderated by Lillie M. Fears, the scheduled panelists Earnest L. Perry, Cathy M. Jackson, Janice Hume, Sharon Bramlett-Solomon and Yvonne Cantrell-Bickley will discuss why teaching media history and diversity are especially crucial in today’s political landscape, where such “courses are consistently facing adversarial forces from within and without academia.”

Saturday, August 10

At 8:30 a.m., CSMN joins the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Interest Group for the PFR panel “Building Bridges and Sharing the Spotlight: How Media Outlets Gain Trust and Share Stories of Historically Marginalized Communities.” With Harrison Hove moderating, the scheduled panelists Kalisha Whitman, Sharon Bramlett-Solomon and Gheni Platenburg will share “examples of initiatives or strategies to connect with marginalized communities and spotlight untold stories.”

At 2:30 p.m., Visual Communication and MAC present a PFR panel titled “The Role and Status of Minority Professionals in Visual Communication Field.” Yung Soo Kim will moderate, Gabriel B. Tate, Lisa Krantz, Deborah S. Chung will be panelists, and George L. Daniels and Sydney Dillard are scheduled to be discussants in a session that presents “a space for discussion and sharing of personal experiences from former minority (i.e., female and African American) photojournalists. They also will discuss “the theoretical foundations on the significance of diversity and inclusion in photojournalism and society.”

At 4:30 p.m., CSMN and the Commission on the Status of Women present a PFR panel titled “Defending Democracy with Ethical Leadership in Media.” Mary Bock will moderate and the scheduled panelists Lourdes Cueva Chacon, Kathleen McElroy, Thomas Durkin and Jingyao Yu will discuss that to promote freedom and uphold democracy, news organizations must begin by addressing issues within their industry. The panel will offer examples and solutions.

Sunday, August 11

Starting at 9:30, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Interest Group and CSMN present “Teaching with Intersectional Inclusivity in an AI Age.” With Kay Colley moderating, the scheduled panelists Chelsea Reynolds, Shearon Roberts, Lyric Mandell, Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante and Silvia DalBen Furtado will discuss the ways “stereotypes, implicit bias and microaggressions can negatively impact teaching and learning while offering “tools instructors can use the classroom to combat these and other inclusivity threats,” including their own implicit biases.

More on Our Research Panels

Session One: High-Density Refereed Research Papers (extended abstracts)

“Empowering the Silent: Effective Communication in the 21st Century”

Diverse foundations in mass communication: A critical pedagogical intervention

Presenters: Loren Saxton Coleman, Howard; Jayne Cubbage, Southern Mississippi; Cheryl Jenkins, Southern Mississippi

Mental health perceptions of underrepresented college students in U.S. higher education

Presenters: Tugce Ertem-Eray, North Carolina State; Eyun-Jung Ki, Alabama; Yezi He; Katelin Mueller, Alabama

Newsroom diversity’s evolution: a textual analysis of metajournalistic discourse

Presenter: Kayli Plotner Colorado, Boulder

Producing telenovelas to engage Latinos about Alzheimer’s Disease

Presenters: Jennifer Vardeman, Houston; Jeremy Cajina-Clarke, Houston; Luis Medina, Houston

Moderating/Presiding: Cathy Jackson, Norfolk State

Discussant: Mia Moody-Ramirez, Baylor

Session Two, Top Papers (extended abstracts): Documenting the challenges marginalized communities face using various platforms

Faculty top paper: Giving “Voice” To Inequity: Documenting the Professional Challenges and Adaptations of Journalistic Podcasters from Marginalized Background

Presenters: Kelsey Whipple and Catherine Hurley, Massachusetts

Faculty second-place: Will Using Live-Streamed Intangible Cultural Heritage Content Enhance Cross-Cultural Competencies And Reduce Anti-Semitism?

Presenters: Kenneth C. C. Yang, Texas at El Paso; Yowei Kang, National Chung Hsing University; Ge Lan, Filippo Gilardi, and Thomas William Whyke, University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Student top paper: Representation in Florida’s State Book Award Winners in an Era of Erasure

Via Lipman, Stanford (unable to attend)

Student second place: Focusing On Minority Groups: A Quantitative Study on The Attitudes of Diverse Minority Groups Toward ChatGPT

Presenters: Wenchang Wang, Yuqing Liu, Zhiyi Lin, and Wenxin Ouyang, Peking University

Discussant Carolyn Walcott, Clayton State