|
Home Welcome Links Sign up! Offices Calendar Internships Discussions Past events Meeting ideas Contact us |
Message from the founder
I decided to start a journalism-related club at UNF after I noticed that many UNF journalism students were not well-informed about their chosen field of study. I knew that UNF journalism students needed to learn more about several aspects of journalism: Because knowledge is power, I wanted to form a club that would help students learn about the issues listed above, as well as other journalism-related issues. I hoped that the club would arm students with the information they would need to make a smooth transition from college to a good job in the news media. I wanted to do this in part by organizing seminars in the fall and spring semesters. I wanted to bring in professionals from the local media to speak to the club. Additionally, I wanted to make the club's Web site a center of journalism-related information for aspiring journalists at UNF. I knew I had to start a journalism-related club after I found out about all the other universities that have journalism-related clubs, which are often chapters of national professional associations for journalists. The University of Florida has a handful of different journalism professional associations. Some of the other Florida universities that have campus chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists are: Initially, I decided to try starting an SPJ chapter at UNF. But it's complicated and difficult to start and maintain an SPJ chapter, so Dr. Robert Bohle (the club adviser) and I decided to first start a journalism club at UNF and worry about SPJ later. (Ultimately, we decided that SPJ isn't right for UNF at this time, and the Journalism Club will serve the needs of UNF journalism students better than an SPJ chapter would right now.) I started the club in June 2001 with the help of several founding members. In June 2001, club members elected the first officers, including me as president. Along with my vice president, I got to work right away, recruiting more students and organizing the club's first-ever seminar. Once the fall 2001 semester started, recruiting efforts continued to gain momentum, and our first seminar was a huge success. Since then, the club has had many interesting events. Check out our "past events" page for pictures and summaries of some of our past events. We encourage everyone to consider becoming an officer in the club. You'll meet other students, network with local journalists, add to your résumé, learn how to run an organization, and have plenty of fun in the process! Please contact us and let us know if you think you might want to be an officer. Please browse through this site for more information about the club. Feel free to contact the club anytime. E-mail or call the club if you have general questions, want to get involved, have suggestions for club activities or just want to chat. Be sure to sign up for the mailing list here if you're not already on it. I hope you'll take control of your future as member of the media by getting involved with the club today! Sincerely, Kelly Donovan,
|
Web site design by Kelly Donovan. Contact us if you have questions.