Spring 2008 - College of Communication & Information - The ...

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new & noteworthy$500,000 Scripps Howard Foundationgrant funds convergence labStudents will see big changes happening on the fourth floor of theCommunications Building over the next year-and-a-half thanks to agenerous gift from the Scripps Howard Foundation.The $500,000 grant, which was awarded to the college last fall, will fundconstruction of a new media laboratory for use by College of Communicationand Information students.The facility, which will be called the E.W. Scripps Convergence Communicationand Information Laboratory, will be designed to help studentsprepare to work in a communication and information industry thatis becoming increasingly more digital and interactive.“We are very grateful to the Scripps Howard Foundation for this transformationalgift. It will provide our students with a world-class teachingand learning facility that will allow us to push the envelope with respectto communication and information convergence education,” said DeanMike Wirth.Construction of the state-of-the-art lab, which will occupy nearly 4,000square feet of space in the Communications Building, is set to begin insummer 2008.“The internet and other emerging electronic platforms are revolutionizinghow people are consuming media,” said Judith G. Clabes, presidentand chief executive officer of the Scripps Howard Foundation. “Consequently,much of our focus at the Scripps Howard Foundation has beenon helping schools of communication across the country prepare theirstudents to work in our ever-evolving industry. We view our growingpartnership with the University of Tennessee as a wise investment in theeducation of future media and communications professionals.”The Scripps Howard Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the E.W.Scripps Company, which owns and operates Knoxville-based ScrippsNetworks and the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper. Scripps Networkscomprises the company’s portfolio of national lifestyle television networks,including HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living TVNetwork, and Great American Country. The company intends to separateinto two publicly traded corporations by mid-year 2008—Scripps NetworksInteractive and the E.W. Scripps Company.“Today knowledge of new media is vital for those interested in a careerin the field of communications,” said John Lansing, president of ScrippsNetworks. “My hope is that this new lab will expand the students’ understandingand knowledge which, ultimately, will make them more attractivejob candidates.”Bruce Hartmann, president and publisher of the Knoxville News Sentinel,said, “The grant for the new media lab at UT demonstrates in a very tangibleway the Scripps Howard Foundation’s determination to help today’sjournalism and communications students get out in front of the changesand opportunities in our industry. Managers of local and national mediabusinesses will soon be looking to those same students for creative ideasand solutions.”Undergraduates in the college will work individually and in teams onprojects such as creating, producing, managing, and marketing digitalcontent. Work done in the lab will not only meet class requirements, butwill also appear in such platforms as print, broadcast, online, and variousforms of mobile media.Students’ work will be accessible to a variety of audiences, includingpotential employers.“In the not-so-distant past, the lines of different communication andinformation disciplines were very clear,” said Wirth. “Today, with theinternet bringing the disciplines together and creating new ways to communicate,students must be prepared to communicate effectively througha variety of channels and across a number of different platforms to be successfulin the field.”The grant for the media lab is the second commitment that the ScrippsHoward Foundation has made to UT’s College of Communication andInformation. Earlier the foundation had presented the university witha $50,000 gift to fund the Tennessee Journalist Web Journalism Project,which connects UT journalism and electronic media students with topweb journalism professionals.The Scripps Howard Foundation’s mission is to advance the cause ofa free press through support of excellence in journalism, quality journalismeducation, and professional development. The foundation helpsbuild healthy communities and improve the quality of life through supportof sound educational programs, strong families, vital social services,enrichment of the arts and culture, and inclusive civic affairs, with a specialcommitment to the communities in which Scripps does business.Scripps HowardFoundation4 UT College of Communication and Information Full circle Spring 2008
Renovations improve Communications Buildingfor students, facultynew & noteworthyAlthough construction of the Scripps Convergence Communication and Information Laboratory will not begin until summer 2008, faculty, students,and staff are used to seeing construction in the Communications Building.Thanks to renovations completed in fall 2007, students in the Collegeof Communication and Information have a new place to check e-mail,hold group meetings, and study between classes, all without leaving thebuilding.The new CCI Student Study Area is located in Room 226, near the college’sCenter for Undergraduate Studies and Advising. The space is openfor student use on weekdays during building hours.The room has four networked computers, wireless laptop access, a networkedprinter, and a phone for local calls. A conference table with sidechairs provides room for students to study or hold group meetings. Freshpaint, new lighting, and new carpet complete the new lounge.The study area fills a significant need for a student meeting space andstudy area within the Communications Building.Upstairs a total renovation of Suite 420 has created a new graduate seminarroom. The room features new carpet, paint, lighting, furniture, and anew video–data projector and projector screen.Other recent Communications Building upgrades include new whiteboardsin Rooms 251, 298, 309, 314, andA new study area provides students with meeting space and access to computers.321B.Minor helps students acquiretechnology literacy skillsA new undergraduate minor offered by the School of Information Sciences (SIS) is helping students from a variety of majors learn about the impactof information and information technology on society, individuals, and organizations.The information studies and technology minor, which was established in fall 2006, helps students acquire the information and technological literacyskills necessary to know how and where to find information, how to assess its value, how to use it strategically, and how to design informationcontainers and access systems in a variety of settings.“Our faculty sees this new minor as an exciting portal for undergraduate students to learn about information studies and technology,” said SISdirector Ed Cortez. “The convergence of communication technologies and information increases the need for everyone to be more informationliterate—whether you choose to be an information professional or not. Undergraduate students from all disciplines need to understand the basicintellectual and structural underpinnings of information if they hope to succeed in their careers.”Students in the minor learn about the impact of policies governing access and control of information resources and how these policies are set.Other aspects of information and information use in the new curriculum are the ethical use of information, intellectual property rights, plagiarism,privacy versus the right to know, and equity of information access.The curriculum complements majors in all fields, including liberal arts and sciences, engineering, applied life sciences, business administration,education, and human ecology. The minor also opens the door to such careers as information architecture, content management, systems analysis,technology coordination, and web development and administration.All students are welcome to take courses offered as part of the minor, which requires 18 hours of course work to complete.—Joel Southern5
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