Pages 15-16: Communication - Striving for Excellence

The Nicholson School of Communication already receives regional and national recognition. Now even more is possible thanks to a generous gift from longtime supporters Tony and Sonja Nicholson.

Striving for improved visibility and enhanced reputation, the Nicholson School of Communication is succeeding in its goals as it gains increasing recognition locally, nationally, and even internationally. With 2,000 students and 50 faculty members, the School continues to increase productivity in research and service, and to win awards in many venues. The number and diversity of its endeavors this past year has been particularly notable.

Early in the year, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund named the School a “Center for Editing Excellence” and awarded the Journalism Division a grant of $30,000 to cover the cost of training 11 top college journalists. Nicholson School journalism faculty will work with these students and prepare them for special, 10-week paid summer internships at daily newspapers, including five papers in Florida. The 11 students will live and study on campus throughout the residency training program from May 15-27, 2005.

Faculty are also training younger prospective journalists through a program at Jones High School. The Nicholson School is a partner with the Orlando Sentinel in this effort, which is supported through a grant from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. With the grant, the high school was able to purchase software and equipment. The Sentinel donated staff members’ coaching time and printed the school’s newspaper. UCF faculty members worked with the high school students in workshops at UCF and, in the future, will hold a summer “boot camp” for the students.

Two new student organizations were created this year: chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Sigma Eta chapter of the honor fraternity of Lambda Pi Eta. Ongoing student organizations include chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the honor society of Kappa Tau Alpha, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, and the advertising student organization, Quotes.

The School also provides programming for the new UCF Channel. Radio-television students and faculty produce two news shows weekly, in addition to 20 sporting events, 10 concerts, and several special events—such as the Homecoming Parade—each year. A new monthly program on Hispanic Issues started in February, and a monthly program featuring UCF President John Hitt is planned for the very near future. The student newscast, Knightly News, ranked in the top three for the state last year among university newscasts, and Knightly News is looking even more professional this semester due to the gift of an elaborate news set by WOFL-TV, Channel 35, and FX, Inc.

The student-run online and cable radio station covers about 20 sporting events each month during the academic year, in addition to news and special programming. The station did live coverage of the November 2004 election. The student newscast has just been named among the top three nationally in a student competition sponsored by the Broadcast Education Association.

Other awards include Advertising/Public Relations students’ Platinum Award from America’s Blood Centers for efforts in the UCF Blood Drive. Also, this year, five Nicholson School students were named to the Order of Pegasus, the most prestigious and significant student award that can be attained at the university. These five join seven other former students from the School in receiving this highest academic honor.

In the academic realm, faculty presented more than 60 papers at national and regional conferences. Last year, 32 publications and five books were produced. The Nicholson School is also active internationally: Seven faculty presented more than ten papers at international conferences including those in Canada, Sweden, and Hong Kong. In addition, the Nicholson School is working with faculty at the University of Jönköping, Sweden, to create an exchange program for faculty and students at both universities. The School is also in the planning a study abroad program to London for students in all divisions.

Other future plans, now possible with the gift from the Nicholsons and an additional $250,000 Challenge Grant also posed by the Nicholsons, are a cutting-edge television newsroom, a convergence laboratory for print, radio and web tied into the television newsroom, and a research laboratory for the Interpersonal/Organizational Division.

Want to know more?
Nicholson School Website: www.cas.ucf.edu/communication
Mary Alice Shaver, director: mshaver@mail.ucf.edu

The Nicholson Donation

Tony and Sonja Nicholson, Orlando-area residents and longtime supporters of UCF, announced a $2 million donation this winter that will help the Nicholson School of Communication reach national prominence. The Nicholsons’ gift, which will be matched with state dollars, will be invested in an endowment

“With this endowment,” Mary Alice Shaver, Director of the Nicholson School of Communication, explained “we will be able to have cutting-edge technology, a state-of-the-art television news operation and convergence lab, and support many new opportunities for both faculty and students. It will enable us to invite noted visiting professionals and faculty to the School, to support faculty and student research, to start an annual lecture series, and to realize many other efforts that have been in our future plans.”

“I can’t think of anything better to leave as a legacy,” Tony Nicholson said during a ceremony at the school attended by faculty members.

Tony Nicholson is a member of the boards of directors of the UCF Athletics Association Inc. and the UCF Foundation Inc. He owns several companies, including Nicholson USA Properties, Inc. Sonja Nicholson is a past member of the Golden Knights Club Board of Directors for athletics.

QUEST 2005

DATE
Spring 2005

CONTACT
Sae Schatz
Arts & Sciences
Academic Promotions
407-823-5164
sae@cs.ucf.edu

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