College of Media

College set to embrace new name

Renovated e-newsletter first step in transition

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(Editor's note: The College's name change, to 'College of Media,' was approved by the UI Board of Trustees on March 26, 2008. Following is the original version of the name-change story as it appeared when this issue of the newsletter was posted.)

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The College of Communications may soon be known as the "College of Media."

The name was recently approved by the campus Educational Policy Committee, and it has now moved on to the U-C Faculty Senate. With the multi-step approval process under way, it is expected that the name will become official within the next month or so. As a first step in the transition, the new name is being used in this re-invented publication, "The Media I," formerly known as "News Flash."

A name change for the College appeared inevitable after discussions during the past four years with the Department of Speech Communication (in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences). Similar departments across the country were dropping the "speech" portion of their names, and the LAS department on this campus wished to follow suit. A Department of Communication on the same campus as the College of Communications would create confusion at Illinois, so the College agreed to change its name, as well.

The situation presents an opportunity for the College to better define itself, said Dean Ron Yates. "Changing our name is not an unprecedented event. Four times previously, the College has gone through a name-change revision since journalism courses were first taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1902," he said.

The College of Media name describes the College's creative, scientific and professional endeavors in a specific way and one that even "Communications" does not.

Dean Yates said, "Many programs around the country are jettisoning the names 'Communications' or 'Mass Communications' in favor of 'Media.' What we really do is study and teach 'mediated communications,' but that is more of an academic moniker than a popular one. We study and teach media — old media, new media, emerging media, future media. In short, the College is about 'media.' "

Look for the "College of Media" to begin appearing in the College's print and online materials in the next few months.

Alumna takes new TV reporting job

Katie Heinz '05 JOURN recently accepted a position as a general assignment reporter at WICS-TV, the ABC affiliate in Springfield, Ill. She'll be a "Nightside" reporter in the capital city. WICS is the sister station to WICD-TV Champaign. Previously Heinz was a reporter at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wis.

Two journalism students earn sought-after internships

Students David Just and Dave Fultz will intern for Major League Baseball at MLB.com this summer. Just will be with the Chicago White Sox and Fultz will be with the Milwaukee Brewers. Each year MLB.com selects 31 promising juniors and seniors in journalism for paid summer internships that last eight to 10 weeks. Just and Fultz were selected from almost 400 applicants.

Advertising head quoted on television and online about Super Bowl advertising

Jan Slater MS '92 ADV, head of the Department of Advertising, was featured on WCIA-TV news on Jan. 30 and on the University of Illinois Web site discussing the phenomenon that is Super Bowl advertising. In the Web section called, “A Minute With ...”, Slater talks about how the Super Bowl became synonymous with big-budget creative ads. She also mentions a survey the Department of Advertising is conducting to gauge viewer reactions to the Super Bowl ads. (Editor's note: The survey deadline has expired.)