College | Caffeinated

Wow. Haven’t seen one of these around here for awhile. Are they becoming extinct? No, they’re just busy being turned into papers, projects, or ideas for various orgs. A ton of exciting personal news to update, but that’s for another day. Now, for the main attraction:

Note: This post isn’t an attack on Brian Brooks, the person. This is an opinion of the decisions he made and how I see them as indicative of problems within the J-School.

Now, if you look to your left, you’ll see the major debacle over the Brian S. Brooks, the Associate Dean at the Missouri School of Journalism, e-mail(s). Depending on who you talk to, Brooks effed up big time with the first e-mail, and even the second e-mail, according to some. I’ll let Justin Scott explain. Or you can check out his screenshots – e-mail 1; e-mail 2. Short summary? Brooks pissed off a bunch of people by using an unfortunate incident at the Black Culture Center (BCC) as a handjob for the Journalism School and it’s students. In the first e-mail, he uses “sexual…preference” and “tolerance”, which many found offensive (read Justin’s post for more). The second e-mail, an apology (I use that in the loosest sense of the term), also ruffled feathers. He stated the first e-mail was to “support MU’s African American students” (it didn’t), apologized, turned the handjob on himself, apologized again, then took the hand back towards the students (that sounds wrong – no more handjobs in this post).

If you want my opinion on this incident directly, read Justin’s post – it’s a pretty good mirror of my thoughts.

This is a post on the larger impact. How does this incident affect the Journalism School beyond the here-and-now.

These e-mails represent the overarching mentality of J-School administration – that the norm is fine. There is no rallying cry from our “leader”. There is no call-to-action, no plan or steps to make things better for our School or the University. Both e-mails have a “we’re fine as we are” theme. Brooks does not put anything out there to say, “hey, here is why this will never happen at the Journalism School…”, instead, he just says, “hey, don’t do this shit. I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Apply that sentiment to other situations within the School. Over the past year, there have been a number of events, groups, and student out-cries for innovation and change in the Journalism School’s curriculum and the way it approaches things. However, outside of a few individual professors, change seems to be nonexistent. We keep hearing that we’ll “be fine”, while other schools aren’t settling for “fine” – their administration is gunning for unchallenged best. Frankly, I don’t see that in the Mizzou Journalism School administration, and this e-mail dictates that.

Many Mizzou J-School students are already ‘elitist’. Brian Brooks did nothing to help this. Actually, he did quite the opposite. In an e-mail that should have been about bringing people together, Brooks chose to segregate, using terms like, “…the best students at MU are Journalism students.” Is that a joke? I know plenty of Journalism students who suck at journalism, and at being a student, in general. Why? E-mails like these two make them think that simply by having “University of Missouri Journalism” on their degree means they’re set for life. These are the writers who “just really want to be Bill Simmons”, but without the work ethic. These are the broadcast students who think Anderson Cooper’s job is cushy. These are the StratComm students that left Broadcast for StratComm because they “want to make more money”, are “really creative”, or are “really, really good at talking to people!” (barf).

The administration is not in tune with the students. This point ties back to the first, but it deserves it’s own recognition. Simply put, the students and the administration are usually on entirely different wavelengths – in entirely different galaxies. Brooks will pop up every so often, get some face-time and maybe even make the obligatory “we’re working on it” statement. That’s it. Not once have I seen Brooks reach out to students on a personal, unforced basis. Many students see him, but feel like he is unapproachable. How difficult would it be to do a lap around the J-School and RJI every so often, talking with students and asking what they think of such-n-such.

Yes, this is a two-way road. Next week, I am going to e-mail Dean Brooks asking to meet with him, preferably over a casual lunch. Maybe in the J-Cafe. I’ll student charge it. You know, nbd. Not to grill him, not to harp (or even mention) this incident, but to talk about journalism and my beloved (if occasionally misguided) Journalism School.

These three things are what I immediately picked from the e-mails.  There is a lot to disagree with, sure, but what happened… happened. I know it’s cliché, but college is one big cliché so far.

It’s your move – student, faculty, and administration alike. We can continue to look backward and use this as an excuse, or move forward and us it as a catalyst.

I’m moving forward. Are you?

The other evening, I attended a presentation from David Selby, President of Chicago’s Schafer | Condon | Carter. I’m usually very wary of attending events put on for Mizzou Journalism’s Strategic Communication students – they tend to be traditional advertising heavy and repetitive to the point that repetitive to the point that repetitive to the point that.

Sorry, fell into a daze there.

Anyways, Selby’s presentation was a very welcome deviation from the norm. He was honest, discussed everything from advertising to social media, PR to company culture, and left me with some awesome quotes and advice.

One takeaway from his speech was the focus on two key traits: curiosity and humility.

Selby believes they are two of the most underrated qualities in the business world. Now, I don’t have the years of experience he has, so I don’t know whether they are underrated or not.

What I can tell you is this – any student in advertising/PR/social media/marketing/etc that isn’t curious will not make it.

The way we live, the way the industry is going, today’s students have to be seeking more. More information. More opportunities. More knowledge. More everything.

Unless you’re willing to settle for mediocrity. In that case, curiosity won’t kill you – the lack of curiosity will.

How do you keep curious? Or if you don’t, why not?

Title edit: Five Reasons Students Should Use Social Media OTHER THAN FACEBOOK.

To be honest, this post is going to ring truer for students of advertising, PR, marketing, communications, journalism, human resources, and the like, than dental students (what up, roommate). But everyone can learn something from it.

5. Own Your Online Name

Statistics show that about 80% of employers admit to searching potential employees on the Internet. Smart people in HR and recruiting, like Paul DeBettignies, says the other 20% are lying. Let’s face it, you don’t want that Xanga or LiveJournal from your, errmm, ‘rebellious’ pre-teens coming back to screw you when you’re 22.

What to do? Get a profile on some social networks. Think LinkedIn, Twitter, Brazen Careerist, Flickr (send your mobile photos from your phone. Hell, there’s probably an app for that), YouTube, and more. Get yourself a domain name for a few bucks (or a few- I have this and colbygergen.com). Still worried? Do a free Pipl.com for yourself, your usernames, etc. Paul taught me that and I discovered a few profiles I didn’t know were out there. Nor did I want them out there.

4. Meet Awesome Students From… Anywhere

We’re lucky to be growing up in an increasingly location-independent culture. I can Skype with future PR All-Star Mikinzie Stuart in Western Michigan while Google Waving with fashion guru Kion Sanders wherever he happens to be at the moment, Facebook chat super-connector Evan Roberts, all while at lunch in Columbia with Samantha Ogborn, Zack Luye and Justin Scott. Hold on a sec… allow me to pick those names up off the ground.

What to do? Put yourself out there. You’re never going to be friends with everyone, but focus on becoming good friends with some awesome people. There are people out there that share your passions. Find them.

3. Learn About Whatever You Want

Honestly, my college program needs to catch up. I want to focus on new media in my Strategic Communication studies, but Mizzou just doesn’t have the curriculum or faculty to support that. They’re great in other areas, so it’s awesome I get to learn that stuff, but I had to turn elsewhere for my education.

What to do? Start with Alltop.com. Find the area(s) you’re interested in and make your own online magazine rack. Start using Google Reader. Talk to people you meet that are doing or studying the same thing and ask them. People love sharing great content.

2. Get Ahead of the Curve

The social media space is still pretty barren when it comes to students. Start learning how to use it properly now, and that’s one thing you’ll do better than 90% of your competition when you graduate. Pepsi decided to drop their Super Bowl spending ($33 mil last year) and focus it on social media. Follow the money.

What to do? Make a plan and dive in. The water is fine. Be yourself- there are going to be people that like you and will show you the ropes.

1. Network Your Face, Arm, Torso, and Leg Off

It’s been preached to us for the past five, maybe ten years – “Network your ass off!” Well, social media is one REALLY FRIGGIN’ HUGE NETWORK. Your network is no longer confined to who your friends’ parents know, or your ex-babysitter’s uncle who knows a guy. Your network is unlimited. How’s that for a service plan, AT&T? Yeah, suck it Luke Wilson. You’re getting annoying.

What to do? Take advantage of the opportunity you have right now. Network. Build relationships. Find mentors that fit you like a glove, because it doesn’t matter if they’re in Timbuktu or Peru (thanks, 2nd grade).

So there are the top five reasons students should use social media. Obviously there are more than five, but I want to go to bed. Did I leave anything off the list? Is there something you would add, take away, or change? Students that are using social media- what’s the number 1 reason you tell other students to use it?

If you’re a student (or anybody, actually) reading this and have questions or wonder what’s the next step, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and I’d be glad to help or connect you with someone that can.

Shameless plug: at the end of every post this month, I’m putting a call to action to vote for Pepsi Refresh projects. Specifically mine, obviously. You can vote for an idea once every day and have 10 votes each day. That means you can vote for my idea, or others, but preferably mine, up to 28 times.

So, that was 2009. It’s over. Let’s move on.

College | Caffeinated was down for all of the New Year’s Resolution posts, so I won’t make you suffer through another. Here’s the brief summary of my resolutions: work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger. I’d like to thank Daft Punk for leaving us with such inspiring prose.

I head back to Mizzou tomorrow (scratch that, Monday now- damn snow), where I will start the core courses of my Strategic Communication degree this semester. Yes, I am a semester behind in my Journalism coursework. A combination of a poor showing freshman year and lack of faith in Mizzou’s J-School led me to take a semester off. The faith, and my grades, are restored. As a bonus, I finished a lot of courses towards my Sociology degree and took courses towards a Business minor.

You’re probably wondering, “what does this have to do with anything?” Well, doubtful person, as a reader of this blog, I’m sure you’re interested to know where my thoughts are coming from.

This is an important aspect for every blogger- personal, business, educational, whatever. Nothing is context-independent. We do not live in a vacuum. The best bloggers are not the ones that share awesome ideas, information, and stories, but the ones that share what inspired their awesome ideas, why they found certain information useful, and how their stories relate to the overall mission of the blog, and ultimately, the blogger.

I encourage you to check out my revamped ‘The Author’ page, where I briefly explain myself and why I chose the path I’m on, and ‘The Blog’ page, which details why I chose this simple theme and what I like to write about.

As you do that, consider your own context, especially if you write. Even if you don’t write, it’s an important thing to consider in any communication. How can you expect someone to understand the message if they don’t know where it’s coming from?

The future, according to the New York Times. Look familiar?

The New York Times is rolling out their Times Reader 2.0 for $15 a month (about $180 a year). Basically, the Reader 2.0 is a new way to look at your newspaper on your computer, powered by Adobe AIR.

Excuse me while I do backflips and bake cakes for the technological innovation in journalism occurring before us.

“Welcome to the future. Your paper is here,” says the Times.

Ummm, no.

For Christmas, I was thinking about buying my dad the Doobie Brother’s “The Captain and Me” on CD. He already has the record, but he’ll surely be ecstatic about hearing the same music in a CD player instead of record player… right?

Probably not. It’s the same thing he already has. Why should he care?

Look at it this way- when a product gets a new packaging, it, well, gets new packaging. In the end, I’m getting the same damned item that I always buy.

La-de-frickin-da, welcome to the future. It looks like the present, but it’s really so futuristic you don’t even know.

Sorry, Times, but your Times Reader 2.0 isn’t the future. And unless you truly make an innovation, you won’t be mine, or anyone’s, paper when the future gets here.

*photo from Flickr use Seattle Miles under Creative Commons license

For my followers that aren’t associated or interested in Mizzou’s J-School, allow me to explain the outpouring of #lfyj tweets on Wednesday evening. I’m not apologizing though, because it was one of the coolest things that I have ever been a part of.

If you were a part of it, here’s a recap from my perspective. And, thank you so much.

#lfyj was a completely impromptu discussion about innovation in curriculum at Mizzou’s J-School. It started with a simple tweet from Erica Zucco and retweet from Jessica Mustain about a group of Mizzou Journalism students’ capstone project- Letters From A Young Journalist.

Suddenly, what is known as the “snowball effect” happened. It was epic.

Mizzou Journalism professor Karen Mitchell, senior convergence major Kelsey Proud (who came up with the #lfyj hashtag), myself, and a few other students started to discuss what the website suggests. Before we knew it, there were plenty of students, faculty, alumni, and other interested outsiders joining the conversation.

Something great happened. There was no bashing. There was no insulting. There were no “what I say doesn’t matter” attitudes.

It was an intellectual outburst of ideas to improve education. It was awesome.

Completely unintentionally, I found myself in a conversation about how to improve my school through innovation. And it wasn’t just ranting by the students. We were being listened to. We were being talked to. We felt like we had a voice in our education and our future. This awesomeness lasted for two hours.

I was so excited that this was happening. I had questioned Mizzou’s J-School in the past for resting on it’s laurels and not striving to be on the leading edge of journalism. But this chat sealed the deal. The school cares. The students care. We are striving to be the best.

So what were the take-aways from this awesomesauce? Here is my summary, from a student’s perspective:

1. Break down the silos

Mizzou’s J-School has six undergraduate sequences, or programs: Convergence Journalism, Photojournalism, Print and Digital News, Magazine Journalism, Radio-Television Journalism, and Strategic Communication. For the most part, they exist in a silo, with the students, courses, and professors rarely overlapping.

This needs to change.

Some students proposed a complete dismembering of sequences. Others simply proposed opening up the sequences so that there is more flexibility in the courses that students can take. I’m a fan of the latter; there still needs to be structure.

But there also needs to be autonomy. The profession of Journalism is fluid. The students (and their education) needs to be as well. I am majoring in Strategic Communication, but I would also like to master the basics of shooting and editing video, copy editing, photography, and more.

2. Improve the flow of communication

At it’s core, journalism is communication. As an elite journalism school, communication among students, faculty, and administration should be quite excellent.

It isn’t. And there is no excuse for it not to be.

Discussions like #lfyj, in which professors and students were involved, is the first step to this. But students yearn for more. Having Associate Dean Brian Brooks grilling hot dogs on the quad isn’t enough. We want interaction on an intellectual level, not an intestinal one.

This falls on the shoulders of students, faculty, and administration. Faculty and administration need to reach out to student and student organizations and encourage them to voice their opinions. Students and student organizations need to set up events in which issues critical to our education are discussed. Not ice cream socials, not pizza parties (although those aren’t bad, especially when free).

3. Make some changes to required courses

There was a lot of debate during #lfyj on what classes should be dropped, added, and changed. Here are the top three discussed, and what needs to happen:

Cross Culture Journalism (JOURN 2000)- This class is very important. We get that, and agree that it should be required by all sequences. But by the fifth week, 95% of the class loses interest. From that point until the final project, nothing is learned, just recited.

Proposal- There seems to be two different ways to approach this. One suggestion was to make it a two-hour course. Cover the material and get to the application of it (the project).

Another option, which was discussed and seemingly endorsed by many students, is to absorb the material into another course- such as Principles of American Journalism, or even History of American Journalism. By focusing an entire course on this subject (and beating said subject like Mangino beats KU football players), kills any emphasis in further classes. But the subject needs to be an emphasis throughout journalism. All the time. The integration of it, from freshman courses to capstones, would provide many chances practical application of the subject.

News (JOURN 2100)- This course, required for all sequences, is just too much. Not in workload, but in content. I enjoyed the course, but a few months later, I don’t feel like I learned much from it.

Proposal- This course needs to be broke into two courses: Principles of Writing and Principles of Reporting. I believe that the former should be required for all sequences, but the latter be optional for Photojournalism and Strategic Communication (fyi, as a StratComm student, I would still take it).

The first, Principles of Writing, would focus on learning AP Style, grammar, usage, sentence structure, and so on. In talking with people in the “real world”, like employers and alumni, this is an area that Mizzou J-School graduates are weak in. Personally, I know that I need to improve my technical writing skill. I enrolled in J2100 knowing that. I left with the same feeling.

The second, Principles of Reporting, would focus on the reporting (*duh). The convergence project, the profile, the interview assignments, and other participatory applications. There needs to be more training on interviewing techniques and how to report different types of stories. By making Principles of Reporting it’s own class, this would be allowed.

History of American Journalism (J3000)- Full disclosure: I haven’t taken this course yet. But I’ve heard stories. Oh, have I heard stories (it’s a journalism school- it’s what people do).

Proposal- Integrate this course into another course, like Principles of American Journalism, or improve how the curriculum is taught. I’ve heard the words “data dump”, “dry”, “memorization”, and “I’m not learning anything” in reference to this course numerous times.

Students understand the importance of history. We get this. Many of us actually enjoy it (because history is full of stories, and, well, see above). But a non-participatory, force-feed of facts is not how we learn. When I said that journalism students yearn engagement, it wasn’t just for extra-curriculars. It’s in the classroom, too. Maybe assign group projects to “report” on something historically important to journalism. Or give us some facts about the history of journalism- then allow us to come up with (and possibly present) why it’s important to the history of journalism.

4. Some changes for Strategic Communication

In a discussion about Strategic Communication courses, Professor Mitchell tweeted that “We HAVE to find a way to free up these classes for you students.” Even as a Strategic Communication student, I agree. I would love for students from other sequences to be in my classes.

Also, Mizzou needs to improve it’s options for public relations courses. Many of the Strategic Communication courses are very advertising- and creative-heavy. But in the communications industry, the walls are breaking down. Advertising, public relations, and marketing are becoming integrated, and students need to be prepared for this.

Proposal- Develop more courses in public relations and integrated communications. Mizzou doesn’t even meet the requirements for a PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America), something that would be a huge asset to the University as a whole.

Alright. I’m done for now. Those four suggestions are a mix of what I heard (read, whatever) from students participating in #lfyj Tuesday night, what I’ve heard around campus, and my own opinions. Please comment with any opinions, improvements, ideas, or criticisms (whether you’re at Mizzou, from Mizzou, or just interested in pushing education further).

Thank you all. Everyone who is reading this post, everyone who participated in #lfyj, everyone who is working towards innovation in our education. Thank you for caring.

Now, it’s time for action.

Take note: The Journalism Students for Curriculum Innovation will be meeting at 5 p.m., Tuesday, December 1 in the conference room of the Journalism Library. The #lfyj discussion will surely provide a fantastic starting point. If you can’t make the meeting, follow the hashtag #jsci and tweet in with your thoughts.

Photo credit to Flickr user Adam Proctor under Creative Commons license.