The P.I. Reed School of Journalism will host its own December Convocation ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

While the SOJ ceremony begins at 9:30 am, graduates are asked to arrive by 8:30 am for line-up. Please report to the registration table in front of the Mountaineer Room on the second floor of the Lair.

The SOJ’s December Convocation ceremony includes a processional of graduation candidates, keynote speaker and student awards. Graduation candidates are formally recognized and cross the stage to shake hands with their program chair and the dean. A WVU photographer will be on hand to take photos of each candidate crossing the stage. Photos can be ordered online after the event. A light reception follows the ceremony.

(Students and families should note that this event is in addition to the WVU December Convocation ceremony. Students are encouraged to attend both events.)

Please visit the SOJ website for additional details about the SOJ ceremony and more. Go to http://journalism.wvu.edu/events/december_convocation_2009.

All graduation applicants should have received letters regarding the SOJ ceremony at both their local and permanent addresses. If you haven’t applied yet, please see Ronda Maxon in room 107. If you haven’t received your letter, please see Kimberly Brown in room 113 (main office).

Questions regarding the SOJ December Convocation ceremony should be directed to Kimberly Brown (room 113) at Kimberly.Brown@mail.wvu.edu or at 304-293-3505, ext. 5403.

Your voice matters! Last call, SOJ students are invited to participate in a focus group session to discuss the challenges and opportunities in our changing industry. Take this chance to join your peers in a thoughtful discussion and to share ideas, experiences, and to make a difference.

Two sessions available:

Wednesday, Nov. 11
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

or

Thursday, Nov. 12
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The focus group session will be held in room 101. Please RSVP to Professor Coester at dana.coester@mail.wvu.edu.

The deadline for paper and panel proposal submissions for the 2010 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium is Friday, Dec. 4.

The call for papers and panel proposals is available at the Colloquium Web site at www.jomc.unc.edu/SEC2010. Participating divisions are History, Magazines, Media Law and Policy, Newspapers, Radio-Television Journalism, and Open. The 2010 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium will be held March 11-13 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For more information, contact Michael Hoefges, associate professor, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, at mhoefges@email.unc.edu.

Each year, the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (SOJ) hosts a December Convocation ceremony to celebrate December graduation candidates. This year’s Convocation Ceremony will be held on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 9:30 a.m. We are looking for student volunteers for guest relations and to hand-out programs. If you are interested, please contact Christa Vincent via email at christa.vincent@mail.wvu.edu or by phone (304) 293-3505 ext. 5439. To learn more about December Convocation 2009 visit http://journalism.wvu.edu/events/december_convocation_2009.

ieiMedia and the Journalism Department and College of Extended Learning at San Francisco State University will sponsor international multimedia training programs in Summer 2010.

Available trips include:

Urbino, Italy: June 3 – July 2

Urbino, Italy: June 17 – July 30 (Magazine Internship)

Perpignan, France: June 24 – July 23

Cagli, Italy: June 24 – July 10 (grad students only)

Quito, Ecuador – Coming Summer 2011

Applications will be available for download starting Nov. 15. For more information visit http://www.ieimedia.com/

Attention PR students: A new (third) section of PR 324 has been created for the Spring 2010 semester. The course will be taught by Chris Dale, Tuesdays, 6-8:50 p.m., in Room G3. Dr. Pinnell has a sign up sheet on his door, Room 314, but will need to interview each student before signing them into the class to ensure that those students who need the class to graduate on time are the ones who get into it.

Join the WVU P.I. Reed School of Journalism and College of Law for an event celebrating the publication of Associate Professor John Temple’s new non-fiction thriller, “The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates.”

Temple’s book, “The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates,” was recently published by University Press of Mississippi. It’s the true story of a law firm’s fight to save a death row inmate and how an idealistic attorney, Ken Rose, and his diverse band of investigators and lawyers fight to overturn their client’s death sentence. The book chronicles Rose’s decade-long defense of Bo Jones, a North Carolina farmhand convicted of a 1987 murder.

The Nov. 12 book launch and panel discussion, “The Last Lawyer: A Conversation About Justice, Journalism, and the Death Penalty,” will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the WVU Law Center’s Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom.

The panel will be moderated by WVU College of Law Dean Joyce E. McConnell and will focus on the case covered in the book, issues surrounding the morality and constitutionality of the death penalty and the journalistic process. Panelists include Temple; the book’s central figure, death penalty attorney Ken Rose; West Virginia appellate lawyer, Lonnie Simmons; and Jay T. McCamic, a noted legal expert on sentencing mitigation.

The event, which will include a Q&A session, is open to the public. A book signing and light refreshments will follow.

Additional details and the link to the webcast are available at http://law.wvu.edu/lastlawyer and http://journalism.wvu.edu.

Read the complete press release about the event. Download the e-flyer !

If you think you may have lost something in Martin Hall, please check the lost and found in room 113.

Next Sunday through Wednesday (November 1-4), the School of Journalism will host a site team from the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. These five people will be visiting campus and Martin Hall to review our undergraduate journalism program for re-accreditation. This is a very important event for the SOJ.

Currently, only 114 journalism programs in the country are nationally accredited. The fact that we are among this select group is something you can point to with pride on your resume, job applications, and in interviews.

We spent the summer compiling a report for this review, and we are now preparing for the site team members to visit us.

The site team is comprised of 5 people, who are accomplished professors and professionals from around the country. They will be touring the building, visiting classes, and meeting with a number of people, including students. They may even pull you aside in the halls to ask you questions about our academic programs, student support services and facilities!

We’re proud of our school and our students, and we are confident we will receive positive evaluations.

If you have any questions about this visit, please feel free to talk to your professors. And if you are assisting us in some way with this effort—by attending our Sunday night “open house,” meeting with our visitors Monday evening, or serving as a student assistant—we appreciate and are grateful for your participation, which is critical to our success.

JQE tests will be held this week and next. You must have already pre-registered to be eligible. There will be NO registrations at the door.

JQE TEST DATE #1: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
TIME: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
LOCATION: Room 21 G Ming Hsieh Hall
TEST BEGINS AT 5:30 – NO ADMITTANCE AFTER TEST BEGINS
MUST BRING: PHOTO ID – #2 PENCILS

JQE TEST DATE #2: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
TIME: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
LOCATION: Room 21 G Ming Hsieh Hall
TEST BEGINS AT 6:00 – NO ADMITTANCE AFTER TEST BEGINS
MUST BRING: PHOTO ID – #2 PENCILS

JQE TEST DATE #3: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
TIME: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
LOCATION: Room 21 G Ming Hsieh Hall
TEST BEGINS AT 6:00 – NO ADMITTANCE AFTER TEST BEGINS
MUST BRING: PHOTO ID – #2 PENCILS

Read more about the JQE on the SOJ website http://journalism.wvu.edu/future_students/jqe