2008-2009 Dept. Accomplishments
- June 15th, 2009
- in TCF News & Notes
TCF Faculty
Dr. Jennings Bryant, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, received the one of the highest honors that is awarded by The University of Alabama as he was the recipient of The Burnham Distinguished Faculty Award. Dr. Bryant also delivered invited lectures to universities in Asia and Europe as well as the US.
Dr. Glenda Williams took office as the President of the Broadcast Education Association. She is only the second University of Alabama faculty member to be the head of this national organization.
Dr. Shuhua Zhou escorted TCF students to the People’s Republic of China for a class in Chinese electronic media. Dr. Zhou called upon his academic as well as professional contacts in order to have students have access to facilities others can not. A reminder that Dr. Zhou was recognized in December 2007 as one the 100 Best TV Hosts in Guangdong, China for his professional work between 1988-1993.
Dr. Francizca Weder from the University of Klagenfurt in Klagenfurt, Austria taught a course on European media for TCF in the fall semester. She hopes to return this fall to teach again and do research.
The department has hired two new faculty members in production to start in the Fall semester to fill the vacancies left by the departures of Aaron Greer and Joey Goodsell. Dr. Rachel Raimist has an MFA in directing from UCLA and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. She will be joined by Adam Schwartz who has an MFA from the University of New Orleans and is a past TCF undergraduate.
TCF has renamed its popular Broadcast News sequence to Broadcast and Electronic News to reflect the multiple news outlets available to our students beyond over-the-air broadcasting including opportunities in cable and the internet. The department is implementing more cross-platform courses in news and production.
Professor Bill Evans previous service as member of the state of Alabama’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Advisory Group proved particularly timely with the appearance of H1N1 flu this year. Dr. Evans currently serves on Alabama’s Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee which is convened by the Governor.
Assistant Professor Johnny Sparks received the Board of Visitor’s Commitment to Teaching Award.
A sports media class was taught for the department by widely respected college sports writer Keith Dunnavant.
Dr Pam Tran, assistant dean for undergraduate student services, was promoted from associate professor to professor this year. She is the first woman “full” professor in the history of the TCF department. She ranks third out of total of 242 Broadcast Education Association faculty members in the number of awards in television arts, radio news, audio production, and related activities. In audio/radio competition she is number one.
Producer/director Tom Cherones conducted his sixth capstone production class that turns a student written script into a twenty minute short. This year’dds production was Wolf at the Door.
Professor Jeremy Butler completed the 16th year of his very popular All Things Acoustic radio show Friday nights on Alabama Public Radio.
Broadcast and Electronic News Student Award Winners
Hearst
Daniel Cherry 7th Features Radio
BEA
Number one in sports anchoring Broadcast Education Association—Nic Hoch
SPJ/AP
Nic Hoch number one in SPJ sports reporting for the region
Mary Scott Speigner number three in TV News SPJ Regional
Daniel Cherry 2nd in News and 3rd in Feature Reporting
Jordan Culberson 2nd in Radio Feature Reporting
AP Professional Awards
Mary Scott won a professional award for reporting for WVUA small Market…and a award of merit for reporting overall in AP
NBS (National Broadcasting Society
Piper Broderick Honorable Mention (basically second in nation…only a winner and an honorable mention) in radio news