Month: April 2012

Society for Professional Journalists Award

Congratulations to TCF student Bradley Whittington! The Society for Professional Journalists selected his Mark of Excellence submission, Tuscaloosa Tornado,  as a NATIONAL WINNER in the Television Breaking News Reporting category!

National Mark of Excellence Award judges choose ONE national winner in each category and two national finalists (runners-up).  As a national winner, Bradley will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism 2012 conference September 20-22 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

To see a full list of winners and finalists, check out the MOE award showcase or the press release.

Congratulations to Bradley and his professors.

Update on Major Restrictions for Spring 2013 Registration

TCF MAJORS:

The TCF department is growing, and it’s getting harder for us to offer enough seats in the classes TCF majors need. One issue we are now having is that we have many non-majors who are interested in taking our classes as electives or for fun, which means our majors lose out on seats and may be delayed in graduating.

As a result, we are going to be more proactive in making sure our majors get the classes they need by keeping out the students that don’t need them.  We will be placing restrictions on many of our courses for Spring 2013 registration that will prevent non-majors from registering for them.

Students who are enrolled in courses like TCF 100 and TCF 112 will not be affected by this policy, and we invite and encourage non-majors and undecided students to learn more about our department by taking these classes.  Upper level courses that are restricted in size are the focus of this policy to ensure that our majors can finish their degrees on time.

If you haven’t decided to declare your major in TCF just yet, that’s fine.  Most students will not begin their concentration/sequence coursework until their sophomore or junior year, so you have time to make that decision.

If you have decided to major in TCF, it is very important that you declare that information once you have made that decision.  You will need to make sure that you declare your major AND your concentration/sequence.  If you have not declared your major and sequence by registration for Spring 2013 you will not be able to register for many upper-level TCF classes offered in Spring 2013.

PLEASE DECLARE YOUR MAJOR AND SEQUENCE RIGHT NOW. This will ensure that you can continue to take the classes you need to graduate on time.

Current TCF upperclassmen should GO CHECK RIGHT NOW. Even if you are positive that you have declared your major, you may be wrong. Log onto myBama, go to your “Student” tab and click on the crimson “DegreeWorks” icon. Check the far right column and make sure that the “Major” field says “Telecommunication and Film” AND make sure that the “Concentration” field says the correct concentration. If you aren’t sure what your concentration should be, read the bottom of this e-mail.

If everything is correct, then you are good to go. If not, go to the next step.

DECLARE YOUR MAJOR AND CONCENTRATION! Here’s how:

  • Log onto myBama
  • Click on the “Student” tab
  • Find the links that say “Change of major/minor”
  • Click on the top link and watch the instructional video
  • Click on the bottom link and fill out the correct information (NOTE: If you are declaring TCF as a second major, you will need to contact Dr. Alsip at mkalsip@ua.edu for assistance)
  • Click through until you get a green confirmation banner at the top of the screen
  • After 24 hours, go check DegreeWorks and MAKE SURE that your information is now correct. If so, you’re all set!

Please do this RIGHT NOW. If you are unable to take a class because your major or sequence is not declared correctly we won’t be able to give you a special permit to take the class and you will have to wait until it is offered again. You don’t want this to happen and neither do we, so make sure it doesn’t by DECLARING YOUR MAJOR AND CONCENTRATION.

CONCENTRATIONS:

  • Critical Studies (History and criticism of television and film)
  • Documentary (Production skills for documentaries)
  • Electronic News (Sports, Entertainment, and Newsroom Broadcast Journalism)
  • Media Production (Production skills for television and film)
  • Media Management (Management for news stations)
  • Production Management (Management for television and film productions)

If you still aren’t sure about your concentration, contact the TCF advisor, Dr. Alsip, through the TCF Office (room 484 Phifer, 348-6350) or at mkalsip@ua.edu.

TCF Student Films To Be Shown at Cannes

Connor Simpson and Carlos Estrada’s Campus MovieFest film Through the Valley, and Hamilton Henson’s Campus MovieFest film Miss Peabody is Dead have both been selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival.

Festival de Cannes will take place May 16-27, 2012.