Skip to content

Posts Tagged ‘organizational communication’

Kelly Coordinates Events for Student Life

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of profiles of Student Employee of the Year nominees. The winner will be announced at a luncheon Thursday, April 18.

Michael Kelly ’14 of Black River, a junior organizational communication major, has been nominated for the Keuka College 2013 Student Employee of the Year award for his work as the marketing and advertising assistant in the student activities office.

In that  role, Kelly has been bringing fresh ideas that support and grow campus programming, said Eva Moberg-Sarver, director of student activities. Kelly is responsible for the advertisements and promotions students see in the window of the office, as well as on digital signage, Campus Activities Board (CAB) bulletin board, and social media accounts, said Moberg-Sarver, who nominated him for the award along with Kevin Perry, resident director.

After taking the initiative to attend a regional training conference, Kelly collaborated with two offices, a campus club, and  Student Senate to bring a new program to campus. As a result, motivational speaker Erin Davies, known for her FAGBUG vehicle, presented her documentary on her experiences touring the country with the car and speaking to the LGBTA community. Kelly also coordinated the Enactus “Green Bingo” event, held on St. Patrick’s Day, to raise awareness and encourage students to “go green” in a number of ways.

According to Moberg-Sarver, Kelly has gone “above and beyond” with his marketing ideas, even going so far as to investigate a texting program that would enable updates to be delivered directly to students’ cell phones, and researching  promotional pieces for prospective students that could bring multiple campus offices together.

“Overall, we could not be more pleased with his work ethic and dedication, as well as the opportunity to work with him,” she said.

Snapshot of a Graduate: Allie Walker

Where can a Keuka degree take you? This is the seventh in a series of snapshot profiles on members of Keuka’s Class of 2012.

Allie Walker '12

Allie Walker ’12 recently completed a final Field Period internship in the music industry department at the Burst Agency, an entertainment agency, in Atlanta, Ga. She graduated with a degree in organizational communication and in the fall, she will begin professional training in concierge work with special events and public relations with a hotel in Cancun, Mexico. After mastering greater fluency in Spanish, Walker plans to relocate to Miami, Fla.

“The thing that I value most from my Keuka education is the hands-on experience I was able to gain throughout my college career. I was able to travel around the country and world. Everything that I learned during my Field Periods I have been able to apply and will still be able to apply in the workplace,” Walker says. “I have made great connections on the way.”

To explore what might be in your future with a Keuka degree, request more information.

Snapshot of a Graduate: Junelle King

Where can a Keuka degree take you? This is the fourth in a series of snapshot profiles on members of Keuka’s Class of 2012.

Junelle King of Ithaca, N.Y.

Junelle King ’12 graduated cum laude with a degree in organizational communication and is currently amidst three months of full-time work with the Finger Lakes Museum project, a non-profit organization working to build a world-class cultural and natural history museum and aquarium on land at Keuka Lake State Park. During the spring semester of her senior year, King conducted a senior practicum at the museum, developing summer programs and promotions at community sites throughout the region. Her practicum went so well, she was asked to stay on to carry out the programs she designed, including community “coffee chats” and two community event nights at Keuka Lake State Park, one in July and one in August. During each park event, officials will bring in a State Parks wildlife biologist as well as a local music group to appeal to local residents, boaters and the campers visiting the park, to raise awareness and build support for the museum.  Additional job duties involve monthly e-newsletters sent to supporters and managing the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the Museum.

King says Keuka’s Field Period internship program was a major factor in her decision to enroll, and now, after graduating, she believes it paid off for her.

“Having the work experience, building my resume and trial-and-error figuring out what you want to do and the experiential learning with the senior practicum is how I was able to get my job with the Museum. Not many other schools offered that.”

While temporary, her current job is a “great opportunity” to work on building a project from the ground floor up, she said.

“Even though I’m a communications assistant, I do get to have a lot of input because there are so few staff and it’s in the early stages. It’s great to see how an organization develops as it’s growing and to help other people to see it too. It’s very inspiring.”

To explore what might be in your future with a Keuka degree, request more information.

On Fashion, Foreign Travel and Fine Arts

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of features on recipients of the Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award.

Mia Barnello is eager to follow in her mother’s footsteps. In January, that path will take the junior organizational communication major to the Florence University of the Arts in Italy.

During her spring semester of study, Barnello, a Syracuse resident, will also travel throughout the country to explore the culture in cities such as Sicily, Rome and Venice. She received a $2,200 Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award to help with expenses. The scholarship assists students pursuing culturally oriented Field Periods and is named for the late Brown, a member of the Class of 1963 who spent her junior year as a Norton Scholar in Switzerland.

“I’m definitely interested in finding the little, not-so-touristy attractions, hidden treasures, the food, the boutiques, and so on,” Barnello said of the tucked-away spots she hopes to discover.

According to Barnello, her mother spent almost a full year in Italy as a college student herself “and almost didn’t come back.

“She studied art in a small town called Urbino. She’s talked about it for my entire life,” Barnello said. “I’m definitely hoping to bring back experiences and memories we can kind of bond over, things we both [experienced] while in Italy.”

The trip will be Barnello’s first trip overseas, indeed, her first time traveling outside the U.S. She is eager to see the work of different artists and architects that she studied in an online art history class taught by Assistant Professor of Art Melissa Newcomb last summer. After visiting museums and churches, seeing sculptures and other famous works, Barnello said she plans to e-mail Newcomb about the experience.

“I want to bring back pictures and things that are exciting to share and encourage more people to [study abroad],” she said.

While Barnello’s mother studied fine arts, Barnello is hoping to focus more on design and the fashion industry, which is a special interest of hers. Last year, Barnello and fellow Keuka communication major Ashley Larimore teamed up on a special class project to create a draft of a fashion magazine for Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication and English Bob Berkman’s media writing class.  At Keuka, she is completing classes for a minor in art.

Barnello said she plans to spend at least one day of her overseas trip visiting the headquarters of the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. Ideally, she’d like to get in touch with photographers or writers to get a flavor for the working environment, and see what a “day in the life” is like there.

“In the future, I really want to be involved in fashion. Being in Italy and learning the background, I think will help me decide if I want to focus on fashion through design and publications [or another way],” Barnello said.  “Since my hope was to do graphic design and that’s not really offered [in Florence], I’m kind of designing my own [course of study.]’

While in Florence, Barnello will take classes in jewelry design and Italian fashion, as well as a beginner’s course in the Italian language.

“As of right now, I don’t know anything of the language, which is terrifying, but hopefully, that [course] will help. My mom actually didn’t take any language courses when she was there – she just picked it up. I’m a little scared, but … We’ll see what happens. “

Portrait of the Artist as a Graduate

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of stories saluting members of the Class of 2011. We asked division chairs for story ideas and they in turn contacted faculty members for suggestions. We believe they came up with some terrific profiles.

Johnson tells fellow seniors about her internship.

Peering up from the pages of an art portfolio, the model sports a black T-shirt with a playful design bearing a New York City skyline logo with a new addition: Bristol Valley Theater (BVT) in Naples.

To the untrained eye, Grace Johnson must’ve gone to a lot of work getting the model photographed in the T-shirt Johnson designed, then reprinting the image in her professional portfolio. But the Keuka College senior doesn’t mind admitting no one has yet pulled that particular T-shirt over their shoulders.

“I just Photoshopped it in,” Johnson said, referring to the software that has become the industry standard for photo editing.

Johnson's rack card design

After graduation May 29, Johnson plans to take the graphic design work she started during her January Field Period at BVT to the next level. She’ll start an intense, one-year graduate program in graphic design and advertising at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in July. Johnson said she was excited to find a program she considers a “hybrid” of her double major in visual and verbal art and organizational communication.
(more…)

Economy, not Osama, will Decide 2012 Election

 

From left: Robert Berkman, assistant professor of organizational communication and English; sophomore Robby Magee; COO/Executive Vice President Carolanne Marquis; and Mark Halperin.

The economy, not the killing of Osama bin Laden, will determine whether President Barack Obama is re-elected president, said Mark Halperin, senior political analyst for TIME magazine and MSNBC.

Halperin traveled to Keuka College to deliver the 23rd Annual Carl and Fanny Fribolin Lecture Friday evening. Prior to his talk, he conducted a question and answer session with students and members of the media.

“In all likelihood, the killing of bin Laden will not affect the 2012 presidential election,” said Halperin. “Getting bin Laden was good politically, but it’s done.” (more…)

Mazella Finds Purpose from Field Period

Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a 10-part series on the 2011 Experiential Learner of the Year Award nominees. Nominees for the upperclass and freshman awards will be honored at a luncheon May 6; the winners will be revealed at Honors Convocation May 7.

The Keuka Field Period often confirms a student’s choice of major and future career. But sometimes, the opportunity to garner hands-on experience in a particular field can send a student in a different direction.

Four years ago, Chris Mazella was enrolled in the organizational communication program and hoped to try his hand at journalism. But a struggle to find an internship with a newspaper led him instead to his high school, where a former teacher suggested he observe how communication plays into teaching. After observing her 9th grade social studies classes for a couple weeks, Mazella asked if he could try teaching a lesson himself. Not only did Mazella enjoy it, but his supervising teacher told him he was a natural and could do well in the classroom.

Back on campus, Teri Spoor, who manages the IKON print shop at Keuka and supervised Mazella for four years as a work-study employee, remembers well the difference she noticed.
(more…)

Hands On with Hands On Orlando

While many college students choose internships in order to try out a particular career facet, Keuka College junior Allie Walker opted to focus her January Field Period on a cause near and dear to her heart: community service.

The Penn Yan resident, an organizational communication major, serves as a community service student advocate and looked for an internship where she could focus on volunteering.

She found what she was looking for at Hands on Orlando (HOO), a non-profit organization in Central Florida that focuses on solving community problems by inspiring and empowering people to make a difference through volunteer action.

(more…)

On the Air: Keuka Junior Writes, Records News

Allison Skillman was looking for an opportunity to work with words beside just teaching them. So, the junior education-turned-English major was excited to find a Field Period placement this January writing local news snippets for listeners tuned in to the noon and 5 p.m. news broadcasts on a sprawling regional radio network

Skillman, an East Rochester resident, spent most of her internship writing short news stories, generally no longer than a paragraph, which would take a D.J. or news anchor approximately 20-30 seconds to read aloud. Pithy, local stories might follow regional or statewide pieces in order to appeal to a majority of the listening audience, tuning in to 68 different frequencies of the Family Life Network (FLN), which broadcasts across northern and central Pennsylvania, as well as upstate and Western New York and the Southern Tier.

Headquartered in Bath, N.Y., FLN, a Christian radio conglomerate, attracts a primary demographic that is “conservative, largely Republican, family people, not terribly politically active,” Skillman recounted. In contrast to most radio stations, where operating funds come from paid advertising, FLN is supported by donations from listeners. Its broadcasts reach Buffalo and Rochester, outside Syracuse and east of Oneonta, across the Southern Tier from Jamestown to past Binghamton, then south into Erie, Altoona, Allentown and Scranton, Pa. The noon news report runs for 30 minutes, the 5 o’clock segment for 15 and shorter news updates of about three minutes run seven times in three hours each weekday morning.

“It’s a big news station, but tries to focus on local [news] and make it personal for listeners,” Skillman said. “I didn’t do so much of the big headlines, but more local and issues-driven stories.

For example, one story she wrote, about a Howard man building a house out of straw, garnered interest from listeners.

(more…)

Connecting with Connected Students

For today’s college students, access to digital information is like oxygen—it’s necessary in order for them to function.

However, this presents a dilemma for their teachers: is it better to adapt to the students’ digital world or stick with the tried and true measures for sharing information and knowledge?

That will be the focus of Reaching and Teaching: How to Connect with the Connected Generation, a panel discussion scheduled Tuesday, March 15 at Keuka College. It will run from 4:15-6:30 p.m. in Hegeman 109 and is free and open to the public. (more…)