GEIG Newsletter

March 2, 2007

> Newsletter Update from GEIG Head Sue Robinson

March 1, 2007

> GEIG Call for submissions to 2007 AEJMC Annual Conference

> Letter to GEIG Membership from Head Sue Robinson

Spring 2007 GEIG Newsletter Update

I think it is fair to say that this 2006-2007 period has been a transition year for the Graduate Education Interest Group. With the foundation set in place by past head Kate Edenborg, GEIG is taking on a much more prominent role in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. This year’s conference in Washington D.C. during August 9-12, 2007 will both solidify and extend that presence.

First, I would like to encourage all graduate students to consider the GEIG paper call. We accept any research method in any topic relating to journalism and mass communication. Our call is competitive and each paper will be sent out for blind review. A $100 cash prize and plaque will go to the top paper, and the three best authors will also receive registry reimbursement from AEJMC. Not a bad deal!! This year we will also showcase the best papers in a research panel.

Second, please check the AEJMC bulletin in D.C. for the times and location of a new faculty-free graduate student lounge during the job-placement service. Set up as a sort of speed-date matching of employers and job candidates, the service will be held throughout the conference this year. (Deadline for applying to the service, by the way, is July 13!! They only take the first 100 CVs). If you’ve ever participated in the service, you know how stressful the constant, fast-paced mini-interviews can be on a grad student’s nerves. This year, we are going to offer space for you to decompress. In this lounge, feel free to compare CVs, prep for your interviews, or just loosen your tie and relax a bit. I’m going to try to bring in some pizza for people, since I know how difficult it can be to leave the conference long enough to grab a bite to eat. This is going to be a bit of an experiment for us, though, and future lounges will completely depend on whether people make use of this in D.C. So check it out and tell us how we might be able to serve you better.

Third, for the first time in several years, GEIG will host an off-site social for graduate students. This year’s event will be very informal, and take place at the Capitol City Brewing establishment on Friday night, August 10, at 9:30 p.m. Capital City Brewing is about a 5-minute walk from the Renaissance Hotel. Both I and GEIG-Vice-Head-soon-to-be-Head Dan Reimold (of Ohio) will be there around the bar and would love to meet you. We’ll still be wearing our name tags, so you’ll know our group. Do come and introduce yourself.

Finally, GEIG has made its List-Serv active again with news of job openings, journalism and mass communication events, and graduate-education-related news. If you have anything you would like to contribute to this list serve, send it over to me at robinson4@wisc.edu so I can post it.

Remember, April 1 is the paper-call deadline for this year’s big conference! Can’t wait to see everyone there!
Sue Robinson (of University of Wisconsin-Madison)
GEIG Head

Letter To GEIG Friends and Members from GEIG Head Sue Robinson

In 1990, the Graduate Education Interest Group (GEIG) formed as a way to support graduate students within the larger Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication organization. GEIG gives grad students opportunities to present at AEJMC's mid-winter and national conferences, offers a competitive $100 award for the top paper, and provides social networking for students.

For example, GEIG is hoping to sponsor a faculty-free lounge during the job placement service at AEJMC in Washington D.C. this summer as well as an off-site social for grad students. The time and location for the GEIG activities will be published in the AEJMC conference bulletin.

To join, students can visit the membership page on the GEIG Web site or sign up at the conference in D.C. this August. We accept students of all research interests and methods.

To submit a paper, students need only to select the GEIG option on the AEJMC electronic-paper-submission site. Top paper winners notonly receive recognition, but also free AEJMC conference registration and the opportunity to present on a research panel.

We're also looking for the names of up-and-coming grad students who might be interested in taking an active interest in GEIG as an officer. It's a great way to get to know AEJMC and learn how an international organization operates in a non-intimidating setting.

September 2006 - Message From 2006-7 GEIG Head Sue Robinson

The Graduate Education Interest Group has survived another year, and 2006 promises to be even more invigorating with a new crop of officers to build on a productive 2005!

Outgoing Head Kate Edenborg successfully navigated a probationary period for our group. This involved compiling an in-depth response to AEJMC council concerns, soliciting references from GEIG alum (now professors), and organizing a plan for succession as we move forward. During this year she also promoted GEIG relentlessly with AEJMC board members and the membership as a whole. I’d like to take this opportunity to formally thank Kate for all her hard work and dedication to the cause of grad students in this international organization!!! She’ll be staying on as Division Liaison, helping us to get through another probationary year.

Also staying on will be Rick Popp of Temple University as Secretary and Bill Herman of the University of Pennsylvania, who will transition to Research Chair. Former Research Chair Carmen Stavrositu will help out as a co-program chair, and Carole Bell of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has agreed to help her colleague at UNC, Nicole Smith, learn the ropes of being Web and List Serve master. GEIG is pleased to welcome second-year Dan Reimold at Ohio University as vice-head and co-programming chair and also Kate Foss of the University of Minnesota, who will help out Rick as co-secretary. We also created a new position of membership chair, which will be occupied by Temple doctoral student Gwen Shaffer. Thanks to all of you for stepping up!

GEIG had an incredible conference in San Francisco in August. Our seven panels included a sole-sponsored refereed research panel made up of our top graduate student papers. All were well attended. Other panels we co-sponsored included discussions on citizen media, teaching, journalism history, public policy, community journalism education, and a separate research competition. We also had a great showing for the pre-conference session on teaching mass communication and society that we co-sponsored.

We’ve already started planning for next year’s conference in Washington D.C. We’re looking for ideas for new panels, so if you’ve got a good idea, give a shout to Dan at dr716305@ohio.edu or Carmen at cds205@psu.edu. We have the chance to co-sponsor half a dozen panels. So, here’s your chance: What kind of issues would you like to see AEJMC address at the next convention? One of our goals continues to be organizing panels for grad students by grad students, but we need to hear from you guys to best serve you.

Finally, the GEIG board listed the following goals for the 2006/2007 year. They include:

Subscribe all our members to our List Serve
Post grad-student-related information and news onto the List Serve, including useful material about dissertation completion and job searches
Schedule interesting and compelling programming for the D.C. conference
Make sure graduate students know about our research paper competition, for which there is a monetary award!!

Finally, the call for the AEJMC mid-winter conference will go out this fall. For more information, contact Bill at bherman@asc.upenn.edu if you’re interested in getting to Reno, Nevado in February! It’s a great opportunity to get some experience presenting and to meet with other graduate students, since we tend to be well represented at the mid-winter conference. And, remember that sending your paper to the mid-winter conference does not preclude you from sending it to the national conference in August.
That’s it for now! Check out the names and contact information for the GEIG board, and let us know how we can serve you better.

February 2006 News

GEIG Newsletter - Spring 2006

GEIG Newsletter Winter 2005-2006

December 2005 News Update

GEIG Conferenece
GEIG is now accepting submissions for its 2006 Midwinter Conference - Please see the Call for Papers for more information. Submissions are due Dec. 21.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
JMCQ has "relaxed" its word-length requirement for submissions not using tables or appendices, and is seeking increased submission of theory-building work. Read the notice from the editor for more information.

Message From 2005 GEIG Head Kate Edenborg - October 14, 2005

Hi all!

I am very honored to have the opportunity to serve as your AEJMC Graduate Education Interest Group head. Our success as an organization is dependent on the active membership we gain each year. Our achievements are due to efforts of a dedicated group of students, many of whom stayed on as officers for a second or third year. I am lucky to be working with such knowledgeable and dedicated people.

This year, in addition to creating panels, hosting research paper contests and providing useful resources to our members, we also have a few other goals in mind. My task as head is to make the Graduate Education Interest Group increasingly valuable to graduate students and visible to all of AEJMC. A key is to expand membership and increase our voice within the wider organization.

As a group that represents graduate students’ interests and needs, we would like to hear your ideas for AEJMC panels, newsletter items, and ways we can be more relevant to your lives. Please feel free to contact any of our officers with feedback. Or, send a message to our listserv which is up and running once again.

Keep visiting the Web site to get updates and information about the Midwinter Conference, 2006 AEJMC Convention and opportunities for officer roles. We will also provide listserv reminders and newsletter articles about these topics.

As we move forward, we hope to provide more value to our members through improved programming; networking opportunities; informative content on our Web site and in our newsletter; and a welcoming, personal outreach to members. I look forward to this year and hope to get to know many of you in the process. Best of luck with your studies!

Kate Edenborg, GEIG Head

University of Minnesota

>>New GEIG Officers elected for 2005-2006 year

>> Read

GEIG Update: New Officers Welcomed for 2005; More Opportunities Ahead

We’ve picked up two more officers to help us better serve and represent you in the AEJMC organization. This spring, we’re happy to welcome Carmen Stavrositu from Penn State University and Carole Bell from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to our leadership.

Carmen will be filling a new role, AEJMC Division Liason. In an effort to better coordinate communication between the AEJMC graduate student population and the organization’s divisions and interest groups, GEIG has decided that a special role to facilitate interaction between our interest group and AEJMC’s other entities is in order. Wish Carmen well as she begins work on this new and exciting position!

Meanwhile, Carole will be taking over our Webmaster position. Carole has already worked to get us a new Web address at http://aejmc.net/geig, and she’ll be continuing to overhaul and update our site as the year continues. Thanks again to both of our new officers for taking on the task!

At this year’s convention in Toronto, we’ll be selecting new officers
to fill all of our positions. GEIG will need plenty of help to take
on the 2004-2005 year, and our membership is always welcomed to join
in the effort. We hope you’ll consider pursuing an officer position
in the new year –contact current head Jimmy Ivory or any other officer for more information on how you can get involved.
- Jimmy Ivory, GEIG President

2004 AEJMC Convention Recap

We sure had a great time up North, and we got a long done while we
were at it. The AEJMC Graduate Education Interest Group kicked off a
great year with another great convention, taking part in eight
terrific sessions during the week in Toronto.

Thanks go out to the Mass Communication and Society, Communication
Technology and Policy, Media Management and Economic, History,
Communication Theory and Methodology, and Critical and Cultural
Studies divisions, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the
Internships and Careers and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender
interest groups for co-hosting great sessions with us. Also,
congratulations to our Guido H. Stempel III research paper competition
winners, Mina Tsay and Miranda Brady, and the winners of the graduate
student Promising Professor awards (co-sponsored with the Mass
Communication and Society division) and Jung Sook-Lee graduate student
research paper competition (co-sponsored with the Communication
Technology and Policy division).

We also got lucky enough to scoop up some great new officers. I'm
departing after three great years serving GEIG, as are outgoing
program chair Victoria Bemker, outgoing vice head Colleen Connolly-
Ahern, and outgoing research chair Hyoungkoo Khang. Meanwhile,
Jarrett Medlin is taking over as the new GEIG head, Carmen Stavrositu
moves into the research chair position, Sue Robinson has stepped up as
our secretary and newsletter editor, Hong-Lim Choi begins a year as
our membership chair, and Lisa Paulin and Kate Roberts Edenborg
prepare to share the load as co-program chairs. Carole Bell will be
returning to her Webmaster duties after an excellent job last year.

It's with a bit of a heavy heart that I pen my last convention wrap-up
for the GEIG newsletter, but I'm confident that these good people will
do a terrific job keeping GEIG in top form. I've challenged them with
the task of continuing our solid annual convention programming and
strong midwinter conference presence, as well as striving to help
us serve our graduate students through continued cooperation with the
other AEJMC divisions, commissions, and interest groups. I know they
won’t let me—or you—down.

- Jimmy Ivory, GEIG President

Call for panel ideas for national AEJMC Conference