II. Standard 2: Curriculum and Instruction

The following documents are available in a digital format and will be in the workroom during the visit:

• a complete set of syllabi for all courses offered by the unit at the time of the site visit, the immediate past regular term, and the immediate past summer and special session (including interim terms and courses offered by correspondence, online or distance education).

Executive summary:

Our college mission is to nurture curious and creative minds to thrive in the ever-changing media and communication professions. Our students win recognition in national competitions, and they get jobs. They work in innovative businesses where they put to use the communication skills we’ve taught them and the storehouse of knowledge they’ve gained from a well-rounded liberal arts foundation.

We have addressed evolving industry challenges by updating curriculum and instruction to keep pace with changes in the industries we serve. To that end, we have incorporated into our curriculum new courses in foundational writing, research methods, diversity, disinformation, data analysis, social justice, globalization and distribution techniques. We also offer courses in cutting-edge topics like AI, esports and VR/AR.

The CoJMC provides students with professional experiences working with diverse clients/audiences and complex issues. By grounding these experiences in theoretical concepts, we help students develop life-long learning skills. New, innovative programs have been developed to keep pace with evolutions in media. The college added the sports media and communication (SPMC) major in 2017. SPMC is now the fastest-growing area in the college and the second-largest major, with advertising and public relations just slightly larger. The creation of the Experience Lab allowed students to gain hands-on experience from the first semester they enroll. Students work with student leads, faculty liaisons and professional mentors in the Experience Lab to build their academic skills while exploring their professional interests in one of the college’s media outlets or agencies. Additional programming in the form of minors in broadcasting and advertising and public relations has increased opportunities for students outside the college, and our 4+1 accelerated master’s programs have streamlined the process for students in our college who wish to advance their education. Most recently, the college approved an undergraduate certificate in esports media and communication. The broadcasting and journalism majors have also evolved to align reporting curriculum while creating additional media production avenues for students to explore. These efforts provide current students with new opportunities, and the update has also helped maintain enrollment in the college where it was once dwindling.

These new initiatives build from existing innovative programs at the college. The student-run advertising agency, Jacht, celebrated its 10th year anniversary in 2019 and continues to work with dozens of paying clients each semester. The agency has introduced a student leadership role focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, which conducts regular training sessions for students and collaborates with the college diversity, equity and inclusion committee to create educational materials used campus-wide. Advertising and public relations campaign courses have worked with diverse audiences and clients throughout the community, including the Malone Center, The Free Speech Center, STEM fields and OLLI Lifelong Learning.

The journalism project, Mosaic, works with refugee communities in the area and our award-winning depth reporting projects have tackled topics covering the environment, sustainability, race and social justice and the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Nebraska News Service marked 10 years of operation in 2021 and continues reporting on state government for local media across the state. This makes it one of the earliest efforts nationally to engage students in covering state government. As a result, it has become a national trend in journalism schools as local reporting by professional media has dwindled. Our international photojournalism program, Global Eyewitness, was recently revamped, working with program alumni. The program now takes a solutions journalism approach that is heavily informed by the culture and community it covers. On hiatus due to the pandemic, Global Eyewitness will return to international travel in 2023, working with partners in Vietnam.

We have responded to feedback from employers and our alumni advisory panels urging the college not to abandon our traditional focus on the basics of the professions we serve, including clear writing, thorough information gathering, analytical thinking and creative problem-solving. We maintain this foundation while still looking to the future to address challenges on the horizon.

The college also has focused on improving instruction and continues to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion across the curriculum. Roughly 20 faculty participated in one of three diversity in the classroom trainings, and all faculty engage in the monthly teaching tool updates during college meetings. Seven faculty members have participated in the University’s Peer Review of Teaching, now the faculty-led Inquiry into Reflective and Scholarly Teaching program, a year-long seminar in which faculty members focus on improving instructional techniques. Additionally, 25 faculty have completed UNL’s Center for Transformative Teaching Institute for Online Learning, that not only improved our online courses during the pandemic, but those skills have transferred to our on-campus courses. The college successfully adapted to the challenges posed by COVID-19 by incorporating new formats and online learning while keeping the profession as a guiding force for career preparation after graduation. College faculty routinely score well on student evaluations, and many faculty members conduct additional mid-term and end-of-semester surveys of students in their classrooms to understand what’s going right and what could be improved. Faculty also close the loop as part of their course-based assessments by reflecting in their personal end-of-year reports on how the changes made to the course affected student outcomes. In addition, faculty members have received recognition for their teaching from our students who nominate them for Professor of the Month, and recognition from the UNL Parents Association and national organizations, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Broadcast Education Association and Society of Professional Journalists.

Students’ internship experiences also are an important indication of the quality of curriculum and instruction. Employer feedback generally is strong, and employers have turned to the college for years to fill internship and full-time positions. The college strongly encourages but does not require internships and has long-standing relationships with many employers who offer paid internships. Employers routinely provide informal feedback about our students. UNL has embarked on a more systematic effort to evaluate students’ internship and work experiences, which will provide another source of information to consider in our ongoing review of curriculum and instruction. In the fall of 2016, the university’s Office of Career Services and the college negotiated a memorandum of understanding to jointly share the cost of a full-time career development specialist for the college. Over the years, this position has become a vital connection among students, faculty and the industry and has allowed the college to expand existing internship and job search opportunities for our students.

1. Use the following format to provide an outline of the curriculum required for the major and for each of the unit’s specializations. Add lines for courses and categories as needed. (Please see example provided separately with this template.)

Number of hours/units required for graduation: 120 hours

Number of hours/units required for major degree: 52 hours (BJ degrees)

Core Courses for All Students in Program (25 credits earned)

1. JOMC 100 The First Year Experience
2. JOMC 101 Principles of Mass Media
3. JOMC 130 Introduction to Design Thinking
4. JOMC 131 Visual Communication Core Modules I
5. JOMC 132 Visual Communication Core Modules II
6. JOMC 133 Visual Communication Advanced Modules
7. JOMC 134 Visual Communication Project
8. JOMC 197/297/397 Experience Lab
9. JOMC 020 Professional Development
10. JOUR 200a Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting I
11. JOMC 222 Social Justice, Human Rights and the Media
12. JOMC 486 Mass Media Law
13. JOMC 487 Media, Ethics and Society
14. JOMC 098 Senior Exit Survey

Advertising and Public Relations Major (27 hours)

1. ADPR 151 Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations
2. ADPR 221 Strategic Writing
3. ADPR 283 Strategy Development
4. ADPR 381 Applied Research in Advertising and Public Relations
5. ADPR 429 Jacht Student Ad Agency or ADPR 439 Student Competitions or ADPR 489 Advertising and Public Relations Campaign

Elective courses that must be taken within the program

1. 9 elective hours from ADPR elective options comprised of one of five suggested focus areas, including brand management; creative; media, data, and analytics; public relations; and global/multicultural communication.
2. 3 hours of coursework in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications (course with ADPR, BRDC, JOMC, JOUR or SPMC prefix).

Required outside of the accredited unit (60 hours)

1. Achievement-Centered Education (ACE) Courses – 27 hours
2. Minor – minimum of 12 hours
3. Foreign language requirement – up to 16 hours
4. Remaining hours for open electives or additional majors/minors

Journalism and Broadcast News (28 hours)

1. JOUR 107 Information Gathering
2. JOUR 200b Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting II
3. JOMC 348 The Real World I
4. JOUR 307 Data Journalism
5. JOUR 400 The News Lab

Elective courses that must be taken within the program

1. 6 hours from:
1. JOUR 302 Beat Reporting
2. JOUR 303 Editing for Digital Media
3. JOUR 304 Multimedia Journalism
4. JOMC 306 Advanced Visual Communications in Photojournalism and Multimedia
5. JOUR 346 Nebraska Mosaic
6. BRDC 372 Broadcast News Writing for Audio
7. BRDC 374 News Videography
2. 6 hours of JOUR or BRDC electives at the 300 or 400 level
3. 3 hours of coursework in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications (course with ADPR, BRDC, JOMC, JOUR or SPMC prefix).

Required outside of the accredited unit (60 hours)

1. ACE Courses – 27 hours
2. Minor – minimum of 12 hours
3. Foreign language requirement – up to 16 hours
4. Remaining hours for open electives or additional majors/minors

Broadcast Media Production (27 hours)

1. BRDC 227 Audio Content Creation
2. BRDC 260 Media Writing and Content Development
3. BRDC 269 Video Production
4. ADPR 381 Applied Research in Advertising and Public Relations or JOUR 307 Data Journalism or SPMC 350 Sports Data Visualization and Analytics
5. BRDC 400 The News Lab or BRDC 429 Jacht Student Ad Agency

Elective courses that must be taken within the program

1. 6 hours within one focus area including Video, Audio or Multimedia
2. 6 hours of coursework in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications (course with ADPR, BRDC, JOMC, JOUR or SPMC prefix).

Required outside of the accredited unit (60 hours)

1. ACE Courses – 27 hours
2. Minor – minimum of 12 hours
3. Foreign language requirement – up to 16 hours
4. Remaining hours for open electives or additional majors/minors

Sports Media and Communication (27 hours)

1. SPMC 150 Introduction to Sports Media and Communication
2. SPMC 250 Beginning Sports Writing for News and Promotion
3. SPMC 350 Sports Data Visualization and Analytics
4. SPMC 450 Sports Media and Communication Capstone
5. SPMC 464 Sports Media Relations & Promotions

Elective courses that must be taken within the program

1. 12 hours of coursework in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications (course with ADPR, BRDC, JOMC, JOUR or SPMC prefix).

Required outside of the accredited unit (60 hours)

1. ACE Courses – 27 hours
2. Minor – minimum of 12 hours
3. Foreign language requirement – up to 16 hours
4. Remaining hours for open electives or additional majors/minors

2. Explain how students in the unit complete academic requirements for the baccalaureate degree that meet the liberal arts and sciences general education requirements of the institution. How is your unit meeting the spirit of a liberal arts and sciences education? Identify classes within the unit that contribute to a liberal arts and social sciences perspective for graduates from the unit. If a minor is required, include these details.

UNL requires a total of 120 hours for graduation. All CoJMC majors require 52 credit hours in the college and 60 hours for students to take elsewhere in the university, thus assuring they have met the university’s general education requirements (known here as Achievement Centered Education – ACE –courses) and have attained a well-rounded, liberal arts and science education background. The remaining eight credit hours provide students flexibility for transfer credit, additional major/minor courses or other academic opportunities.

Within those 60 hours, CoJMC students must complete 27 credit hours of ACE courses outside the college, a minor outside the college of 12 or more credit hours and the foreign language requirement. Some students choose a second major to fulfill these requirements. A student who has completed the fourth-year level of one foreign language in high school is exempt from the language requirement. Depending on the student’s minor requirements and foreign language experience in high school, they may have up to 16 credit hours required.

No CoJMC courses can be used to fulfill the requirement for a minor or ACE courses. Moreover, only grades of C or better count toward fulfilling the outside minor requirement.

Students can use online degree audits to track their requirements.

See Sample Degree Audits

3. Explain how the unit provides a balance among theoretical/conceptual courses and professional skills courses.

The college aims to provide a balance among the various theoretical, conceptual and skills courses students complete as part of the program to ensure all majors have required courses in each area while offering electives to further develop an understanding of the discipline.

Theoretical concepts are integrated throughout the curriculum. Required courses for all CoJMC majors primarily focusing on theory and concepts include:

• JOMC 101: Principles of Mass Media
• JOMC 130: Introduction to Design Thinking
• JOMC 222: Social Justice, Human Rights and the Media
• JOMC 486: Mass Media Law
• JOMC 487: Media, Ethics and Society

Within each major, there are required and elective courses that focus on theoretical/conceptual areas specific to the discipline. For example, required include: ADPR 151: Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations, ADPR 283 Introduction to Strategy Development, SPMC 150: Introduction to Sports Media and Communication and SPMC 464: Sports Media Relations & Promotions. Furthermore, many electives are available, for example, JOMC 317: Video Games & Society, JOMC 380: Global News in the Age of Social Media, JOMC 408: Politics and the Media, JOMC 422: Race, Gender and Media, and JOMC 462: The Social Media Landscape.

To balance these courses, professional skills courses build on theory and concepts where students apply knowledge. Required courses for all CoJMC majors that primarily focus on developing professional skills include:

• JOMC 131/132/133/134: Visual Communication Modules & Project
• JOMC 197/297/397: Experience Lab
• JOUR 200a: Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting I
• All capstone courses in each major

Within the majors, there are required and elective professional skills courses that are specific to the discipline.

Please see the CoJMC Curriculum Map.

4. Describe how the core and required courses instruct majors in ACEJMC’s 10 professional values and competencies. http://www.acejmc.org/policies-process/nine-standards/

The college is consistent in assuring that all required courses for all majors collectively address the ACEJMC values and competencies so that by the time students have completed the program, they will have had the opportunity to develop all 10 values and competencies among the various theoretical, conceptual and skills courses they’ve taken.

Here is the matrix illustrating how core and required courses cover the 10 expectations.

Course Key

JOMC 101 JOMC 130 JOMC 131 JOMC 132 JOMC 133 JOMC 134 JOMC 197/297/397 JOUR 200a JOMC 222 JOMC 486 JOMC 487 JOUR 107 JOUR 200b JOUR 307 JOUR 400 BRDC 227 BRDC 260 BRDC 269 BRDC 400 ADPR 151 ADPR 221 ADPR 283 ADPR 381 ADPR 429 ADPR 439 ADPR 489 SPMC 150 SPMC 250 SPMC 350 SPMC 450 SPMC 464

Principles of Mass Media Introduction to Design Thinking Visual Communication Core Modules I Visual Communication Core Modules II Visual Communication Advanced Modules Visual Communication Project Experience Lab Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting I Social Justice, Human Rights and the Media Mass Media Law Media, Ethics and Society Information Gathering Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting II Data Journalism The News Lab Audio Content Creation Media Writing and Content Development Video Production The News Lab Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations Strategic Writing Strategy Development Applied Research in Advertising and Public Relations Jacht Student Ad Agency Student Competitions Advertising and Public Relations Campaign Introduction to Sports Media and Communication Beginning Sports Writing for News and Promotion Sports Data Visualization and Analytics Sports Media and Communication Capstone Sports Media Relations & Promotions

5. Explain how instruction, whether on-site, online, synchronous or asynchronous, responds to professional expectations of current digital, technological and multimedia competencies.

Faculty members regularly adjust course content, particularly in skills classes, to incorporate ongoing technological changes. Faculty modeled this flexibility by adapting approaches to teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CoJMC curriculum is meant to provide the core foundations in journalism and media communications while being flexible for students to prepare for their careers after graduation. This requires continued innovation in the college. New coursework in social media, user experience design, media production and data analysis have all been created. Courses exploring current digital, technological and multimedia are available to all majors, including:

• ADPR 358: UX/UI Design
• JOMC 317: Video Games & Society
• JOMC 462: The Social Media Landscape
• JOUR 400: The News Lab
• BRDC 260: Media Writing and Content Development
• BRDC 327: Advanced Audio Content Creation
• BRDC 369: Advanced Videography
• BRDC 427: Podcasting
• SPMC 350: Sports Data Visualization and Analytics
• SPMC 460: Advanced Sports Data Analysis

These courses build on the required visual communication courses (JOMC 130s), where students build a foundation in design thinking, digital, technology and multimedia skills through modules. These one-credit visual communication courses culminate in a two-credit multimedia project where students work in teams throughout the semester. Regular Adobe workshops are offered during the semester for students to build skills with design and production software. Furthermore, the Experience Lab (JOMC 197/297/397/497) requirement has students working with clients and producing stories for digital and multimedia platforms. Projects include social media strategies, working with analytics, live streaming events and producing content for various digital platforms.

The college also has several elective courses available to the majors to ensure students acquire digital, technological and multimedia competencies. For example, additional course options in advertising and public relations include ADPR 362: Digital Content Strategy, ADPR 434: Digital Insights and Analytics, ADPR: 458 Interactive Media Design and ADPR 466: Social Media Theory and Practice. Journalism and broadcasting news majors can take JOUR 303: Editing for Digital Media, JOUR 304: Multimedia Journalism, and JOUR 307: Data Journalism. All journalism and broadcasting capstone courses have a multimedia component. Broadcast media production has added several new options listed above that cover live streaming, podcasting and producing content for multiple digital platforms. These build on existing courses like BRDC 433: Digital Motion Graphics. As part of the new sports media and communication program, students must complete SPMC 350: Sports Data Visualization and Analytics and have the option to complete the advanced elective, SPMC 460: Advanced Sports Data Analysis. The college offers pop-up courses that are short, one-credit-hour courses designed to allow students to dive into emerging industry trends and gain skills to prepare them for future careers. Full semester special topics elective courses have also been offered focusing on digital, technical and multimedia. These courses quickly respond to rapidly changing industry trends and supplement the required coursework in the college. Below are examples:

• How To Get Your Drone License
• The "Reel" Deal: Instagram for Storytelling
• Live Streaming Production of Esports
• Introduction to Esports
• Branding Yourself in Today's Market
• Social Media Data Mining and Analysis
• After Effects Liftoff
• Data Analysis for Industry Professionals
• Exploring VR/AR
• The Influencer Economy
• Advanced Multimedia Journalism
• Audio Podcasting 101
• PR in Your Pocket- How your Mobile Device Makes You Your Own PR Firm
• Social Media Intelligence
• Depth Reporting: Environmental Podcasting
• AI in Journalism and Mass Communications

6. Explain how the accredited unit ensures consistency in learning objectives, workload and standards in courses with multiple sections.

The college adopted a policy for courses with multiple sections taught by different instructors requiring substantially similar experiences and preparation. These classes are to use a single syllabus with adjustments for only such matters as class dates and times. All faculty teaching a section of a class with multiple sections must follow the standard syllabus for that class. All must use the same textbook, have similar assignments and expectations, and use the same communication channel, if one is specified for that class. Because many of the classes with multiple sections are foundational ones that prepare students for later courses, a high degree of uniformity in the class is essential so that all students will be well prepared for more advanced studies.

Faculty teaching courses with multiple sections work together to ensure that syllabi include appropriate descriptions of the learning objectives and outcomes, in keeping with the ACEJMC professional values and competencies shown in questions 3 and 4 above. The instructors exchange ideas for assignments, grading rubrics and lectures, and when possible, share visiting guest speakers. Courses that are certified for the university’s general education requirement also engage in collective assessment activities that involve reviews of work by outside professionals and other faculty members.

A syllabus template is also available on the administrative forms webpage that details what information should be included in a syllabus, including learning outcomes for the course. The college diversity statement, a statement on academic integrity and information for students with disabilities is built into Canvas for all courses.

7. Explain how the unit connects faculty and administrators to the professions they represent and the understanding of the skills needed to be successful in the workplace.

Courses regularly work with community partners as clients and industry professionals come to campus as guest speakers. The college partners with organizations to provide training opportunities for students, faculty, staff and other industry professionals. The college works with American Advertising Federation-Nebraska on its annual Summit workshops, American Marketing Association with its Skills School series, and most recently, faculty have been leading media training workshops with partners such as the University Nebraska Medical Center.

A biannual review of the college’s curriculum by industry professionals began in 2020-2021 during the strategic planning process. Industry professionals representing multiple disciplines served on task forces with faculty and staff from the college. Many new initiatives were developed as a result of this process. The college’s Experience Lab is the most visible, where students work on real-world challenges and stories while collaborating with the professionals-in-residence, faculty and other students in the Lab. This program doubled down on UNL’s N2025 experiential learning requirement for all UNL students, positioning the CoJMC as a campus leader in this arena.

Other courses and initiatives developed through the strategic planning process included efforts leading to the requiring of JOMC 222 Social Justice, Human Rights and the Media, development of JOMC 322 Democracy and the Media: Trusting the News in a Hyper-Polarized Era, an annual professional ethics panel, a lecture series focused on “The Business of News,” the overhaul of the Global Eyewitness program, development of the Perry Photo Challenge and creation of the Bailey Lauerman Design Diversity Challenge.

The 2022-2023 curriculum review with industry professionals was equally productive. A survey was sent out to professionals that aligned with the ACEJMC professional competencies and values, along with open-ended questions for feedback. Discussions around the findings were held with each major's industry professionals and faculty.

Emergent themes through the survey questions and discussions included the following:

• The fundamentals were represented in the courses that encompass a good portion of the skills used every day. These include writing, shooting, editing, reporting, producing, research, insights and trends, strategic planning, creative thinking/knowing how to brainstorm, novice-level design skills for presentations, how to prepare for and conduct an effective interview, legal understanding and ethics compliance.
• Professionals highlighted DEI efforts in the curriculum as communicators need to understand different viewpoints. They recognized JOMC 222 Social Justice, Human Rights and the Media as an important contribution to these efforts. They emphasized the need to be well-versed on social issues and have balanced representation in our work.
• They noted that strong research skills are required to analyze data and information. While several courses included research skills and working with data, as a result of a long-term effort, at the end of the Spring 2023 semester, the faculty approved an additional required research/data course for each major.
• The art of pitching ideas and stories continues to be a valuable skill.
• A specific emphasis on the importance of experience, internships, professional development and relationship building is essential.
• How students learn to freelance and build their own brand or media company was highlighted as important. The Experience Lab provides students with experience developing these ideas, gaining experience and beginning to develop relationships with industry professionals that continue throughout the majors.
• Silos were recognized as a barrier to progress. Many of the core requirements are major agnostic, so students make connections and see how others approach challenges. Additionally, prerequisites for all electives are the same, so majors can easily sign up for one elective in a different major in the college. This is especially important when embracing norms in emerging media. The college continues efforts surrounding social media strategy, content production, esports, NIL, data and analytics, multimedia and digital media.
• Professionals emphasized students will need help navigating AI to exploit the good aspects and avoid the worse ones. Like many past challenges that have emerged in the media industry, the college began the spring 2023 semester with a discussion about the newest development, AI. As a result, faculty began integrating concepts into course activities. This has led to creating a fall 2023 special topics course exploring AI in journalism and mass communications.

8. Describe the methods used to select sites for internships for credit in the major; to supervise internship and work experience programs; to evaluate and grade students’ performance in these programs; and to award credit for internships or work experiences. In a separate digital file, provide the unit’s internship policy, questionnaires and other instruments used to monitor and evaluate internships and work experiences. Provide examples of recent internship sites.

The college does not require students to have internships as a condition of graduation, but it strongly encourages internships and assists students with resume writing, maintaining a weekly jobs notice and facilitating on-campus interviews with prospective employers. A college policy permits students to earn up to three elective credits for internship experiences. Originally, each major had separate courses, but they were condensed into one, JOMC 495 Internship for Credit.

The college provides financial support through privately supported competitive internship awards to students.

• The Deb Fiddelke Scholarship Fund supports students pursuing unpaid or underpaid advertising and public relations internships.
• The Kris Malkoski Scholarship Fund supports advertising and public relations majors pursuing unpaid or underpaid internships.
• The J. Steve Davis Jump Start Fund supports students pursuing advertising internships in large metropolitan markets outside of Nebraska.
• The Rural Journalism Fellowship award supports journalism and broadcasting students for whom at least 50% of their reporting work is in a rural community outside of Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska.
• The Dana and Lynn Roper Fund supports sports media and communications majors pursuing unpaid or underpaid internships.
• The Dream Big Scholarship supports journalism majors who secure internships at large market, large circulation news outlets.

Additional information about the internship awards at the college is available online here.

The college does not select sites for students’ internships. Instead, students find their own opportunities. Faculty members routinely draw on their professional acquaintances to alert students to internship opportunities, and many employers routinely contact faculty members with news of internship and career openings. The college curates and electronically disseminates to all students in the college a weekly email newsletter about internships and career opportunities. The Experience Lab has also emerged as an avenue where students have gained internship opportunities because of the connections made through the professionals-in-residence in the program.

In recent years, students have interned at media outlets like The Hill, Kansas City Star, Lincoln Journal Star, TODAY Show, KETV, KOLN, Nebraska Public Media, Telemundo Nebraska and other local and national news outlets. Students also gain experience with major advertising and public relations agencies like McCann New York, Ogilvy, Bailey Lauerman, Swanson Russell and BBDO Worldwide as well as with national nonprofits like Arbor Day Foundation and Ronald McDonald House. An emerging area for internships for our students is in the sports industry, including professional teams and organizations like College World Series, USA Baseball, Texas Rangers and Lincoln Saltdogs; sports tech companies like Hudl and Opendorse; and Husker Athletics.

A particularly prized internship opportunity is based on a collaboration between the college and the Omaha World-Herald, the largest news organization in the state. The World-Herald facilitates a one-credit-hour course titled The Real World in which staff members from various departments at the World-Herald, including the company’s executives, serve as guest speakers each week, sharing with students their perspectives and experiences on various jobs. Journalism and broadcasting majors must complete the course in conjunction with JOUR 200b Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting II.

Students who complete the course are eligible to apply for one of four semester-long, paid World-Herald Fellowships, in which they work out of the paper’s Lincoln bureau performing the duties of a professional reporter. Additionally, those who successfully complete a fellowship are awarded a $2,500 stipend at the end of the semester.

The college sponsors annual tours to major media markets to help students identify internship and career opportunities. Originated by the advertising and public relations faculty, the tours now expose students across the college to various opportunities to visit agencies, magazines, broadcasting outlets and news organizations. The trips often coincide with an alumni reception where students and faculty connect with professionals in the area. The trips paused due to COVID-19 but resumed in the fall of 2022. Before the pandemic, about 50 students participated in tours that visited New York City, Chicago and Minneapolis. The 2022 Media Tour visited New York City with 24 students representing all four majors. The group toured nine different media organizations over two days that included: Ketchum, Hearst Magazines, Kantar, Ogilvy, AP News, Starcom, Day One, The New York Times and the NBA.

The college has a full-time career development specialist thanks to an agreement between the college and the university’s Office of Career Services, in which the person’s salary is split between the two units. The career development specialist tracks and assesses students’ internship experiences, maintains a weekly newsletter with internship/career opportunities, coordinates career fairs, manages the sophomore-level internship-preparation class (JOMC 20) and organizes the college-sponsored media tours.

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