Media professionals usually compete against one another in the business world. Now some of Lafayette’s top media stars will work together instead, to serve communication students and faculty through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Corporate Communication Council (CCC).
Eleven new trustees were installed and officers were named at the group’s recent gathering, held at the Petroleum Club of Lafayette. Leading the CCC as president is Larry E. Sides of Sides & Associates.
Sides said of those gathered, “You can count on them to be solid supporters and contributors” to the communication programs in journalism, broadcasting, advertising and public relations.
George Graham of the Graham Group will serve as vice president of the new council. Michael Grimsley of Regentcomm will serve as secretary, and Bonnie Robert Will of KATC-TV was elected treasurer.
Also joining the Corporate Communication Council as trustees are Jim Bradshaw of The Daily Advertiser, Chris Allain of Vidox, Donna Landry of the Schumacher Group, Maria Placer of KLFY-TV, George Foster of Foster Marketing; Keith Simon of Acadian Ambulance; Dana Canedo of Festival Internationale, Michael Barras of KLFY-TV and Andrew Shenkan of KATC-TV.
Department of Communication Interim Head Professor William Davie welcomed the trustees for 2008-09, and Visual Communication Instructor Alice Ferguson briefed the board on new accreditation standards for the department. Ferguson welcomed the “great ideas” offered by the new council at its first meeting.
“I learned a lot that I can start using in my classes, right away,” Ferguson said.
Mass Communication/Advertising Professor Lucian Dinu spoke about accrediting standard 9, “Assessment of Learning Outcomes.”
"Assessing how well we are preparing students to work in media careers – essentially assessing their learning outcomes -- that is an area rich with opportunities for collaboration between the department and professionals in our industries,” Davie said.
Communication professors and sequence coordinators Robert Buckman (Journalism), Sandra Duhé (Public Relations), Scott Elliott (Interpersonal/Organizational), and William Swain (Advertising) also reported on the status of their major disciplines to trustees at the luncheon.