The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

Dear Students-who-are-about-to-graduate:

As you may know, in a task I have inherited from Dean Klatell, I will be
reading your names at the Wednesday afternoon J-school Graduation ceremony.
I will read your names as you come up to get your diplomas in front of kith
and kin (and faculty), so I would really like to get the pronunciation right
(or as right as possible).

Here’s how you can help:

You have already spelled the name phonetically in the form you filled out,
and I will be walking around for the next week with a document containing
those spellings. If you see me around, please stop me and practice your name
with me, so I can annotate the document further. Feel free to stop by my
office if you happen to be on the seventh floor.

After glancing at the list and seeing all the new-to-me first, middle and last names, I can use all the help I can get. Even some of the old-to-me names aren’t so easy.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have ensured trouble for some hapless
administrator at some unknown school many years from now by naming my twins
(now turning three) with four exotic names each. Here’s something my wife
and I wrote about that:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/144/story_14477_1.html

Good luck with your final week. For continuing students: It’s never too
early to start having me work on your names!

- Dean Sreenivasan

Q: Which nights are the LEAST busy if I want to plan an event for students?

A: Given how packed the schedule is, any event on a weeknight is likely to exlude dozens of students. Here are some thoughts about the Spring 2006.

While we don’t have a master schedule as such, here is some basic information about when students are more likely to be free for other activities.

For general planning, our universe of students is about 365 (we also have 31 PhD students, whose schedules are not reflected in the numbers below).

In the hours between 6-10 p.m., here are the basic numbers of students available for events.

Please go to http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/delacorte/index.asp for complete information and the 2006 schedule. Magazine concentration students are required to attend; all others are invited.

When the ballot went live, it incorrectly listed CAR in place of New Media in the skills options for the Spring. We have had the problem fixed. If you completed a ballot expressing an interest in CAR and want instead to express an interest in the other skills options, please resubmit your ballot.

Our apologies for the error.

Please note that we are offering the following skills classes this spring - all after spring break:

• Section 1: New Media - TBA (Saturdays, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: 3/25; 4/1; 4/22; 4/29; 5/6)
• Section 2: Photography - Sara Barrett (Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m.: 3/28; 4/4; 4/11; 4/18; 4/25)
• Section 3: Radio - TBA (Saturdays, 2-6 p.m.: 3/25; 4/1; 4/8; 4/22; 4/29)

As a followup to Dean Klatell’s introductory memo (below) and the Tuesday briefing for News21, here is how you can apply for the News21 project.

You will be taking two courses:
SEMINAR: Business and Economic Journalism with Prof. Rob Norton
ELECTIVE: Investigative Business Reporting with Prof. Judith Dobrzynski

You must take both to be considered for the News21 project and to be part of
the 16-student pool from which 10 fellows will be selected for the summer.

FORM: You must fill in the News21 application form at
http://www.formsite.com/columbiaspj/news21 (live now)

Deadline for this form is Wednesday, Nov. 23, 10 a.m. Selected students
will be informed by noon on Monday, Nov. 28, the same day the Spring
Ballot is due (at 7 pm). We suggest you hold off till after 12 p.m. on
Monday, Nov. 28, to fill in the Spring Ballot, so that if you don’t get
into News21, you can put a different first choice for your Seminar and
Elective.

Timeline for the project:

Nov. 22, 6:30 p.m.: News21 in overall Spring Preview
Nov. 23, 10 a.m.: Application form deadline
Nov. 28, noon: Selected students named
Nov. 28, 7 pm: Deadline for students to fill in Spring Ballots
Week of Jan. 23: Start of classes
Late March/early April: Selection of 10 Fellows
May 17: Graduation

May 22: Start of 10-week Fellowship

Mid-June: News21 weekend retreat for 44 national Fellows at Berkeley (paid
for by project)

Week of July 24: End of 10 weeks

———- Forwarded message ———-

Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:30:01 -0500
From: David A. Klatell
Subject: News 21 - An Exciting New Combinaion of Study and Employment

This spring, the school will offer an exciting initiative in business and
economics journalism, called News 21. Funded through grants from the Knight
Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, News 21 is part of a consortium among
this School, the schools of journalism at Berkeley, Northwestern, Southern
California and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard. Its aim is to develop
exciting curriculum initiatives while simultaneously producing first-rate
journalism through the combined efforts of students and faculty at these
schools.

The overall theme of the News 21 project this year is “Liberty and
Security”; each of the participating universities have chosen a different
sub-set of that overall story and a different media format. Columbia has
decided to investigate what has changed since 9/11 in the government’s
access to private or corporate financial information, under the rubric of
the fight against terrorism. We want to know what, exactly, has the
government been doing, what has it learned, what has it done with that
information, and to hat extent has it challenged important concepts of
privacy and liberty. We have selected on-line journalism as our preferred
publication format.

There are three important components to this project: a required spring
6-credit Seminar (Business and Economic Journalism - emphasizing the News 21
subject matter, with Professor Norton), a required 3-credit Elective
(Investigative Business Reporting with Judith Dobrzynski), and a 10-week paid
internship ($7,500 per student) reporting and writing stories under the
guidance of the faculty, including Ms Dobrzynski, Louise Story, Dorian Benkoil
and others. There is money available for travel - reporting trips and to meet
with colleagues from the collaborating schools, as well as funds for some
investigative expenses (document searches, court or FOI filings, etc.).

Students interested in participating in the summer reporting project must
(with the exception of night-Bagehot Fellows) enroll in both the Seminar and
Elective noted above. The 10 best-performing students from those classes
will be offered the opportunity to continue working through the summer and,
of course, get paid. Students who take the courses but are not selected may
nevertheless have the opportunity to have their best work published. It is
possible to enroll in these courses (up to the limit of 16 in each) without
becoming a candidate for the summer job.

In the coming days I will provide more information, and we will flesh out
the course descriptions in the Spring Letter, but I wanted to get this
message to you in advance of any course decisions you may be making about
the spring term.

SO HERE’S THE DEAL, PLEASE DON’T ATTEMPT TO NEGOTIATE A DIFFERENT ONE: WE HAVE COMMITED TO THE FUNDATIONS AND THE OTHER UNIVERSITIES THAT THESE COURSES WILL BE REQUIRED OF ALL PARTICIPANTS; THE FACULTY WILL HAVE FINAL SAY OVER THE SELECTION AND ASSIGNMENT OF THE SUMMER JOBS; ANY STUDENT SELECTED MUST MAKE A BINDING COMMITMENT TO REMAIN WORKING ON THE NEWS 21 REPORTING PROJECT FOR AT LEAST THE 10-WEEK PERIOD OF SUMMER REPORTING.

This is a great opportunity for those interested in following the money
trail all the way from individual accounts (ex: “Islamic charities” that
were initially targeted by Homeland Security) to the government agencies
mining, analyzing and acting upon the data. If this is not what you want to
do, please don’t let the appeal of a well-paid internship at the School sway
your judgment; this is serious business and we want only those who will make
and keep the commitments required of participants.

Regards,
DK

Q: How do I consider taking an internship in the spring?

A: See this site for for info: http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/admissions/programs/courses/

Q: FAQ: How do I take an elective outside the J-school?

A: In certain cases, M.S. students may take an outside course as a substitute for the spring elective. Students are encouraged to make use of the greater Columbia University course offerings to further their knowledge base in areas of particular interest and relevance to their journalistic goals. Classes (except for languages) must be graduate level and must be approved by the Dean of Students office. For further information, please go to http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/outside_courses.asp. Please note that you must complete our course preference balloting and registration process with the intention of taking all your classes at the Journalism School (since cross-registrations aren’t always possible, you should carefully complete your ballot). Registration for outside courses is a function of our add/drop period.

FYI, each August, at least 100 students express an interest in taking an outside elective. But by the time spring comes around, usually, no more than 15 students actually follow through.

From Dean Klatell.

This spring, the school will offer an exciting initiative in business and economics journalism, called News 21. Funded through grants from the Knight Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, News 21 is part of a consortium among this School, the schools of journalism at Berkeley, Northwestern, University of Southern California and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard. Its aim is to develop exciting curriculum initiatives while simultaneously producing first-rate journalism through the combined efforts of students and faculty at these schools.

The overall theme of the News 21 project this year is “Liberty and Security”; each of the participating universities have chosen a different sub-set of that overall story and a different media format. Columbia has decided to investigate what has changed since 9/11 in the government’s access to private or corporate financial information, under the rubric of the fight against terrorism. We want to know what, exactly, has the government been doing, what has it learned, what has it done with that information, and to hat extent has it challenged important concepts of privacy and liberty. We have selected on-line journalism as our preferred publication format.

There are three important components to this project: a required spring 6-credit Seminar (Business and Economic Journalism – emphasizing the News 21 subject matter, with Professor Nasar), a required 3-credit Elective (Investigative Business Reporting with Judith Dobrzynski), and a 10-week paid internship ($7,500 per student) reporting and writing stories under the guidance of the faculty, including Ms Dobrzynski, Louise Story, Dorian Benkoil and others. There is money available for travel – reporting trips and to meet with colleagues from the collaborating schools, as well as funds for some investigative expenses (document searches, court or FOI filings, etc.).

Students interested in participating in the summer reporting project must (with the exception of night-Bagehot Fellows) enroll in both the Seminar and Elective noted above. The 10 best-performing students from those classes will be offered the opportunity to continue working through the summer and, of course, get paid. Students who take the courses but are not selected may nevertheless have the opportunity to have their best work published. It is possible to enroll in these courses (up to the limit of 16 in each) without becoming a candidate for the summer job.

In the coming days I will provide more information, and we will flesh out the course descriptions in the Spring Letter, but I wanted to get this message to you in advance of any course decisions you may be making about the spring term.

SO HERE’S THE DEAL, PLEASE DON’T ATTEMPT TO NEGOTIATE A DIFFERENT ONE: WE HAVE COMMITED TO THE FUNDATIONS AND THE OTHER UNIVERSITIES THAT THESE COURSES WILL BE REQUIRED OF ALL PARTICIPANTS; THE FACULTY WILL HAVE FINAL SAY OVER THE SELECTION AND ASSIGNMENT OF THE SUMMER JOBS; ANY STUDENT SELECTED MUST MAKE A BINDING COMMITMENT TO REMAIN WORKING ON THE NEWS 21 REPORTING PROJECT FOR AT LEAST THE 10-WEEK PERIOD OF SUMMER REPORTING.

This is a great opportunity for those interested in following the money trail all the way from individual accounts (ex: “Islamic charities” that were initially targeted by Homeland Security) to the government agencies mining, analyzing and acting upon the data. If this is not what you want to do, please don’t let the appeal of a well-paid internship at the School sway your judgment; this is serious business and we want only those who will make and keep the commitments required of participants.

The Spring 2006 Curriculum Letter is now available at http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/admissions/programs/courses/. The on-line ballot will be activated Tuesday, Nov. 22, 10 p.m. (with a link from the Student Resources page). Your completed ballot must be submitted on line no later than Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. All ballots received during this time will be considered equal – this is not a “first-come, first-served” process.

Q: How do I switch concentrations in the Spring semester? (M.S. only)

A: Your M.S. degree from the J-school will only say “Master of Science.” The concentration is an internal designation you can choose to highlight in resumes and elsewhere. Your concentration is actually is determined by workshop assignment, so in some cases, it is possible to switch concentrations midstream. Here’s a quick rundown of the procedure for switching. Keep in mind we do not guarantee switches - there are enrollment caps in all the classes. We plan our hiring and courses well in advance of the semester, based mainly on what students indicated they wanted to concentrate in when they were were accepted to the school. More info to come at various briefing sessions in the weeks ahead.

SWITCHING INTO NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE: When you fill out your Spring ballot, rank the newspaper or magazine workshops as your top choices. Please note that all magazine concentration students are required to take the Delacorte Lecture class (a series of Thursday night lectures with 0.5 credit) and will be enrolled automatically in it.

SWITCHING INTO NEW MEDIA: Priority for the main New Media workshop is given to the original New Media concentration students. If spaces allows, those who have taken New Media Newsroom will be considered. Please see Dean Sreenivasan after November 12 if you are interested in being considered. Once you have gotten his permission, he will e-mail his consent to Dean Huff, and you can rank new media as your first choice for spring workshops.

SWITCHING INTO TV BROADCAST: Generally one cannot make this switch as the broadcast workshops are dependent on your having acquired the requisite skills in either Broadcast RWI or the PT Intro to Television News Reporting & Writing class. In rare instances special permission is granted to students with comparable real-world experience. Permission for non-Broadcast students to ballot for TV workshops must be granted by the professor of the course of interest (Documentary, Nightly News, Television News Magazine). The professor can e-mail his/her consent to Dean Huff.

SWITCHING INTO RADIO BROADCAST: Permission for non-Broadcast students to ballot for the RADIO WORKSHOP must be granted by Prof. Dinges. The professor can e-mail his consent to Dean Huff. Preference is given to those who took radio skills or who have real world experience.