Compendium Magazine

Greetings from Carson! We have wrapped up the 2018-19 academic year, and we have many wonderful achievements to share with you in this issue of Compendium. First, this summer we welcomed a record number of new students—more than 250—to our new degree programs: Advertising/Public Relations; Film, Television and Media; and Journalism. The university's commitment to our students is evident, with our new crop of students attending a mandatory New Student Orientation where they le

In December 2018, six CSUDH students took a weekend-trip to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) enabled by Hollywood By the Horns. They attended screenings, panels and interacted with filmmakers and Academy Award nominees. The SBIFF is a non-profit organization with the aim of bringing people together through film. After 34 years, this has been one of the most populous film festivals with an average of 95,000 attendees in the United States. This experience i

In recent years, the Communications Department witnessed two Bulletin Editors-In-Chief receive a prestigious National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) scholarship award. Both African American recipients, Julissa James and Bria Overs are aspiring journalists who spent their years on campus perfecting the campus newspaper, The Bulletin. Their tremendous efforts driven by their passion were often recognized by peers, faculty and staff. James' status as vice president of t

The new Film, Television and Media (FTVM) program plans to offer yearly scholarships and fellowship support to its majors after receiving a first-ever $30,000 grant from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). This year, three inaugural fellowships of $6,000 each were awarded to FTVM students Carrie McClain, Josh Cooper, and Carnel "CJ" Anderson. McClain will be creating a video graphic series, Anderson will be creating an original television show package, and Cooper

The Communications Department is launching a series of curriculum changes in both courses and content with the intention of helping better prepare all Communication majors for today's digital landscape, as it is rapidly growing and evolving into an essential component in all media industries. Many professors in the Communications Department have been utilizing the current digital media landscape as a resource to help find new and interesting ways to educate their students. As

This past winter break of 2018, the Communications Department finally got the chance to give itself a new look by changing the face of its Field House classroom. During the one month-long break, the department completed a long-awaited project to renovate the campus Field House classroom, which is currently used for a variety of Communications classes taught by many of the accomplished Communications professors at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Dr. Nancy Cheever, Chair of the Depa

CSUDH Alumni Leah Nesje says that her experience as a Toro paved the way to a successful career as a Senior Copywriter at a pharmaceutical advertising agency. "My route to college and my career was not a straight road," Nesje said. "There were many turns and twists along the way that helped shape the person I am today. After ten years in retail, the 2009 economic crash, and the constant frustration I felt when someone with less experience and more education was hired above me

Alumni Stephanie Chavez reflects on how being part of the CSUDH Communications Department steered her in the right direction, allowing her to reach the level of success she has today. Chavez graduated from CSUDH with a degree in Communications in the Advertising and Public Relations option in 2016 before continuing to graduate school, where she earned her master's at USC in December of 2017. "The CSUDH Communications Department was one of the best experiences I've had during

One can agree that the public relations and advertising field is becoming highly competitive. Public relations and advertising firms are seeking more than just a bachelor's degree from college institutions. They are also seeking out applicants with previous or relatable experience in the field. This makes the hiring process a lot more challenging and raises the stakes for students who are preparing to graduate. In order to prepare students for the "real world" of public relat

This year's World Press Freedom Day event was filled with great stories and helpful information for CSUDH students. There were four special guests in attendance: Keynote speaker and Pulitzer Prize winner from the Los Angeles Times, Ruben Vives; Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, who previously worked for the Los Angeles Times in 2017; Kevin Modesti from the Daily News; and Brooke Staggs from the Orange County Register. The event began with Vives sharing his life story. He spoke about t

The Communications Department has collectively decided to make a few changes to the COM 490 courses for seniors in the past year as part of the rollout of the department's new curriculum. This shift was a collective decision among the Communications Department faculty to provide students with applicable skills and a body of work to enter the workforce. The intent is to prepare students for what may come after graduation as they embark into the field of their choice, whether i

When you ask a journalist what to do in college to get experience for a future career, they aren't going to tell you to take Law of the Mass Media. They are going to tell you to work for the school newspaper. The school newspaper is the first chance journalism students get to be part of a production cycle. Instead of sitting through lectures and taking quizzes, you're knocking on doors, doing interviews, and producing stories. And the best part is, the cycle never stops. Whil

It may be easy for students to see their professors as being one dimensional, only existing in the classroom with no outside lives, but students should also recognize that some professors bring a wealth of personal and professional experience to the classroom. This is particularly true with the newest hire of the COM faculty, Assistant Professor Dr. Ana de la Serna, who once served as a photographer for the president of Mexico. Dr. de la Serna grew up in Mexico and didn't mov

Award-winning cinematographer, writer and director Ramell Ross recently came to CSUDH to have lunch, host a master class, and showcase his 2018 documentary, "Hale County This Morning, This Evening." According to Filmmaker Magazine, Ross attended Georgetown University with a basketball scholarship but soon realized he wasn't going to the NBA after one too many injuries. Ironically enough, he was spotted by ESPN after he took photos and they told him he had "a good eye" when it

The 2020 census will be one for the record books, and not because a citizenship question might be added to the list. The 2020 census will be the first conducted by technology, moving away from paper for the first time since 1790. While filling out the census may seem convenient, it is also bringing to light many questions and concerns about false information infiltrating a system that could have major effects on society and politics for the next decade. The number one concern

Graduating with a bachelor's degree in Communications at CSUDH has become a thing of the past. CSUDH students in the Communications Department will instead now have the option to graduate with either a bachelor's degree in Journalism, Advertising/Public Relations, or Film, Television and Media (FTVM). The change is in part due to the Communications faculty wanting to revise their former program options to specific majors to better meet the needs of students about to enter a t

The Communications Department's Academic Advisor, Penny Roebuck-White, was the recipient of the CSUDH 2018 Staff Awards of Excellence Student Success Award. At the awards ceremony on Oct. 23, 2018, the university honored her with a $1,000 check and engraved plaque. Nominated by Communications Department Chair Dr. Nancy Cheever, her colleagues helped her win the award by writing letters of support for her nomination. Among other laudable comments, faculty said her advising exp

In 2018, the Gardena Chamber of Commerce recognized CSUDH alumni Iris Hosea as an "Outstanding Woman" at their annual awards ceremony. As the conversation deepened, it wasn't hard to see why she was granted this title. Hosea, a former Communications student in the Public Relations option, appreciated her involvement working on The Bulletin newspaper because of its professional setting. She also thought her writing skills improved because of the valuable feedback she got from