School of Communications Advisory Board makes Spring visit

The Advisory Board for the School
of Communications made its spring visit to campus Friday, and the discussion focused
mainly on how interactive media have changed how professional organizations
interact with audiences and consumers.

During the morning meetings, Dean
Paul Parsons discussed the 10 priorities that the school established before the
academic year began, and the four that still remain in play. In addition, department
Chair Don Grady shared the undergraduate curriculum proposal with board members
and Associate Dean Connie Book presented the school’s new Master of Arts in
Interactive Media.

Senior Communications Fellows
joined the board for lunch, when Coordinator of Video Projects J. McMerty talked
about the new Elon in L.A. program that will begin this summer and assistant
professor Ray Johnson discussed the film “Captain Abu Raed,” a film produced
and edited by 2005 cinema alumnus Laith Majali. “Abu Raed” was screened four
times at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won the World Cinema
Audience Award for drama.

The advisory board also had
discussions about interactive media with students in several communications
classes.

The board welcomed new member
Doug Limerick during the spring meeting, as well. Limerick
has been an ABC News correspondent for 25 years and currently serves as morning
anchor for ABC Radio News. Doug is a North Carolina native who went to Wake
Forest and served in the Air Force as a Russian linguist before going into
broadcasting and joining ABC. Doug is the recipient of two prestigious Edward
R. Murrow awards. One of his three daughters is Lauren, a junior broadcast
major in the School of Communications.

More than 20 leading professional
communicators from across the United States make up the board, and the members
make biannual trips to the School of Communications.