College Factual ranks Drake SJMC in nation’s top 10% of JMC programs
College Factual, the online college search resource, has ranked Drake SJMC in the top 10 percent of journalism and mass communication schools in the country (and the best in Iowa) in its 2021 analysis: https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/drake-university/academic-life/academic-majors/communication-journalism-media/ . The website ranked Drake SJMC 36th out of the 585 programs it analyzed, an improvement of 21 slots over last year’s ranking. The site bases its ranking on such factors as graduates’ average earnings, university’s focus on the program, the program’s accreditation and overall college quality.
College Factual ranked Drake’s public relations and advertising majors in the nation’s top 10 percent as well, and the best in the state: https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/drake-university/academic-life/academic-majors/communication-journalism-media/public-relations-advertising/.
Build your future career
Careers in Social Change: Join to learn about careers in policy and governance from panelists including retired Sen. Tom Harkin, lobbyist David Adelman and Michael Schmidt, staff attorney for the Iowa Environmental Council. This virtual event will be held today, Monday, Oct. 5 from 4-5 p.m. CDT. Register through Handshake: https://app.joinhandshake.com/events/556003. Sponsored by Drake Professional and Career Development Services and Drake Community Engaged Learning and Service.
Building Your Personal Brand: Now more than ever, employers are taking to digital means of sourcing and recruiting talent for their organizations. Are you on LinkedIn? Are you curious to learn tips and tricks on how to enhance your profile? Join Holmes Murphy on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. CDT for a tutorial on how to do just that, and a discussion on the importance of building your personal brand. RSVP for this virtual event on Handshake: https://app.joinhandshake.com/events/581456.
Alumni news
Jennifer Fah-Vayhinger, JO’95, left, recently won her second Daytime Emmy for her video editing work for “The New Price Is Right.” She was a winner in 2015 as well, and was nominated in 2007, 2008, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Become a savvy first-time voter
The Poynter Institute, the pre-eminent journalism training organization, has launched Prep for the Polls to teach first-time voters how to fact-check the election (https://www.poynter.org/mediawise-voter-project-mvp/prep-for-the-polls/). Sign up and receive daily text messages about how to find reliable and accurate information on social media. Attend the “Face the Facts” youth town hall on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7-8 p.m. EDT (https://www.poynter.org/face-the-facts-election-2020-youth-town-hall/?mktsource=college), hosted by “PBS NewsHour” and Poynter.
Stay safe online
October is Cybersecurity Awareness month. To make sure Drake students, faculty and staff know how to stay safe online and keep their devices safe, ITS is holding a cybersecurity awareness contest. Follow @ITServices on Twitter and retweet a #DrakeCyberSmart tip between Oct. 12 and 23 to learn how to stay safe online and be entered in a prize drawing! Open to all current Drake students, faculty and staff members. Full contest rules can be found at drake.edu/its/cybersecure
Have a news item for the Memo?
The SJMC Monday Memo (and other days of the week as needed) is a newsletter to keep members of the wider SJMC community updated on School news, achievements, events and opportunities. If you have an item for the Memo, please send it to Dean Kathleen Richardson (kathleen.richardson@drake.edu) or SJMC webmaster and multimedia professor Chris Snider (christopher.snider@drake.edu). SJMC alums and other professionals can also subscribe to the Monday Memo via email here: http://eepurl.com/bPNbxn