Have you ever met a manager who wasn’t looking for additional funding for their station, or for more quality local reporting to provide to their listeners? No, me neither.

But as a University licensee these resources may be as close as your campus.

U:SA is collaborating with the Center for Community News (CCN) on a series of webinars discussing the process and benefits of creating academic partnerships with your University for student-produced, faculty-supervised journalism and content.

The webinars will discuss the different structures of station/university partnerships, why creating these partnerships are worth the effort, and talk with guests from both stations and academia, discussing the importance of these collaborations and how they can become successful and sustainable.

The first webinar will be held on Thursday, March 7 at 1pmET.  Hosted by Peter Dominowski, Executive Director of U:SA, and Scott Finn from CCN, the first webinar is called: “I’m completely booked. Why should I do this, and how do I get started?  It will address the challenges and the rewards organizations may enjoy by working with their institutions on student content creation. 

The panelists are Tanya Ott and Brian Duggins. Tanya is Assistant Professor of Practice and Journalist in Residence at the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University in Macon, GA. Ott had a 30-year career as a reporter, host, and news manager at public radio stations in Florida, Colorado, Alabama, and Georgia, has trained journalists in more than 120 public media newsrooms and taught journalism at the University of Florida, the University of Alabama, and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Brian is general manager at KUNR at the University of Nevada, Reno. He works closely with their Reynolds School of Journalism. He’s an award-winning local media leader with more than 15 years of experience, much of it covering Northern Nevada as a journalist.

The webinars are free, but advance registration is required.

Recently, we caught up with Richard Watts, Executive Director of CCN, to learn more about their mission and activities.

Q: How did the Center for Community News (CCN) begin?

Richard Watts: “CCN grew out of the University of Vermont’s efforts to have its students report on important community issues. That started locally, and then was so successful we wanted to help other universities do it as well.”

Q: Can you describe some successful station-University partnerships that are ongoing?

Watts: “One example is the University of Vermont (UVM) and Vermont Public (VP). Even though VP is a community licensee, they have a close relationship with UVM. In addition to multiple internships a year, students from UVM classes, with help from VP editors, regularly do stories that are published on VP’s multiple platforms. This partnership has been so successful, UVM and VP are hiring a full-time faculty member to edit student work, teach and manage VP internships.”

“Another great example is KUNR and the University of Nevada/Reno. KUNR is an award-winning university licensee. They’ve partnered with the Reynolds School of Journalism to produce Spanish-language stories and accessible science journalism, among other things.”

Q: How might a station approach their University to begin a conversation about a station/University collaboration?

Watts: “It’s important to find an internal champion – someone already at the University who believes this is possible. Look for the faculty members who are already leading student journalism and content creation. The Center for Community News knows a lot of these leaders and may be able to make a connection! We also have case studies on our website from every state and other information to help you make your case to your station and the university.”

Q: How do these collaborations benefit students and universities?

Watts: “It’s important that students receive support and mentoring to be successful. Universities should be stepping up to the plate to provide this. They have a mission to provide students with real-world experience and making community journalism is an excellent way for all students to learn how to be successful in their career, as citizens and in life.”