Advertising

The Advertising Department developed or introduced seven new courses to keep their curriculum at the forefront of the advertising discipline, including two Creative Portfolio classes and courses on Social Media Analytics and Strategy, Agency Essentials, Advertising and AI, The Craft of Visual Communication, and Collaboration with AI for Better Communication. Five permanent courses were also added, including Branding and Social Media, Cultural Branding, Account Management, Advertising and AI and Social Media Analytics and Strategy.

The department also launched an Advertising Creative Certificate, led by Mariano German Coley, lecturer in creative.

The Advertising Department hired three new faculty members: Assistant Professors Yuan Sun and Jinping Wang, and Visiting Assistant Professor Hyesoo Chang, who received her Ph.D. from the College in 2023.

Journalism

The Journalism Department implemented major curriculum changes for incoming freshmen in 2023 that will give students deeper experiences in specialization areas. They created six buckets where students must take at least 12 credits (with opportunity for more as electives): Broadcast, Visual, Specialized Reporting, Data/Coding, Editing/Coaching and a custom bucket. Nine new courses were given permanent numbers, including courses in data, video storytelling, Fresh Take Florida, sports, editing, social media and Principles of Journalism, which will become the gateway class to the major.

The Department hired media law scholar Jane Bambauer to be the new Brechner Eminent Scholar, and former Sports Illustrated Co-Editor-in-Chief Ryan Hunt to be a sports journalism lecturer.

The Journalism Department also secured funding for two new special projects, including creating a unique and impactful journalism experience/project for students as part of a class or outside of class, and an opportunity for faculty to receive professional training in a new area that will enhance their teaching

Media Production, Management, and Technology

The Media Production, Management, and Technology Department saw a change in leadership as long-time Chair David Ostroff stepped down and Associate Professor Roxane Coche was named interim chair.

Several sports-related opportunities were added in 2023, including Reptile Report, a student-led television sports show, a study abroad to Paris to create media content surrounding an NBA game played there in January and a study abroad program to the UK focused primarily on soccer. For the second year in a row, they offered Globalizing American Sports with a trip this year to Frankfurt, Germany.

The department, in partnership with the College, sent four students to Gotham Week in New York City in September 2023. Sponsored by the Gotham Film and Media Institute, it connects groundbreaking talent in film, TV, and audio to the ecosystem of industry decision-makers, experts and organizations that support their success.

Public Relations

The Public Relations Department received certification from the Public Relations Society of America for both its undergraduate and in-residence and online master’s programs. The department now has the distinction of housing the nation’s only certified online programs and CJC is the only school with four of them.

The program won the prestigious PR Week Outstanding Education Program in 2023 and received honorable mention in 2024. For the second year in a row, a Public Relations major was named PR Week 2023 Outstanding Student of the Year.

And the College’s Bateman Team won the national PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition. Previously, the team received first place in both 2011 and 2014 and second place in 2012, 2015, 2020 and 2022.

The department created two new tracks for the major that launched in summer 2023: Corporate PR and Public Interest Communication.

Graduate and Research Divisions

CJC’s Ph.D. program welcomed a new cohort of five fully funded students in fall 2023, with a total of 45 students actively enrolled. Ten doctoral degrees were conferred in 2023.

The Professional Master’s program welcomed 22 students in fall 2023 and had 59 students enrolled. Fifteen students participated in professional internships in 2023. Alumnus Uma Raja had her story on owls in the Florida Atlantic published by National Geographic. Master’s student Sophia Donskoi was named a Florida Climate Institute Fellow. She created a style guide to better communicate climate science to advertising industry professionals.

The Research and Theory Master’s program had six new students enrolled in fall 2023 with a total of 20. Media Production, Management, and Technology Associate Professor Amy Jo Coffey was named general research and theory coordinator and Public Relations Assistant Professor Haoran Chris Chu is now serving as the public relations coordinator.

The Online Master’s program, as of fall 2023, had 759 students enrolled. The program earned more Quality Matters (QM) Certifications than any other college at UF. QM is a non-profit faculty-driven course assurance organization. In 2024, the program plans to launch a new course on the science of social media posts going viral and another on AI for communicators. The student experience will include new technology tools that enhance collaboration among students and between students and their instructors.

The College received more than $2.2 million in grants in 2023, representing 18 grant awards from 47 proposals submitted. Faculty published 106 articles in peer-reviewed journals and graduate students published 37.