AU Student Activities is now actively searching for Media Advisor to help with student media organizations such as The Eagle, The Talon and ATV.
The position was originally created three years ago in a restructuring of the Student Activities office, according to Karen Gerlach, director of Student Activities. Although the position was available, there was not enough money in the budget to hire someone for the position.
"As the Director, I have been fulfilling the duties of the Media Advisor until we could allocate funding to hire the Media Advisor," Gerlach said in an e-mail. "We received funding in the 2003-2004 budget process to fund the Media Advisor."
The advisor will be responsible for coaching leaders of the on-campus student media organizations. These organizations include The Eagle, The Talon, ATV, WVAU, American Word and American Literary. These groups, minus The Eagle, are all members of the Media Board, which the advisor will also oversee. The Eagle reports to its own, independent Board of Directors, of which the advisor would be a non-voting member.
The advisor will report to Gerlach on all matters, therefore Gerlach will still have an active role with student media. Gerlach wished to make it clear that the position is not a University censor.
"The University, and Student Activities does not conduct prior reviews of student produced media," Gerlach said. "Post production critiques are encouraged, and staff are available to consult with editors and general managers to discuss issues [and] concerns that they might have."
A hiring board has been assembled in order to review candidates for the position. It contains the Student Activities staff, University Center staff, members of the School of Communication faculty and staff, current and former student media leaders and outside people who assist the student media.
