We met with Professors D'Arcy Fallon (Torch advisor) and Sheryl Cunningham (WUSO advisor) today for more than an hour.
As described in an earlier post, both of these institutions are in what could be called a cold-start. There are no legacy upperclassmen, and the students that are involved are really starting with no mentorship or prior experience in journalism at the college level.
The plan for both of these orgs is to publish/broadcast online, and they are working on selecting and/or configuring software for that purpose and getting it up and running. Neither of these advisors are information technology experts, and they are very likely going to need help in both setup and on-going operations of these media platforms. Sheryl (WUSO) was particularly candid about her desire for help in this regard. They are also very interested in help from WIN to support mentoring and advising.
Both of the professors indicated that the establishment of WIN is going to help them with problem solving as they work to re-start these programs. There is support for WUSO and Torch from Wittenberg's Administration, and they have received initial budgets in November. The Torch has also received some office space in the basement of Shouvlin.
WIN Foundation Action. The WIN Foundation is working to support the needs of these student organizations. Our Co-curricular Committee will be leading those efforts. Our approach will include pairing of these students with experienced WIN alumni advisors and evaluating how targeted WIN Foundation funding can be used to help expedite their return to publishing / broadcasting. We will also see how our Technology Committee can help support any unmet IT needs.
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