Dr. Karyn Campbell, assistant professor of communication at NGU, was recently named a Distinguished Adviser by the College Media Association (CMA).
Campbell has served as the adviser to The Vision, North Greenville University’s student-run website, for over a decade.
“I was honored to be named one of the Distinguished Advisers for 2023,” Campbell said. “In the end, it’s about the students and helping them grow as journalists and achieve excellence in what they do.”
NGU’s Mary Margaret Flook, Nelson Shwe, and Olivia Hupfauer also earned recognition at CMA’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards.
Flook placed second in the category of Best Arts and Entertainment Story, third in Best Photo Package, and earned an honorable mention in Best Coverage of Faith. Shwe took home two third-place awards for Best Feature Photo and Best Infographic, also placing second for Best Photo Package. Hupfauer earned an honorable mention in the Best Comic Strip category.
“Our students consistently win state and national awards for writing, photography, graphic art and video,” Campbell said. “It’s not just about getting awards, but it is about doing your work to the best of your ability so that you can glorify Christ in what you do.
Campbell said The Vision has adapted to a changing media landscape in hopes of preparing students for careers in communications.
“When I first started, we had a yearbook, a website and a physical newspaper,” she said. “In 2014, we consolidated into a more robust website with a physical magazine. When we did that, it was just becoming a trend in the world of journalism, and we were one of the first schools in the nation to do it successfully. That excellence has continued through a lot of ups and downs.”
“The biggest way The Vision prepares students for journalism careers is giving them clips on a real website read by real people,” Campbell added. “When you’re interviewing for a professional job, employers don’t care that much about a paper you wrote for a class. A story that is published where everyone can see it carries more weight and demonstrates that the student can compete in the real world.”
