SJMC graduate students awarded mentored research scholarships


Three FIU students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s (SJMC) Global Strategic Communications graduate program were awarded mentored research scholarships from locally based literary company Jewish Book Summaries (JBS). The students are preparing, creating and implementing a comprehensive marketing communications plan with JBS during the summer 2011 semester.

(left-right) Alexandra Figueredo, Sigal Segev, Vanessa de la Lama and Maria Rosa Collazo.

JBS is a free online service providing summaries of books, biographies and other literary works centered on Jewish topics – Israel, Holocaust, Jewish communities, Jewish theology, Jewish perspectives, culture, sports, humor and more. Scholarship recipients Maria Rosa Collazo, Vanessa de la Lama and Alexandra Figueredo are working to enhance awareness among the target market and generate more users for this service. Among tactics tailored specifically for JBS, the team is implementing the use of social media portals, multimedia functionality and a balanced mix of traditional and online media outreach.

Sigal Segev, assistant professor in the SJMC’s Advertising and Public Relations Department, is guiding the students and providing campaign oversight of the partnership with JBS.

Students (from top left) Vanessa de la Lama, Maria Rosa Collazo and Alexandra Figueredo work strategy and implementation with representatives from Jewish Book Summaries.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to work hands-on with a real-world company and work in a realistic scenario,” Segev says. “They are interacting directly with JBS executives as if they were part of a real public relations agency, holding regular client meetings and ensuring goals and expectations are met.”

The SJMC was chosen for this scholarship when JBS founder Mel Chasen approached friend and colleague Steve Moll, vice provost of the Biscayne Bay Campus.

“This collaboration underscores FIU’s vision of being a student-centered, public research university that is locally and globally engaged,” Moll says. “The students’ ability to apply creativity, critical analysis and integrated communications tactics to meet the client’s goals is a testament to FIU preparing its students to serve local needs with long-term community engagement.”

Alexandra Figueredo, Charles Ohana (JBS), Vanessa de la Lama, Kenneth Schwartz (JBS), Sigal Segev, Craig Frank (JBS) and Maria Rosa Collazo.

Chasen says, “One of the missions of JBS is to enhance the knowledge and culture of our readers. As such, we are so excited to share this inter-faith and inter-cultural collaboration with such a talented group of students at the university.”

Of his outreach to FIU, Chasen adds, “[We] thought it would provide a valuable experience for the students, both professionally and personally.”

The campaign will be completed by the scholarship recipients by the final client meeting in July.

 

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