We’re wrapping up the fall semester after a busy November in SJMC.
We hosted our final professional-in-residence of the semester, Ashton Galstad (BA 2010). Ashton is a vice president at Golin and an SJMC alum. She visited classes and met with students in the Adler Agency to share her experience working with brands like Nintendo.
We also hosted former ESPN president and influential media executive, John Skipper, for a packed discussion about his career and the state of the sports media industry.
An Evening with John Skipper Event
We ended November by co-hosting a screening and discussion of No One Cares about Crazy People with the documentary’s director, Gail Freedman. As part of her visit, Gail met with students in Rachel Young’s Media and Health class as well as students across campus. KCRG covered the sold-out community screening.
Fall 2025 also marked the start of our new experiential learning requirement for undergraduate students majoring in journalism and mass communication. JMC majors must complete one experiential learning course selected from the following six categories:
Study Abroad, Community Engagement, Research, Internship, Professional Practice, or Teaching
This SCRIPT requirement builds on the work we’ve done in SJMC to provide students with valuable hands-on learning opportunities, including our partnership with the Daily Iowan, Solon Economist, and Mt. Vernon Lisbon Sun, the Adler Agency, the Chicago Sports Media Experience, to name a few.
As students script their experience, they gain meaningful knowledge and skills in a supportive and structured environment designed to enrich their education. These opportunities provide meaningful education, professional, and personal development for students. SJMC is proud to fully fund or offset costs for travel and lodging for off-campus experiences and to financially support internships and students engaged in professional work in classes like Prep Sports Report and Iowa Community News capstone. This financial support is only possible thanks to donors and supporters in our SJMC community. If you would like to support these types of learning experiences for students, consider making a year-end donation to SJMC.
I wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season and a happy new year.
If you have a story to share, please send it to sjmc@uiowa.edu.
Melissa Tully, Director