TROY News Center

Troy University journalism students get a dose of the real thing in Steve Stewart’s advanced reporting class.

Their assignment: write a legislative story for an Alabama newspaper.

Sponsored by the Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation, the third-year program includes taking students from the Hall School of Journalism and Communication to the State House on a legislative committee day. There the student journalists attend committee meetings and hearings, and meet with Capitol reporters, lobbyists, legislators and legislative staffers.

The hook is that each student has to select an Alabama newspaper, contact its editor and offer to write the story as assigned. They then have to deal with the editor through the publishing process.

“As a student, you learn a lot by actually going outside the classroom and seeing the ‘real world,’ instead of just reading textbooks and sitting in class every day,” said Cecilia Thorngren, a print journalism major with a creative writing minor from Floda, Sweden.

Thorngren worked with editors at “The Southeast Sun” newspaper in Enterprise.

“I got to experience what it’s like to work under a deadline and what it’s like to work with an editor. That’s something I couldn’t have learned in the classroom,” she said.

Stewart said that experience was precisely the point of the exercise.

“Students learn a lot from this project, including how the Legislature works, the difficulty of contacting and working with editors and legislators, and the need to keep working on a story until it’s ready to publish,” said Stewart, himself a long-time newspaper editor and publisher.

Some students even get follow-up assignments and internships from editors, and all get news clippings they can use in job hunts.

“It gives us visibility with the public and goodwill with the Press Association,” Stewart said. “For the APA Journalism Foundation, it’s a small expense with a high return.”

The Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation began in 1968, and from its beginnings, has supported journalism education in the state. The Foundation’s board meets annually to select grants that support college journalism programs, workshops, an annual job fair, scholarships and internships.

TROY – Dr. John R. Dew will provide the keynote address at Troy University’s commencement exercises Sunday, May 19 on Saint Simons Island.

About 50 students from Brunswick and Savannah sites will participate in the event, which begins at 3 p.m. at Strickland Auditorium, Epworth By-the-Sea.

Dr. Dew serves as Senior Vice Chancellor of Student Services and Administration at the University, after having served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness from 2007 until 2010.

Prior to joining the University, he was Director for Continuous Quality Improvement and Planning at the University of Alabama. From 1974 until 1998, he worked for Lockheed Martin Corp. as a quality and strategic planning professional in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Paducah, Kent., including work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

He earned his Doctorate in Education from the University of Tennessee and is the author of five books, including co-authoring Continuous Quality Improvement in Higher Education with Molly McGowan Nearing, published by the American Council on Education and Praeger Press in 2004. His scholarly publications include Managing in a Team Environment and Empowerment and Democracy in the Workplace, both published by Greenwood Press. In 1997 he published a trade book on strategic planning with Quality Resources Press, Quality-Centered Strategic Planning. In 2001 he co-authored Diagnosing and Preventing Adverse and Sentinel Events, a handbook on preventing and investigating medical errors, with Meri Curtis, published by Opus Press.

Dr. Dew was appointed by the Undersecretary of Education to serve on the Department of Education’s Rulemaking Process in 2006. He was a founding member and chair of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education, and has served as the Chair of the Education Division and the Energy and Environmental Division of the American Society for Quality. Dr. Dew is a Fellow in the American Society for Quality and held an appointment from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve as one of the twelve Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program for 2008-2011. In 2009 Dr. Dew was elected to membership in the International Academy for Quality, which is the international body of academics engaged in research and publication related to quality sciences.  In 2011 Dr. Dew was named to the Board of Directors of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI). 

Dr. John Dew

TROY – Nearly 1,000 athletes with intellectual and functional disabilities and about 350 of their coaches and chaperons will compete May 17-19 in the Special Olympics Alabama State Games at Troy University.

This year’s event marks the seventh year Special Olympians have competed at TROY.

Competitions will include 11 sports conducted both on the Troy Campus and at venues in the city of Troy and Montgomery, beginning with the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. May 17 in Trojan Arena. The ceremony will include a parade of athletes and entertainment.

The opening ceremonies are preceded by the Special Olympics Torch Run by law enforcement officers state wide. In Troy, the run will begin at 2 p.m. Friday at the City of Troy Police Department. The route will take runners south on South Brundidge Street and onto University Avenue, arriving at Sartain Hall about 2:15 p.m.

Sporting events begin on May 18 at 9 a.m. at various venues. Sport events include swimming, gymnastics, equestrian, bowling, track and field, softball, bocce, power lifting, cycling, flag football and golf. A Victory Dance will be held Saturday night.

Closing ceremonies will be conducted May 19 and will include a memorial service for those athletes who have died in the past year.

“The athletes are very excited to be returning to TROY,” said Dean of Students Herb Reeves. “Not only would we extend an invitation for students and community members to participate in the special ceremonies, but volunteers are very important in order to make this event a success,” he said.

To volunteer, contact Reeves at 334-670-3202 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

“We invite you to visit, cheer or volunteer to assist the athletes in having the best time ever.  Your interest and help is greatly appreciated,” he said.