Roy H. Park School of Communications


The Roy H. Park School of Communications is one of five schools at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York. The school is named after media executive Roy H. Park, who lived in Ithaca and who served on the Board of Trustees at Ithaca College for many years.
As one of the first schools of communications in the US, it runs the first and longest-running student-operated TV cable channel and offers students access to studios and more than three million dollars of portable and lab equipment. It has been named a top school for film, journalism, media and entertainment by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Princeton Review and more.
In addition to its campus facilities in Ithaca, it runs the Pendleton Center in Los Angeles where students can study and engage in internships for a semester. Students also may study away at the college's center in London and through a newly established New York City program.
Diane Gayeski, an alumna of the school and a faculty member since 1979, currently serves as its dean.

History

Ithaca College first began offering courses in radio in the 1930s and a degree program in 1947. With the advent of mass media, the focus began shifting to television and film. The Bachelor of Science in Cinema Studies and Photography was established in the late 1960s. In 1969, the communications programs were formally organized into a division within the college before becoming the present-day School of Communications in the 1973–74 academic year. It was renamed after Roy H. Park in 1989.

Academics

The Roy H. Park School offers the following academic programs:

Undergraduate

In 2008, the Park School launched the Park Center for Independent Media, directed by Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. It has been designated as a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems and news organizations.
Rory Kennedy, documentary filmmaker, was the center's inaugural speaker in January 2008. Kennedy is the co-founder/president of Moxie Firecracker Films, Inc.
The Park Center for Independent Media offers the Independent Media Internship Awards, which provides a $2,500 grant to each chosen student who works as a summer intern at specific independent media outlets.
The school's first annual "Izzy Award" for "special achievement in independent media" was presented on March 31, 2009, to blogger Glenn Greenwald and Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman. Roughly 800 people attended the award ceremony at Ithaca’s State Theatre – including I.F. "Izzy" Stone's son Jeremy Stone. Subsequent winners of the award have included Jeremy Scahill, Naomi Klein, Mother Jones, and the Center for Media and Democracy. In 2018, the award was shared by Lee Fang, Sharon Lerner, Dahr Jamail, and Todd Miller. In 2019, the award was shared by Laura Flanders, the Earth Island Journal, Aaron Maté, and Dave Lindorff.

Programs and events

The Park School offers a range of programs and events each year, including:
The Park Scholar Award is a four-year, full scholarship to Ithaca College given each year to a small number of students in the Roy H. Park School of Communications. The award, provided by the Park Foundation, recognizes students who excel in academics, leadership, and community service, and intend to use their careers in communications for social good.

Student media

''The Ithacan''

The Ithacan is Ithaca College's official newspaper. The paper is written, edited and published by students. The Ithacan is available in print every Thursday morning and online. The Ithacan and its staff have won many major collegiate journalism awards, most notably, the Associated Collegiate Press' National Pacemaker Awards and many New York State Press Association awards.

Ithaca College Radio

Ithaca College is home to two student-operated radio stations.

92 WICB

is an FCC-licensed station that operates at 4100 Watts at 91.7 FM. Programming is also streamed live on its website, through the iHeartRadio app, and WICB's iOS app. The majority of its programming falls under the modern rock category, with a variety of specialty programming also available. While broadcasting modern rock, the station is run similarly to a commercial modern rock station, with the inclusion of playlists planned by the programming and music departments that include leeway for listener requests and DJ choices. The station was honored with the MTVU Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station. They were also named the Top Collegiate Radio Station by The Princeton Review.

Notable Park School alumni

In 2014, for the 40th anniversary, the Park School created a list of 40 Alumni Who Shape the Communications Industry.

Notable Park School former and current faculty