The Shippensburg University student media groups opened their respective offices and studios for their first general interest meetings of the year. PRSSA, SU’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, held its general interest meeting Thursday. WSYC, SU’s student-run radio station, held its general interest meeting Tuesday, while Shippensburg University Television (SUTV) and The Slate newspaper held their meetings Wednesday evening. 

As SU welcomes a whopping 1,851 new students to campus (according to a post on the university’s Instagram), student media groups such as PRSSA were eager to open up their doors to new members.

“I am super excited for what the new school year has to bring for PRSSA,” President Madison Griffith said. “I look forward to creating new relationships, but also strengthening the ones I have with current members. As this is my senior year, I also look forward to training members to take over leadership roles and passing along the PRSSA legacy.”

Griffith has several goals set for her senior year in PRSSA. “I am hoping to increase recruitment this semester and to involve students with different majors besides Communication/Journalism and concentrations besides PR,” she said. “I would like to diversify our organization and bring in new ideas and insight. I would like to have the ability to bring more members to conferences this semester to learn from different PR professionals. I would also like to see us continue to work hard for the clients we have this semester (APPIO & Reach Out) and produce quality content.”

When asked how they will accommodate for the larger incoming class size in relation to recent SGA budget cuts, student media groups feel ready to begin the new semester with their feet planted. 

“I do feel that PRSSA can accommodate new members with budget cuts since our fundraising committee has been working hard,” Griffith said. “We plan multiple fundraisers to accommodate all costs and budget our money wisely. PRSSA raised over $1,000 last year, which is a huge accomplishment for us. We hope to raise close to $2,000 this year.”

SUTV is the student-run, award-winning television station that gives students the opportunity to experience television studio culture and produce live news, sports, entertainment, and weather programs every Thursday at 7 p.m., as well as original programming. 

SUTV’s General Manager Adam Beam was thrilled to see new faces attending the SUTV general interest meeting. “I’m really excited from the turnout at general interest,” Beam said. “I think so many of the first-year students who came out showed such initiative and enthusiasm towards SUTV, that I feel the group should be in good hands this year.”

SUTV’s general interest meeting was followed by its first broadcast of the year on Thursday, with plenty of new students learning positions in the control room or in the broadcasting studio. Students interested in being on the air can attend anchor auditions on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in Grove 008 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m.

The Slate is the on-campus, student-run news organization, and provides students with opportunities to learn to write, edit and take photos for print publications. The Slate publishes every Tuesday to their website and will have five more prints this coming semester, which is a record low caused by the SGA budget cuts.   

“There really is a lot of ways to build your own portfolio with The Slate,” Elizabeth Peters, Editor-in-Chief of The Slate, said. “I loved copy editing as a freshman and really enjoy creating page layouts. I’ve always felt the work we produce to be super rewarding because it is so physical.”

Peters also remarked that media organizations are not just for Communication, Journalism and Media majors. Each club thrives when people from a variety of majors get involved. “Some of our best writers are business and political science majors. There really is room for everyone to try something,” Peters said. 

WSYC, Shippensburg University’s on-campus radio station, features programs created by students performed on-air during the school year. The station is an opportunity for students to gain experience in audio production and scriptwriting. WSYC is currently preparing to host more shows following this uptick in enrollment. 

“I'm super excited that WSYC got so much engagement at the general interest meeting, and it's always nice to see a full programming schedule,” Henry Mooney, WSYC General Manager, said. 

“I'm hoping that WSYC can become more of a presence on campus,” Mooney said. “A lot of students aren't aware that there's a radio station here on campus, and I want to change that. I'm trying to have more events that WSYC can put on or be a part of.”

Though Mooney is hopeful to spread the word about WSYC through events, he acknowledges this feat may be difficult following recent student media budget cuts administered by the SGA. 

“Following SGA slashing budgets, it's going to be tough putting on events at the scale we used to, but we can definitely accommodate new members. We just have to get more creative than we have had to in the past,” Mooney said. “Hopefully in the future student media groups will be able to have larger budgets, because student media groups are always better for it.”

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