One of the biggest clubs in UQ’s HASS faculty, the Journalism and Communications Society (JACS) is all about building a welcoming and supportive community for students within professional, social and academic spaces.
Identifying the daunting nature of University life and the prospects of professional careers, JACS facilitates the ever so important sense of connection that is lacking in a lot of Uni related areas.
Essentially, JACS is the ultimate place on campus for all journalism and communication students striving for academic, social and career success. The club predominantly focusses on providing a space which encourages participation in extracurriculars, avenues to learn skills that aren’t integrated into your degree, and opportunities to meet professional contacts.
As someone who has recently joined this society and already gained so many valuable experiences, I have gotten an inside scoop for all of you curious and budding students out there. After speaking with some of the dedicated JACS executive members, allow me to tell you that this is not a society you want to be missing out on.
As this year’s club President, Rachel Miller oversees every activity within the society and works to support and encourage her dedicated team. She had a lot to say about how she aims to facilitate students, particularly through these overwhelming COVID times.
“Just coming off the back of COVID my goal for these 6 months was to get people to really reengage with our actual in person events and remind them that we do all these things usually. So, get all those things happening again, and just finish the year strong,” Rachel shared.
“It’s about creating a culture where students feel they are a part of our community, as well as connecting them with opportunities. There’s a mix of all sorts of people so I think it’s cool that we can all come together and have different things in common.”
“It’s obviously been so tough with everything that’s gone on, but I want to finish off strong with some good events, get more people involved, have a solid AGM, have a good team to take over next year and make sure we finish on a high,” she says.
Aiming to reengage students with in-person events, Rachel and her team seized every opportunity to do so. As Professional Development Vice President, Chelsea Clark shared how the JACS team strived this semester, and particularly, were able to pull off a fantastic in person Professional Networking Event in social distancing style.
“We had to think creatively and outside of the box to keep students engaged especially through the online landscape throughout COVID times,” Chelsea said.
“So, we ended up doing a thing called industry spotlight, where every week we featured an industry professional discussing their professional experiences and advice for students posted to out Facebook and Instagram,” she shared.
Once COVID restrictions had slightly eased, Chelsea and her team hosted the Professional Networking Event at ‘Friday’s’ on Wednesday the 23 rd of September. Here many students, faculty members and an impressive panel of industry professionals gathered for the opportunity to mingle with one another and gain invaluable connections.
Tirelessly reaching out to different people within the industry, Chelsea made it her goal to find truly dedicated and insightful professionals to give students the very best experience possible. The panel featured a wide range of journalists and communication professionals specialising in a variety of niches, but all with impressive life experience.
As Social Officer, Layna Fong shared how she works to ensure the society hosts social events that are actually appealing to students and gave some insight into the many potentials of the society as a whole.
“I think the most valuable thing about the society is the networking. Just knowing that I could get my name out there or even just meet people randomly and casually,” Layna said.
“We want to encourage all students to get involved in our social events, so they feel more comfortable attending our professional networking and academically inclined events.”
“It’s a perfect way to meet people, not just professionals, but also each other. If you’re on campus all the time you’ll see people, but by joining you get to know these people really well,” she shared.
After speaking with a few of JACS executive members, it is clear they have a strong defining goal to connect students with the industry, get them networking, and bridging that gap between studying and graduating. Despite COVID-19, in great journalism style, the society has gallantly adapted to the online realm to ensure students are still getting that ongoing, comforting support.
If you’re not already a member of JACS and you want to further your future within the Journalism/Communications industry, visit the JACS website or Facebook page to sign up!
The annual AGM is Friday the 23 rd of October, and anyone enthusiastic towards the JACS community is encouraged to check it out and sign up.
by Lauren Bozzetto