Department Advisory Council Returns to Campus

On September 30 and October 1, a dozen members of a 16-person advisory council met on the College of Charleston campus to serve as a sounding board for faculty and students in the Department of Communication. Mentoring and intern opportunities were reestablished, as council members visited classrooms, listened to student presentations, and brainstormed new ideas for the future of the department.

Attending the latest meeting were the following members: David Webster, Senior Vice President, Bank One Card Services; William Hughes, former VP for Media Relations at IBM; David B. Sandor, Director of Public Relations, Home Depot; John Palmer, retired NBC News correspondent; Ray Kotcher, Senior Partner/CEO of NY-based advertising firm Ketchum; Julia Hood, editor of PR Week; Bruce Murdy, co-founder of Charleston-based PR agency Rawle-Murdy Associates; Michael Fanning, VP for Corporate Affairs, Michelin North America; Tucker Eskew, strategic communications consultant to President George W. Bush; Thomas R. Martin, Senior VP and Director of Corporate Relations for ITT Industries; Greg Schneiders, partner in Schneiders Della Volpe Schulman (SDS); and Albert Coscia, Senior VP of Corporate Relations at Visa USA.

Other members of the council include: Virginia Holman, TSYS; Timothy J. Klein, VP for Public Relations, Cingular Wireless; Jean Cardwell, Cardwell Enterprises (communication recruiting firm); and Sarah Peterson, Senior VP, Corporate and Investor Communications for Southwest Bank of Texas.

In April 2004 the group began meeting in Charleston once each semester and hopes to grow to just over 30 members. Immediate goals include recruitment and additional classroom visits and internships.