Nicki Brown, a rising senior majoring in Journalism at Grady, earned a Certificate in Editing during the spring semester as part of a pilot challenge grant offered by the Cox Institute.
Brown completed the online training program through the Poynter Institute’s News University in partnership with the American Copy Editors Society. Brown participated in the training as part of a pilot challenge program sponsored by the Cox Institute, which intends to expand the grants to other students seeking to supplement their Grady classes with sanctioned professional development courses.
“The different modules for the editing certificate helped me learn about all of the different aspects of editing, ranging from basic copyediting skills to search engine optimization,” said Brown, a Presidential Scholar at UGA, who completed an internship with the University of Georgia Press editorial department during the spring semester. Brown has a summer internship with CNN International in Atlanta.
“We believe it’s important for our students to engage in experiential learning opportunities and professional development training outside of the classroom while they are with us at Grady,” said Keith Herndon, director of the Cox Institute. “Our development of this challenge grant will encourage more students to seek these additional training opportunities.”
The Cox Institute will accept applications for students interested in professional development courses sanctioned by professional organizations on a case-by-case basis. Interested undergraduate and graduate students in journalism should submit a statement of interest with the details of the course and a current resume to Dr. Herndon at klhern@uga.edu. The awarded grants will vary in monetary value, but are designed to reimburse all of the costs of an approved professional development program once it has been completed.
