Category Archives: Alumni Angle

Meet Communications graduate, Kayla Germain!

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Communications alum Kayla Germain earned her master’s degree in at Saint Rose in 2011. But, her student experience doesn’t seem to have satisfied her desire to be here.  Kayla now works at Saint Rose, as a staff member in the Office of Public Relations.

Germain, from Greenwich, NY, is the Saint Rose e-media coordinator. In this position, Germain manages the College’s social media platforms. In addition to earning her master’s in Communications from Saint Rose, she also earned her bachelor’s from SUNY Fredonia in 2009.

Germain’s passion for Communications began in high school when she dreamed of being a news anchor. After she enrolled in her undergraduate classes, she realized that she wanted a profession with a better job outlook and more normal business hours. Germain turned to public relations, and thoroughly enjoyed her classes. “I like public relations because it pulls from different skills – writing, business, creative, and more. I could have changed majors for my graduate degree, but I decided to stick with Communications because it’s the field that I love and what makes me happy,” she says.

As Germain looked for a graduate school to pursue her master’s degree in Communications, she was attracted to Saint Rose’s M.A. program. “I preferred Saint Rose over other institutions because of its hands-on nature. Rather than spending my time extensively studying communication theory, I knew at Saint Rose I would be working on real projects that would build and add to my professional portfolio,” she remembers.  “And that’s exactly what happened.”

Many of Germain’s professors made a significant impact on her educational experiences at Saint Rose. Germain says that Dr. Cailin Brown taught her about the important distinctions between journalism and blogging. “Dr. Brown’s feedback on my journalism assignments has made me a much better writer than I was before. She also made me very interested in the field of journalism – I had always favored PR, so I never would have thought that previously. Now when I read the paper I have great respect for journalists and their practice.”

As e-media coordinator at Saint Rose, Germain applies many of the skills she learned during her graduate studies on a daily basis. One of the classes Germain took focused exclusively on social media, where she learned how to use new editing software, fine-tune her writing skills, and explore how social media are used in public relations. “I use social media every day and apply what I learned about how to connect with audiences and how to track data all the time,” she explains, “Thanks to my media classes, I feel very comfortable using a video camera. and recording and editing video, and have produced several videos for the College’s YouTube channel. My job might sound specific, but I do a wide variety of things.  Aside from managing our social media sites, I also write copy for our website, take photos of events around campus, aid departments in specific objectives, and more.”

Germain says what she enjoys most about her job is working in an engaging, vibrant community. “There is always something going on, and my job is to share what’s happening. I get to attend events and take photos or record videos to share with everyone else. I love talking to students on campus and sharing the great things that are going on around here.”

For people considering the graduate Communications program, Germain advises taking advantage of any opportunity offered in the program and at Saint Rose. “Go above and beyond what is asked of you as a student or a graduate assistant. I graduated Saint Rose with an awesome portfolio thanks to class materials and what I had done in my graduate assistantship. Saint Rose offers plenty of opportunities if you are willing to take advantage of them.”

If you are interested in learning more about the MA in Communications program, click here for more information. If you have any questions, please contact Graduate Admissions at 518-454-5143 or email grad@strose.edu.

Communications graduate Christine Kenyi works to promote children’s rights

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The Master of Arts in Communications program at Saint Rose prepares students to enter fields in journalism, public relations, and media.  Recent alum Christine Kenyi shares how the graduate program helped prepare her for employment at UNICEF headquarters in New York City.

Kenyi, from Arusha, Tanzania, earned her BA in Communications at Waldorf College and earned her MA in Communications at Saint Rose in August 2011. She is currently working as an Outreach Analyst at UNICEF.

Kenyi’s passion for communications grew out of her love of meeting new people. In a people-centered field like communications, she says, you have to be willing to work with others and be open-minded to new ideas. “Throughout my life, I have been exposed to so many different people and cultures in many different environments and I’ve always enjoyed interacting with them. Communications ended up being a natural fit for me.”

Kenyi says the William Randolph Hearst Center for Communications and Interactive Media attracted her to apply to Saint Rose. “The facilities are brand new and state of the art. The graduate program appeared well-rounded and very hands-on, which is important in this field of study.” In addition, Kenyi says that the scholarship she earned made Saint Rose a financially realistic and reasonable choice for her.

While attending Saint Rose, Kenyi found the writing courses took her abilities to a new level.  Some of the most demanding were the journalism classes taught by Dr. Cailin Brown. “It was very challenging to go out into the community and find interviews for stories to meet class deadlines. However, I was always impressed by Dr. Brown’s clear passion for journalism. Although my future doesn’t lie in journalism, I learned a lot from the hands-on experiences in Dr. Brown’s classes.”

Student writing from Professor Brown’s class appears on The Pine Hills blog, a collaboration of Saint Rose and the Albany Times Union newspaper.  For a listing of Kenyi’s contributions, click here.  The College of Saint Rose is located in the Pine Hills area of Albany; the blog provides news about the neighborhood’s people, businesses, and organizations.

Having had several internship and work experiences, Kenyi has a clear goal for her future. “I have always wanted to follow in my parents’ footsteps and build a career doing development work, so being at UNICEF is an amazing opportunity to introduce myself to this type of work,” she says, “I hope to continue with UNICEF or similar organizations, with the ultimate goal of going out into the field offices and actually implementing the programs that help the less fortunate to help themselves.”

Kenyi suggests that students who are open-minded and willing to step outside their comfort zones are likely to find success in the Communications graduate program. “The faculty will not have you just sitting in a classroom; you will experience real-life situations that you may eventually face in your professional career. This, in my opinion, is sometimes the best way to learn.”

If you are interested in learning more about the MA in Communications program, click here for more information. If you have any questions, please contact Graduate Admissions at 518-454-5143 or email grad@strose.edu.

Communications graduate earns note

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Thomas Gonyeau, is a graduate of both the bachelor’s and master’s programs in Communications at The College of Saint Rose, in 1987 and 2002 respectively. He is principal, owner & executive producer of Mountain View Group, a creative services and media production company with offices in Atlanta, and Schenectady. Since joining Mountain View Group, he has managed half-million dollars budgets, landed major clients, and accumulated more than 500 production credits.  In 2001, Gonyeau was named one of the Capital District Business Review’s “40 Under Forty.”

Last year, the Saint Rose Communications Department recognized Gonyeau as one of their notable alumni with a plaque in recently refurbished William Randolph Hearst Center for Communications and Interactive Media.

Among the companies Gonyeau has worked with: General Electric, Coca-Cola, Raytheon, IBM, Russell Athletic, and The New York Yankees.

To read more about Gonyeau’s accomplishments, click here.  And to see a sample of Gonyeau’s, work, view visit the “About Saint Rose” videos, which were produced by Mountain View to profile the College, its students and faculty.

Gonyeau was also profiled in the Saint Rose Magazine_Winter 2010. His article appears on pages 30 through 31.

Studio Art graduate Jacqueline Weaver makes her mark in art community

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Studio Art alum Jacqueline Weaver has enjoyed several achievements since graduating with her Master’s degree in 2010. In this Alumni Angle post, Weaver explains how her Saint Rose education has helped her prepare for success in the art industry.

       

A photo of Weaver (left) and a sample of her work, The Idiots Chair (right)

Weaver, from Columbiaville, NY, is currently an Arts Administration Associate at the Foundry for Art Design + Culture, as well as a curatorial intern at the Green County Council on the Arts. In addition to earning her Master’s degree in Studio Art from Saint Rose, Weaver earlier earned a dual bachelor’s degree here in Painting and Art Education in 2006. Her recent activities include site specific works for Letting Go (Newark, NJ), and 21 Rooms (York, ME), in addition to several shows in the Albany area. Weaver’s short video, Gaza, January 3, 2009, was featured last summer on the PBS series TV Film.

Weaver’s passion as a studio artist began during her undergraduate education. While she enjoyed teaching art for several years, mainly to high school students, she eventually wanted to expand her own art-making practice and explore teaching at the college level in the future. This led her back to Saint Rose for a Master’s degree in Studio Art.  Her graduate studies allowed Weaver to satisfy certification requirements for teaching, which she continued to do as she completed her master’s degree and expanded her own art repertoire.

Weaver appreciates how her education at Saint Rose encouraged her to stay connected with the contemporary art world through sourcebook assignments and frequent trips to art galleries. She believes that this aspect was especially beneficial. “Art is this living, breathing, growing thing that connects all parts of life. It is a response to life. It is relevant. It is happening now. This is an emphasis that I took into my classroom, and it also applies to the curatorial decisions.”

              

More samples of Weaver’s work

Many of Weaver’s art professors played an integral role in her growth as an artist. Although Weaver entered the graduate program as a painter, she moved toward video and installation work. Professors Deborah Zlotsky and Scott Brodie were key supporters in this evolution. “Professor Zlotsky helped me simplify my ideas and focus my work.  She was able to find me a large enough physical space to work in for my studio and also a space to exhibit my work, which really gave me that first push I needed,” Weaver says. “Professor Brodie gave me ‘permission’ to explore, invent, and make mistakes. This was also huge, and because of it, I ventured out into the area of performance with my video work, which is still a part of what I do.”

In January, Weaver served as the curator of the second annual Catskill Film and Video Fest. Among her various duties as curator, Weaver was responsible for judging the submissions and planning the entire festival. She shares what it was like to organize the film fest:

Not only was I curating, but organizing the event down to all the details like organizing rides from the train station for my filmmakers.  I had 100 national and international submissions. I watched them all and narrowed it down to just over 30 shorts and 2 feature length films. We had a few bigger (but young) names (including some award winners) and some locals that I asked specifically to participate. They all said yes.

After four months of intense planning, Weaver successfully carried out the event, with hundreds of visitors in attendance. Weaver says that many of the filmmakers took trains, planes, and automobiles to be on hand for Q&A sessions throughout the day. The event was so successful, that many of the participants are already asking Weaver about next year’s event. For more information about the fest, including awards, critics, pictures and press release, click here.

Weaver says that her Saint Rose education helped her bring together the resources needed for the successful all-day event. “It was at Saint Rose that I first became interested in video art, contemporary art, public art, art as an educational tool, and the idea of creating/being a part of an art community. With this film fest, that is really what it came down to – the idea of community. All of us – artists, filmmakers, critics, supporters, audience members – became a community of people in support of the arts and one another.”

For more information on Jacqueline Weaver, please visit her website at http:///www.jacquelineweaver.com.

If you are interested in learning more about the MA in Studio Art program, click here for more information. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Graduate Admissions at 518-454-5143 or email grad@strose.edu.