The newly awarded batch of Department of Communication Studies Platinum Honorees poses for a group picture with their Department Chair and Coordinator of the Platinum Honoree Program at their first General Meeting of fall 2019 semester. (Photo: Adrian Johnson Jr)

|O’Jay Cole

Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) Department of Communication Studies (DCS) held its first General Meeting for the Fall Semester on September 24, 2019. The meeting featured a mini affirmation ceremony for eleven (11) final year students slated to graduate August 2020 who have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.4 and above since the start of their tenure at the institution.

These eleven (11) students were awarded the prestigious title of Department of Communication Studies ‘Platinum Honorees’. This Platinum Honoree program started in the year 2011 by former DCS Chair Elaine Oxamendi Vicet as a deliberate effort to ensure that the department’s students graduated with honours and to keep the students motivated to complete their program with stellar grades.

The Department of Communication Studies is all about student empowerment, said Chair Ms Noreen Daley who refers to the department as ‘student-centred’. “We’re big on ensuring our students don’t just exist or be ordinary, but we push them to be extraordinary and when people are being pushed to be extraordinary, they need encouragement,” said Daley.

This push to be extraordinary is evident in the skill sets exemplified by the department’s students. Outside the walls of lecture theatres DCS students are already making a name for themselves by contributing to the world of media: Kasey Williams, the department’s Male Burgundy Jacket Holder (department’s student Ambassador) is currently a part-time writer at the Jamaica Observer, Chantelle Rochester (Female Burgundy Jacket Holder) in summer 2019 worked on the Self Employment coverage campaign at the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board, Ramon Gordon, Writer, had his piece ‘Spice exposes Black Hypocrisy’ published in the Gleaner and Jhanielle Powell has worked as a Producer for the popular Television Jamaica (TVJ) show ‘Watch n Win’. All mentioned are a part of the newly inducted Platinum Honorees for the 2019/2020 period.

When asked why the DCS brand is so revered by employers Daley in response stated that students who emphasize in an area can function at an optimal level in other areas because of the mixture of practical and theory they are exposed to. An example, former Platinum Honoree Nickoy Wilson who emphasized in Public Relations is now a Gleaner Correspondent, performing exceptionally well in a capacity he did not specialize in. A true testament of the world-class training received; the department guarantees its graduates’ competence in whichever sphere they are placed.

In addition, DCS is always seeking partnerships to give its students added exposure and broaden their intellectual horizons. One such partnership that is in the pipeline is a student exchange program with the University of West Georgia.

The department has boasts success stories of Platinum Honorees who have gone on to do great things in and outside of media: Jevon Minto, Assistant to the deputy head of mission for economic and commercial affairs at the Mexican Embassy, Janiel Lambert, Senior Communications Consultant for Digital Marketing at the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Shelley Ann Irving Company Commander, Delta Company, First Battalion The Jamaica Regiment, Anya Terae Edwards, Marketing and Public Relations Officer at Jamaica manufacturers and Exporters and Vashan Brown, Reporter and Chevening Scholar 2018/2019.

The DCS slogan “Developing Talent, Building a Nation” is embodied by its countless graduates, who dominate the industry and continue to uphold the standard of the revered brand.