Although they’re on opposite sides of campus, Student Niner Media and Communication Studies are intrinsically connected. 

Thousands of students have made that walk from the classrooms in Colvard Hall to the Student Niner Media offices in the lower level of the Popp Martin Student Union throughout the years. And that relationship between the two departments has grown in recent years in an effort to enhance student success at UNC Charlotte. 

Communication Studies (part of the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences) and Student Niner Media (under the Division of Student Affairs) both have similar goals: To train the communications professionals of the future. Professor Jason Black sees their role as providing that academic grounding while Student Niner Media serves as a working lab for students who want to pursue communications or journalism careers, allowing them to put the skills they learned in class to use. “There’s magic in that process,” he says. 

There are typically about 740 communication studies majors at UNC Charlotte, and it can sometimes be a challenge to make those students aware of the opportunities available in Student Niner Media. 

Professors often refer students to Student Niner Media and Niner Media student leaders often recruit their peers in their classes. The Communication Studies Canvas page also advertises opportunities with Student Niner Media. But the connection manifests in more formal ways, as well:  

• The Communication Studies Learning Community is a group of 20 or so first-year students who share academic and social interests to help ease the transition into college. The learning community has also served as an introduction point to Niner Media. Students come to tour the offices every fall semester. Black estimates that about 70 percent of learning community students end up joining Niner Media in some capacity. 
• The Communication Studies Student Association also tours the Student Niner Media offices annually. The student-led group has gained momentum in the past couple of years, offering valuable opportunities and events for communication studies majors to network and build community.  
• Student Niner Media has an internship program in conjunction with communication studies, where students can receive course credit for working at Niner Times. In turn, interns get to spend a semester gaining experience that can help lead them to their dream job. 
• New this year, Student Niner Media has welcomed Lecturer Craig Paddock to serve in an advisory role on its media board, which is the governing body of Student Niner Media consisting of the five departmental leaders of the organization. Paddock, along with Jenn Conway (director of communications for the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences), are non-voting members and lend their professional expertise to the student leaders who make up the board. 

While Student Niner Media comprises five student-led organizations, advising for those organizations is provided by the office of Student Niner Media Advising and Support. The department is part of Student Engagement in Student Affairs, and it is the only area in Student Engagement that is directly related to both an academic major and minor. This allows Student Niner Media Advising and Support and Communication Studies an opportunity like no other—a relationship that links academics and experiential learning that puts students in a great position to build their media portfolio. It’s where experiential learning and the classroom come together. 

Alumni from Niner Media and communication studies have gone on to successful careers in the industry, working at places like The Charlotte Observer, Queen City Nerve, the Charlotte Hornets, DreamWorks Animation, ESPN, Axios, FOX Sports and more. 

Bryson Foster, who participated in the learning community freshman year, is now a second-year graduate student in the communications studies program. 

“My studies in the Communication Studies department and my experiences with Student Niner Media have gone hand-in-hand,” he says. “I learned about the Niner Times and got involved after hearing about it during some of my communication studies classes in my freshman year. In both areas, I was helped by advisors and mentors who encouraged me to ask questions and take chances. The feedback and support from both departments enabled me to grow and mature as a person and writer. The advice that you only learn when asking questions has proved to be critical to me as I have grown as a journalist.”