National Scholastic Press Association Appoints New Members of Board of Directors

MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 2, 2006) – The Board of Directors of the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) has appointed six new members to its Board of Directors.

NSPA recently completed a comprehensive review of the association’s policies, operational management, financial controls and governance. In addition, the board expects to release the results of a recently completed audit and investigation of financial management and travel practices. A national search for a new executive director is underway.

According to board president, Dr. Albert R. Tims, the association has successfully introduced new operations policies, new financial management controls and has significantly strengthened board governance in accordance with best practices for nonprofit corporations.

Tims credits the longstanding strong partnerships with the Journalism Education Association (JEA), Collegiate Media Advisers (CMA) and other scholastic journalism organizations as providing invaluable support and assistance. All of the association’s commitments, partnerships and programs are moving forward without disruption.

The six new directors will join three existing directors who represent the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

New Members of the NSPA Board of Directors

  • Linda Drake has taught at Chase County High School in Cottonwood Falls, KS, for more than 30 years, teaching journalism, photography, desktop publishing, and digital media, in addition to advising the school newspaper and yearbook. She is an adjunct instructor at Emporia State University, and has held a position on the Kansas Scholastic Press Association’s executive board since 1995. Drake holds an M.A. from Emporia State University.
  • Pamela E. Foster is the director of student publications at Tennessee State University in Nashville, advising the both the student newspaper and yearbook. She also teaches journalism at TSU and spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee. Foster is a graduate of Smith College and holds an M.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
  • Elizabeth L. Keeling is a journalism teacher and yearbook adviser at Champlin Park High School in Champlin, MN. Keeling holds an M.A. in education from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.
  • Mead Loop is associate professor and chair of the journalism department at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. He is the vice president for campus chapter affairs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves as co-chair of the grants and awards committee for the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. Loop holds an M.A. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
  • Cheryl M. Pell is the executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, which works to help students and teachers of journalism strive for excellence in their publications. Pell is a senior faculty specialist in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University, and holds an M.A. in English education from Michigan State University.
  • Samuel A. Terilli is a partner with the law firm of Ford & Harrison LLP in Miami, Fla., and is the former General Counsel for the Miami Herald. He is an assistant professor at the University of Miami’s School of Communications and is a member of the board of the Miami Hurricane, the University’s student newspaper. Terilli holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan.

About NSPA

NSPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization headquartered and incorporated in Minnesota. Memberships for middle school, junior high school and high school student media are organized under the National Scholastic Press Association division of NSPA. Memberships for college, university and professional and technical school student media are organized under the Associated Collegiate Press division of NSPA. Middle school, junior high school and high school student media in Minnesota are organized under the Minnesota High School Press Association division of NSPA. Memberships are open to all student media at public and private schools at an annual membership fee.

Each division of NSPA publishes and provides journalism education materials, media critique and recognition programs for members, information on developments in journalism and student media and a forum for members to communicate with others and share their work. NSPA and its divisions cooperate with student media associations and non-student groups and businesses that share its mission to educate and recognize the work of student journalists, to improve the quality of student media and to foster careers in media.

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