New to JACC or just can't figure out what's happening and how things work? Or are you just having trouble finding things on the web site?
This page is for you. Let's try to provide some answers.
The Journalism Association of Community Colleges has been serving its mission of extended opportunities for journalism students and continued education for journalism educators since the 1950s.
Membership in the organization is by college rather than by individual person. Members schools are primarily public community college journalism programs from California and Arizona, but the organization in the past has entertained opening it up to private two-year schools and others outside of California and Arizona. Contact us if you are interested.
Only students from member schools may participate in JACC activities. An individual does not have to be enrolled in a journalism course, but obviously we hope he or she is associated with the journalism program. School memberships are due by Oct. 15 of each school year. (Note: Schools may have local rules that limit participation only to journalism students and we honor those rules.)
Below we'll give you a rundown on the various conferences and services
ABOUT JACC
Each of the links in the left-hand navigational area leads you to valuable information about JACC and its activities. Think of the web site as a newspaper with many sections. The "front page" of the site contains the lead stories and teasers/links to many other stories in each "section" of the paper. There may --indeed there usually ARE-- other stories/files found in each section. To go to those sections use the navigation to the left side of the page. If you do not see the link you are looking for on the front page, always look on the section page before giving up.
To further help you find what you are looking for, the navigational area is divided into logical categories of "Conferences," "About JACC," "Services," "Around the State," and "Past Conferences." Click on those links in the navagational area and you'll be presented with a summary of the sections in that category. Many of those summaries are included in this primer as well.
CONFERENCES
The main activities of the organization are the conferences it sponsors each year for both students and faculty members. You'll see the various conferences listed in the navigational area at the top of this page.
ANNUAL CONVENTION
The is the biggie. The convention, usually held each April, brings students and faculty from all sections of JACC together for a Thursday evening-Saturday night weekend full of workshops, contests and meetings. Contests include newspaper, magazine and online mail-in competitions and bring-in and on-the-spot competitions. Mail-in eligibility dates for the state conventions are always January to December year and entries are due in early January.
You'll find relevant information for the coming convention in this section: registration information contest information, general policies, etc. If you don't find the information in this section, it may not be available yet.
Student-produced material originally published in student publications newspapers, magazines, online publications, etc.may be entered in mail-in contests. Entries are due in early January and the eligibility period is always a calendar year. Entries must be clippings from the publications, though the organization is exploring ways to include material published on online publications. Entry preparation guidelines are usually available online about a month before deadlines. But in most cases, the entries must be clipped and mounted to 8.5x11-inch paper.
Each school may enter two entries in each contest category unless otherwise noted. Students who have been around for longer than three years may be ineligible for some contests. See the eligibility rules. They are listed in the List of Contests and in the general guidelines.
A mail-in contest fee is due at the time entries are due.
You do not HAVE to attend the conference to participate in the mail-in contest; you just have to be a member. But the conference is so awesome we can't imagine why you wouldn't want to participate.
The deadline for conference registrations is usually early March, about a month before the conference. Registrations are accepted by school, not individual. We limit the number of students from each school to 20 maximum AND at least one faculty adviser from the school MUST attend. A school with two or more advisers may beig up to 25 students. For those advisers who have emergencies, special accommodations can be made, but advisers should plan to attend.
Once the deadline for registrations arrives reservations they cannot be un-made. We plan meals and other expenses based on these reservations, so we hold you to them. Each student/faculty member must pay the per delegate registration fee before the conference. We also expect delegates to behave appropriately at the convention. See JACC's Conduct Code for more information.
In addition to conference reservations you will need to make hotel reservations at the conference hotel. Do this directly with the hotel, but mention JACC because we have negotiated special rates. These rates usually expire if reservations are not made about a month before the conference.
At the conference we schedule a variety of "bring-in" contests, "on-the-spot" contests, workshops, business meetings and entertainment.
Information for "bring-in" contests is sent out by e-mail and posted on the web site weeks before the conference. Students are expected to prepare entries ahead of time and submit them for competition at the beginning of the conference.
With bring-in and on-the-spot competitions each school may enter up to two students/entries per contest. An individual student may enter as many contests as the schedule allows.
"On-the-spot" contests mimic deadline pressure. Many writing and photo contests require the student to attend a special presentation for the contest and then a writing lab. Some contests, such as photography, also require an orientation session. Entries are judged that weekend and awards are presented Saturday evening. Some contests, such as copy editing, require only the contest lab.
General judging criteria for each contest may be found on the web site in the Annual Convention section. Students who have been around for longer than three years may be ineligible for some contests. See the eligibility rules.
Schools competing in writing contests must bring AlphaSmart computers to the lab. The computers are available as free loaners from AlphaSmart, but each school should plan on gaining regular access to AlphaSmarts for writing contests. You may purchase them through or check your disabled services or EOPS program on your campus; they may have some you can borrow. JACC supports the 3000 and Neo series. Contestants may also bring printed reference materials to contests, but may not bring pre-written stories to the lab.
Photographers may participate with digital cameras only. See the Annual Convention section for rules relating to use of cameras.
There are three types of business meetings at the conference: faculty, student and general assembly. Faculty should plan to attend the regional and statewide faculty meetings. Schools should send at least one student delegate to the student meeting. And because the general assembly is the one meeting a year where the organization can do organization business, all schools are REQUIRED to send at least one faculty delegate AND one student delegate to the general assembly meeting. Failure to do so results in forfeiture of any on-the-spot and bring-in awards.
NORCAL CONFERENCE
The NorCal conference is a one-day Saturday event held at a northern California University each October. Newspaper and online mail-in contests eligibility is the previous school year and entries are due in June. There are no magazine contests. The conference itself features bring-in and a limited number of on-the-spot competitions, as well as a host of workshops.
Northern California schools include those from Tulare County/San Luis Obispo County and north.
The NorCal Conference section of the web site includes the latest available information on the upcoming conference and results from past conferences. See the "Annual Convention" section for criteria for contests.
Follow the entry instructions found in the Annual Convention section for mail-in competition. Two entries are allowed in each contest category unless otherwise noted. And a mail-in fee is due at the time of entry.
Students who have been around for longer than three years may be ineligible for some contests. See the eligibility rules.
The deadline for registration for the conference is usually a few weeks before the conference, though late registrations are often accepted. Late registrants will not get lunch, however. Once reservations are made they cannot be un-made. Your school is responsible for the fee.
There are no limits on the number of students who may register, but each school MUST send at least one faculty adviser with the students. Students who show up without an adviser will be asked to leave the conference.
The NorCal conference offers only a limited number of one-the-spot competitions. Photographers may participate in on-the-spot photo contests with digital cameras only. See the Annual Convention section for rules relating to use of cameras.
SOCAL CONFERENCE
The SoCal conference is a two-day (Friday afternoon/all day Saturday) event held at a southern California university each October. Newspaper, online and magazine mail-in contests eligibility is the previous school year and entries are due in June. The conference itself feature bring-in and a full set of on-the-spot competitions, as well as a host of workshops.
Southern California schools include those from Kern County/Santa Barbara County and south. They also include any members from Arizona.
The SoCal Conference section of the web site includes the latest available information on the upcoming conference and results from past conferences. See the "Annual Convention " section for criteria for contests.
Mail-in entries are usually due in June and the eligibility period is the just-ending school year. Follow the entry instructions found in the Annual Convention section. Some years three entries are allowed in each contest unless otherwise noted and some years only two are allowed. And a mail-in fee is due at the time of entry.
Students who have been around for longer than three years may be ineligible for some contests. See the eligibility rules.
The deadline for registration for the conference is usually a few weeks before the conference, though late registrations are often accepted. Late registrants will not get lunch, however. Registrations are for both days. There is no special rate for one-day attendance. Once reservations are made they cannot be un-made. Your school is responsible for the fee.
There are no limits on the number of students who may register, but each school MUST send at least one faculty adviser with the students. Students who show up without an adviser will be asked to leave the conference.
The SoCal conference is contest-heavy with nearly all of the state's "bring-in" and "on-the-spot" contests offered. Students who have been around for longer than three years may be ineligible for some contests. See the eligibility rules.
Photographers may participate in on-the-spot photo contests with digital cameras only. See the Annual Convention section for rules relating to use of cameras.
MORRO BAY FACULTY CONFERENCE
The Mid-Winter Faculty Conference, often referred to as the Morro Bay Conference, is held the first weekend of March each year. It is a two-day event for journalism faculty only. The workshops focus on teaching and advising issues. This is a great conference for sharing teaching ideas and networking with other faculty. A key component of the conference is its annual update on media law as it affects student publications.
Some years an extra one-day pre-conference seminar, referred to as the Blue Heron conference/workshop, is planned. There is minimal extra fee for this one-day workshop, which requires full-day participation.
The Faculty Conference/Morro Baysection of this site includes the latest available information on the upcoming conference and Blue Heron workshop, as well as valuable information links from past conferences.
Registrations are due about a month before the conference. As with other JACC conferences, once reservations are made they cannot be un-made.
In addition to conference reservations you will need to make hotel reservations. While it is recommended, you do not have to stay at the conference hotel and budget-conscious faculty may find lower rates at other Morro Bay hotels. If you stay at the conference hotel mention JACC because we have negotiated special rates. These rates usually expire if reservations are not made about a month before the conference. We provide a registration form for the conference hotel, the Inn at Morro Bay.
EDITOR'S CAMP
The Editor's Camp, sometimes referred to as Editor's Getaway or Editor's Bootcamp, is a three-day conference held some years for incoming student editors. It is sometimes held in early January between semesters. Other times it is held either the beginning of the summer or end of summer.
The intent of the conference is to give student editors a running start for the upcoming semester. The conference is not held every year.
The Editor's Camp section includes the latest available information on the next Bootcamp.
SERVICES
In addition to the various conferences, JACC provides a number of services for journalism programs. It offers scholarships to students from member schools, takes regular snapshots of the state of journalism education, publishes helpful documents and is a gateway for additional educational materials.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Each year JACC offers about $3,000 in scholarships to member schools. Journalism students submit applications in early March and scholarships are awarded at the annual convention in April.
Students must submit multiple copies of application materials so that they may be distributed to several judges. Each year a committee is put together to select scholarship winners. It consists of a community college adviser who has no students in the pool, a four-year college journalism professor, and one or two journalism professionals. Efforts are made to diversify the group geographically and by gender, age, ethnicity and previous scholarship committee experience. Committee members study applications, gather at the annual convention and review applications until they have agreement. The process is thoughtful and time-consuming.
Students must be enrolled at a member community college at the time the awards are considered, i.e., in April of the year, and show excellence in journalistic work so far and promise of a bright future in a journalism or media field.
Scholarships are available both for students who plan to continue the next school year at a community college and for those who plan to transfer to a university.
The Scholarship section on the web site gives tips to increase chances of winning scholarships and tells students how to claim their scholarships. Scholarship money is distributed the next school year after students provide proof of enrollment at an appropriate school.
SNAPSHOT SURVEYS
Some years JACC conducts a snapshot survey of journalism programs to find out how they are comprised. How big is the program? What kinds of facilities does it have? What kinds of courses does it offer? Etc.
The current survey questionnaire is available on the Snapshot Survey section, as are results of previous surveys. These survey results not only helps schools gauge how they compare to others, but provide valuable information for schools undergoing state-mandated program reviews.
JACC PUBLICATIONS
JACC has put together a variety of publications that will help member programs. Some of these include:
* Canons of Community College Journalism
* A model newspaper policy guide
* A survival guide for advisers
* A Stylebook study guide available for purchaseThe Canons are a voluntary set of guidelines expressing JACC's philosophy of journalism education.
The model newspaper guide was put together by one of the member schools. Many other schools have used it as a model for establishing their own set of standards and guidelines for everyday operation of student publications and more than one school has stayed out of administrative trouble by pointing to the individualized set of guidelines that it follows.
The survival guide for advisers provides valuable advice for new and experienced advisers on how to form a newspaper staff, a journalism curriculum and more. It also shares ideas on how to stay out of trouble with administration without stepping on the rights of students.
JACC's stylebook study guide is an educational companion to the Associated Press Stylebook. It is ideal as a supplemental text in the classroom. The Publications site includes information on how to obtain copies for students to purchase.
JACC's faculty discussion group, JACC-FAC, turns the organization into a virtual journalism department. Only journalism faculty may participate in this listserve forum. If you qualify and want to be part of this valuable free service contact the Online Communications Director. Faculty share concerns, solutions to problems, teaching ideas and more. Membership is comprised mostly of community college journalism instructors, though there ARE representatives from California university journalism and communication departments. To subscribe to this free service contact the Online Communications Director at rcameron@Cerritos.edu.
ABOUT JACC
JACC is a legally qualified non-profit organization run by its members. Faculty and students have equal votes in how the organization is run, though it is often run by faculty members who remain constant.
The general assembly meets once a year at the annual conference. Students and faculty have equal votes in decisions made. Overseeing the organization the rest of the year is the JACC Executive Board, which consists of three voting faculty officers and three student officers.
Running the organization a daily basis is the Executive Secretary, who is appointed to a three-year term by the Executive Board. The secretary also serves as the organization's treasurer and provides the organization's address. The secretary has no vote at meetings of the Executive Board
Two other non-voting staff positions serve the Executive Board. They are the Online Communications Director and the Annual Convention Chair.
The Board of Directors consists of state faculty and student presidents, NorCal faculty and student presidents and SoCal faculty and student presidents. Each has one vote on the Board.
The faculty positions are elected for two-year terms and the students to one-year terms. Faculty select the faculty presidents and students the student presidents. The two state presidents come alternatively from the southern and northern parts of the state and regional presidents from their regions.
A history of the organization is available on the web site, as is a list of past presidents and the organization's constitution. Minutes of the Board of Directors, with decisions that affect the organization, are available in the About JACC section.
There are several directories of schools available on the web site.
