Prairie View A&M University’s newly created Communication Fellows Program just celebrated its first cohort.

“The purpose of the yearlong competitive program is to take outstanding communication majors and minors and team them up with industry mentors. They also get to participate in masterclasses taught by industry professionals,” said Communication Fellows Program Coordinator Tony Clomax, an assistant professor of film and communication at PVAMU.

The second cohort of nine students started this past September. They will partake in Communication Fellows Showcase in April.

“The other aspect of the program is for the fellows to partner with each other and present a project at the end of the semester,” Clomax said.

So far, students have partnered with journalists, TV producers and key industry leaders, such as USA Today journalist Charisse Jones, and Richard Ballering, vice president of production at ABC Studios.

Clomax is currently seeking funding to attract more professionals to teach masterclasses in media, production, marketing and journalism.

“The goal is to build our selected student’s technical skills, communication skills and professionalism while partnering them with industry professionals that can help navigate them through the gatekeeping process,” Clomax said. “Mentorship is extremely important, and it’ll prepare our students to compete with other students who historically have had access.”

The program debuted its first cohort of three students last spring.

“I pursued this program to grow my resume and learn more about how the official business world operates,” said 2022-2023 Comm Fellow Wayne Page, a senior majoring in graphic design. Page wants to be a brand designer specializing in marketing and social media management, helping brands cultivate their unique identities. Once he graduates in May 2024, he believes the program will help him develop firsthand experience and foster meaningful connections in the professional world: “Since joining the program, I now have a career path I can lock down on and confidently strive for.”

Caleb Carter, who just graduated in December with a degree in communications, said he joined the program to “gain access to and knowledge from professionals in my desired future career field.” Carter paired with TV producer and editor Charles Williams as his mentor, whom he thanked for opening doors and ideas.

Carter said the two biggest benefits of the program are exposure and experience.

“More than anything, this program helped open doors that I otherwise would not have been able to open myself,” said Carter, who aspires to become a sports broadcaster. “Specifically, it is quite possible that creating a podcast and working with Alumni Affairs here at PVAMU would have never crossed my mind if not for this fellowship and my mentor.”

The program will recruit its next fellows for the 2023-2024 school year in March.