The Center for Community News at the University of Vermont has selected Dr. Chelsea Slack, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Southeastern, as a 2026 Faculty Champion.
Slack emphasized the honor reflects a push by Student Publications to elevate student-led local news and a “drive to always improve our coverage.”
The fellowship will fund an initiative to bridge the gap between introductory communication and media studies classes and the university’s student-run publications, which include The Lion’s Roar student newspaper, Le Souvenir yearbook and Manestream podcast.
This spring, Slack is partnering with writing for mass media instructor Rissa Simmons to launch an expedited publication pipeline that connects students in writing classes directly with The Lion’s Roar editorial board.
“Students’ articles from our class [writing for mass media] getting their work published with ‘The Lion’s Roar’ will be super exciting. This will help students learn to edit their articles and improve their writing. This will positively grow their resume, as they can show work that has been published,” said Simmons.
The initiative builds on the existing strength and talent of the reporters and staff currently driving Student Publications, according to Slack. One of those primarily behind the wheel is Kennith Woods, the student editor-in-chief of The Lion’s Roar, who takes the initiative to run a reliable news source students can count on.
“Our publications keepstudents informed; students, especially at Southeastern, are from areas where reliable, objective news is becoming scarce. We step in and fill such a void through dedicated reporting, leading our students to success that better serves the university overall,” Woods said.
The goal is to simultaneously support the continued excellence of the student-run publications and the broader Communication and Media Studies Department.
This dual approach builds on the career-launching success Southeastern has achieved across all news beats.
Producing original, high-impact coverage translates directly to career readiness. Many former reporters and editors at The Lion’s Roar have recently been hired by local or regional media, both from the sports and news teams.
The Director of Student Publications, Mrs. Lorraine Peppo, feels that the importance of student media is to ensure the university has a chance to speak its voice, from heavy news to D1 sports.
“Student Media is very important because it allows students to have a voice, not just those who work in Student Publications, but for all students, faculty, and staff. It’s an important forum to be able to continue the mission of universities as well as all the departments within them,” Lorraine said.
Communications department head and Professor Dr. Joe Burns explained that the vital importance is to prepare students for the real world and how this program will assist them.
“This program is essential to students because when you’re dealing with media, you’re dealing with audiences. When you publish something in the real world, you have to expect what’s going to come back to you. This doesn’t simply just fast-track our students to publish their work to a real audience, but helps them learn how to deal with the feedback and what goes on in media before they go out into the real world,” Dr. Burns said.
After refining the pipeline for students in Simmons’ Introduction to Mass Media Writing course, the department plans to expand the model to advanced reporting sections.
Dr. Slack is one of three faculty members from Louisiana institutions selected for the 2026 cohort. The Faculty Champions awarded this year represent 41 states and two Canadian provinces.
They come from 15 community colleges, 41 minority-serving institutions, four Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 30 Hispanic-serving institutions, and seven public media outlets. There are 35 private institutions represented and 113 public ones.
The Center for Community News at UVM is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to growing student-powered community reporting. For more information, visit the center’s website.
