From Students to Alumni: A Journey of Friendship, Journalism and Giving Back

 Yesterday, after many years, a group of former Divine Word University students sat down together for a small lunch at JP Hall, reconnecting with old friends and becoming part of the wider DWU community once again.

For many of us, the DWU we returned to was very different from the university we knew as students.

We came from an era of no air-conditioned classrooms, no internet, no PowerPoint projectors, no mobile phones and no social media. Fr. Jan Czuba was about five years into his presidency, and one phrase that seemed to capture his approach to the university was: “There is no standing still at DWU.”

As students, we experienced that passion for innovation and growth. While buildings such as the SVDMA and Friendship Library were taking shape, journalism students were out around Madang town talking to town managers, the PPC, supermarket owners, hotel chefs and others to find news stories.

We had weekly quotas of news stories to complete for our news writing and news production units. Classes began at 8am and often continued until 3.30pm, with seven to nine units in a semester.

We were fortunate to learn from lecturers including David Scoullar, Alastair and Johanna Whitson, Br. Michael McManus, Joe Webber, John Retallick, Patrick Matbob, Sr Eva Kusikova, Kevin Pamba, Adrian Kennedy and Alphonse Aime.

We were part of an era when DWU was transitioning from an institute into a more formal university. After graduation, we each followed our own paths, but the friendships formed during those years have endured.

Perhaps that is one of the special things about the DWU experience: it created bonds that continued long after graduation.

DWU has changed considerably since our student days, but the connection between the university and its alumni remains strong.

Yesterday's gathering was also an important step forward. Alumni met at the Arnold Jensen Hall to begin the process of formalising a national DWU alumni body, with the aim of creating a stronger network that can contribute to the university and support the implementation of its strategic objectives.

From students walking the streets of Madang looking for news stories to alumni returning to discuss how we can give back to the university, the journey has come a long way.

We may have left DWU many years ago, but clearly, DWU never really left us.

Communication Arts Alumni Share Industry Insights with Current Students

Current undergraduate students in the Communication Arts (Journalism) program at Divine Word University recently had the opportunity to hear from a group of accomplished alumni working across Papua New Guinea's media industry.

The alumni shared their experiences of working in journalism and reflected on their professional journeys since graduating from the Communication Arts program.

The session provided students with an opportunity to hear directly from former students about the realities of working in the media industry, the opportunities available to graduates and the skills needed to build a career in journalism.

The alumni who took part were:

Meredith Kusa, Mackhenly Kaiok, Annette Sete, Priscilla Winfrey, Dorothy Bengo, Scott Waide, Jeremy Mark, William Natera and Frank Genaia

Having alumni return to the university to engage with current students provides a valuable link between the classroom and the profession. Their experiences offer students practical perspectives as they prepare for careers in journalism and communication.

The Communication Arts Department thanks the alumni for taking the time to return and share their experiences with the next generation of Communication Arts graduates.

Making Student Research Visible: DWU Communication Arts Poster Presentation

What happens when students take their research off the page and put it on display?

You get three hours of conversations, questions, ideas and, most importantly, students proudly sharing work they have spent months developing.

In August, 14th August actually, I had the privilege of coordinating an Academic Poster Presentation for the final-year students of the Communication Arts Department at Divine Word University.

The event brought together our final-year students to present their undergraduate research through A0-sized academic posters. Each student had the challenge of taking an entire research project and communicating its most important elements in a single visual presentation.

For me, this was one of the most rewarding parts of the event.

I watched students stand beside their posters and explain their research to lecturers, colleagues and fellow students. They discussed their research questions, methodology and findings, responded to questions and, in the process, demonstrated something that is central to Communication Arts: the ability to communicate ideas effectively to an audience.

An academic poster is more than a large piece of paper.

It requires students to make decisions about what information matters, how it should be presented and how their audience will understand it. In that sense, the exercise was itself a practical communication experience.

It was also encouraging to see undergraduate research being given a public platform within the university.

I am grateful to ExxonMobil and Post-Courier for their funding support, which helped make the event possible. Partnerships such as these are important in creating opportunities for students to move beyond the classroom and share their work in meaningful ways.

As an educator, I believe we should create more opportunities for students to present, defend and communicate what they have learned, rather than seeing research as something that ends when an assignment is submitted.

Congratulations to all our final-year Communication Arts students who participated.

Your research deserves to be seen, discussed and celebrated.

And to everyone who helped make the event possible—thank you.

It was a privilege to coordinate this event and to see our students take ownership of their research.

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