The Sports Journalism Institute has announced a partnership with the University of Missouri School of Journalism that will have the SJI's boot camp operating out of Missouri's newsroom starting in 2012.
In addition, a student from the University of Missouri will be part of SJI's class each year.
"Missouri is one of the nation's top journalism schools," said Greg Lee, SJI's publications editor and senior assistant sports editor of the Boston Globe. "It also produces a number of quality sports journalists. SJI moving to an academic setting would provide a great environment for learning."
SJI started on a college campus, as noted on the program's website. Norfolk State hosted the first class in 1993. Leon Carter, the program's co-founder and the former sports editor of the New York Daily News now at ESPNNewYork.com, was teaching at the school while on a sabbatical from Newsday.
SJI took place at Kansas in 1994 and Clark Atlanta in 1995 before becoming part of the APSE conventions in 1996.
SJI has been hosted by the Poynter Institute since 2006.
"This partnership with Missouri represents a return to SJI's roots of conducting our boot camps in a university setting," ESPN's Sandy Rosenbush, co-director and co-founder of SJI, said in a release on the University of Missouri website. "We've come to realize there's no better place for teaching and learning than a campus environment."
This year's program will the final one hosted by Poynter in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"The Poynter Institute has been a wonderful partner over the years," Lee said. "Ken Irby's commitment to our programming has been excellent. The folks down there treated us as a member of their extended family."
SJI includes 10-to-12 minority and female students interested in pursuing sports journalism. The "boot camp" is a 10-day course with classes in a variety of areas taught by working professionals. The students produce the SJI Bulletin during the camp. Students also are assigned to paid internships following the course.
"I've known about the work of SJI for years, and the prospect of working more closely with the program is exciting," said Greg Bowers, associate professor at Missouri and the sports editor of the Columbia Missourian newspaper. "The fact that this can provide additional opportunities for Missouri journalism students makes it a natural partnership."
Scholarship fund contributions sought
A John H. Carter Scholarship Fund for SJI is being established in the memory of Leon Carter's father.
John Carter died on Feb. 5 at age 90.
Those who wish to contribute may do so by sending a check made out to the Sports Journalism Institute, and designated at the bottom for the John H. Carter Scholarship Fund, to: Sports Journalism Institute, 8 Pleasant Ave., Suite B, Montclair, N.J. 07042-3112.
