The National Press Photographers Association will move its headquarters to Grady College at The University of Georgia, the university announced Thursday.
The NPPA, which is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, will offer Grady College students access to “visiting professionals, participation in workshops taught by NPPA staff and members, and employment opportunities,” according to the release.
NPPA and Grady College also plan to embark on joint fundraising campaigns and apply for grants for visual journalism projects, according to the release.
Here’s the announcement:
The University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication announced that the National Press Photographers Association will relocate its headquarters to the Athens, Georgia, campus in early 2015.
NPPA is the voice of visual journalists, representing photographers, videographers, multimedia journalists, editors, designers, visual managers and academics, with nearly 6,000 members nationwide and around the world.
“UGA’s Grady College and NPPA share a deep commitment to excellence in journalism,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Their partnership creates exciting new opportunities in instruction, scholarship and outreach that will benefit our students and faculty as well as the more than 6,000 constituents of NPPA.”
NPPA’s move to Grady will provide the college’s growing photojournalism department access to beneficial resources for students including contact with visiting professionals, participation in workshops taught by NPPA staff and members, and employment opportunities including the potential of work with the organization’s News Photographer magazine and website. NPPA will also allow Grady’s research faculty to access its Best of Photojournalism contest entries for study.
“NPPA is very excited about this partnership with UGA’s Grady College, and we’re excited to be moving our headquarters there in 2015 when the college will celebrate its centennial anniversary,” said Mark Dolan, president of NPPA. “Advocacy and education have long been major tenets of NPPA’s mission, and partnering with a university has been one of our goals.”
Charles (Chip) Deale, the executive director of NPPA, echoed those thoughts. ” NPPA’s relocation to the University of Georgia and its partnership with the Grady College effectively positions the association for a vibrant future and one that is of great relevance to visual journalists.” Deale will be based at Grady College and will collaborate with the school’s faculty and staff on a daily basis.
“NPPA members will directly benefit from, and experience, enhanced value because of the relationship,” Deale added. “With the vast resources of the College at its disposal, NPPA will be an even stronger voice for the profession. The association will better be able to develop and deliver member-specific services that strengthen their skills as photojournalists and their ability to survive and thrive in a constantly evolving marketplace.”
The agreement also cites a mutual interest for NPPA and Grady College to work together to raise funds for educational programming online and in-person, apply for grants focusing on visual journalism projects, create a graduate fellowship in visual journalism and expand the scholarship programs that currently are offered by the association.
“The relocation of NPPA to Grady College will greatly benefit the photojournalism program, providing tremendous experiential learning opportunities for our students and our faculty,” Charles Davis, dean of Grady College, said. “We see tremendous opportunities as NPPA joins forces with other UGA assets and begins to explore ways we can work together to benefit students as well as NPPA members.”
Programs will be explored to work NPPA into some of Grady’s signature programs including the Peabody Awards and the New Media Institute. There may also be the possibility of housing the NPPA’s seven decades-long archives and other historical material about the photojournalism profession at the Special Collections Libraries.
In January, Deale will move into office space in Grady College and will hire one or two support people once the office is settled. There is a potential that some of the other NPPA membership and publication services may relocate to Athens in the future. The NPPA offices are currently located in Durham, North Carolina.
The National Press Photographers Association is dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism – its creation, practice, training, editing and distribution – in all news media. For more than six decades, the NPPA has supported visual journalists through advocacy, workshops, certifications and competitions to equip its members and prepare the emerging generation of visual journalists in the face of an ever-changing media landscape. The NPPA has continuously published News Photographer magazine since 1946, and it is considered to be the authoritative source on news, issues, trends and information about visual journalism. Affiliated with the NPPA is the National Press Photographers Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, charged with advancing press photography through education and awarding scholarships and fellowships to deserving students who have demonstrated ability or promise in the field of photojournalism. For more information, see www.nppa.org or follow @NPPA on Twitter.
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