Newhouse School Launches Game-Changing Online Program for Advanced Military Visual Journalism Students

Originally published by: Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Original author: Madelyn Geyer

Originally published on: April 1, 2026

Advanced military visual journalism students at the Newhouse School can now apply the credits earned through the renowned program toward a bachelor’s degree from the nation’s top communications school, providing an opportunity to learn online while remaining on active duty.

Nancy Austin

Newhouse’s online strategic communications undergraduate program, which launched in January 2025, addresses a longstanding challenge for students of the advanced military visual journalism (AMVJ) program. Program students are active-duty enlisted servicemembers who are sent to Newhouse for 10 months by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. to complete in-person coursework in communications, photography, video, journalism and more. All are assigned to communications responsibilities as part of their military duties.

They earn 30 credits at the program’s completion. But all return to duty stations after their time at Newhouse, so AMVJ students often would often give up pursuing a Newhouse bachelor’s degree due to their deployments taking them elsewhere. Many would have to find their own pathways through other institutions to complete a bachelor’s degree.

The process is much easier now, thanks to the Newhouse online strategic communications undergraduate program, which is supported through Syracuse University Global. The online program provides a clear, convenient pathway for students to complete their bachelor’s degrees.

“Trying to finish their degree was madness,” said Nancy Austin, deputy director of military programs. “And basically, they just had to figure it out. We wanted to make a better way for the students to finish their degree.”

Students who achieve a 3.0 GPA in the AMVJ program can apply to complete their degree entirely online, with all 30 AMVJ credits eligible for transfer. Twelve credits count toward strategic communications requirements and 18 go toward a specialization—in graphic design, photojournalism or motion media—that the students chose during their time at Newhouse.

The AMVJ program began in 1963 through a partnership with the U.S. Navy. Austin said the new pathway for students also helps with Navy and USMC retention and is a good recruiting tool for the Navy, which helped create the AMVJ program.

The program is special because of the support provided to servicemembers from professors and staff, said Gib Stanfield, a 2024 AMVJ graduate who’s now a student in the 2026 class of the strategic communications program. He singled out Austin, who has worked with AMVJ students since 1992, for her dedication and guidance.

Nancy Austin (center) has worked with AMVJ students like Christopher O’Grady, Simon Pike, Patrick Katz and Alexa Hernandez, since 1992. (Photo by Eric Huynh)

“The skills that I picked up during the AMVJ program have carried over to my strategic communications coursework, and I continue to be successful in my studies because of the foundation laid during my time at Newhouse,” he added.

After completing the program, AMVJ students return to service with new skills that sharpen their duties as mass communication specialists, public affairs professionals, photographers, graphic designers and videographers. They are also required to teach fellow servicemembers what they’ve learned.

The new pathway to a bachelor’s degree is perfect for servicemembers since they would still be able to take virtual classes while on active duty, Austin said. Students from the AMVJ program from as far back as 2014 are applying for the online strategic communications program. So far, about 28 students who have been through the program have enrolled.

“They’re coming out of the woodwork to finish,” Austin said.

“These students are really talented,” said Carolyn Hedges, the associate dean of graduate programs at Newhouse who played a key role in building the online strategic communications curriculum in a previous role. “We want them to be affiliated with and be alums of the Newhouse School. So now we finally have this option, and the program was designed to be like a Swiss Army knife-type of Newhouse undergrad degree.”

Carolyn Hedges

The former director of virtual instruction, Hedges worked with Newhouse Dean Mark J. Lodato to launch the strategic communications program. Austin advocated for her students to make sure the program fit their needs.

“As part of a University with a deep commitment to educating servicemembers, the Newhouse School really wanted to build a better pathway for advanced military visual journalism students,” Hedges said. “I really think that’s a key part of the overall commitment from Newhouse to provide more accessible avenues to our world-class education, because for these students in particular, not everyone can drop everything and come here.”

This multifaceted degree combines communications fundamentals with public relations, advertising and visual communications, creating a well-rounded program that serves multiple career paths in the military or civilian life, Hedges said.

A University support staff, many of whom served in the military, are specially dedicated to these students, due to their deep understanding of considerations like tuition assistance and the GI bill, Hedges said. “It’s a really holistic way of making sure that this special population of students gets the attention, the guidance and the curriculum that will serve them.”