As Student Media Advisor in the Roy H. Park School of Communications for the past 26 years, Michael Serino has provided editorial, production and business oversight for The Ithacan, the college’s award-winning weekly student newspaper; The Ithacan Online, its multimedia website; and Year in Review, its annual magazine publication. He provides daily one-on-one mentoring for students in pursuing their journalism and liberal arts educations, and preparing for their professional careers, as well as practical coaching in résumé writing, interviewing and portfolio preparation. His ongoing contact with an extensive network of alumni and media professionals provides current students with valuable contacts for internships and jobs.
Serino has extensive professional experience as a writer and editor for newspapers and magazines. He has worked as an editor, news reporter, feature writer, weekly columnist, restaurant critic and copy editor. Until fall 2020 he served as executive director of The Ithaca Voice, the primary online news source for Ithaca and the surrounding community.
He has taught seminars in Literary Journalism and Multimedia Journalism, as well courses in News Editing, Feature Writing and Issues and the News in the Park School’s journalism department, and frequently offers small-group workshops for students on the paper. In 2003 he was named the Distinguished Four-Year College Newspaper Adviser in the country by College Media Association (CMA), the national organization of print and broadcast college media professionals.