West Virginia Universitys prominent Forensics Identification Program has once again made national news, thanks in part to a Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) media fellowship sponsored by the Universitys News and Information Office in April.

The nationally competitive fellowship, sponsored annually by CASE and selected universities, provides leading journalists opportunities to visit top schools and colleges and attend intensive workshops and presentations in particular interest areas.

In April, WVU s News and Information Services hosted a three-day fellowship, bringing to campus seven top journalists from around the nation �€including freelancers from _ USA Today_ and National Geographic �€to learn more about WVU s Forensics Identification Program, directed by Michael Yura.

“Forensics has always intrigued me, so when I heard about WVU s program and the fellowship opportunity, I definitely was interested,”said Rachel Dickinson, a freelance writer whose article Forensics for Real appeared in the Sept. 6-8 _ USA Weekend._ The magazine reachessome 49 million readers through nearly 600 newspapers across the country such as the New York Daily News, Chicago Sun Times and San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, among others.

“While at WVU , I learned a lot about the role forensics plays in providing clues in crime scene investigations,”Dickinson said.”Talking with Dr. Yura and learning more about what the WVU Forensics Program has will pay off in terms of how I write about murder investigations and related stories. I enjoyed my WVU experience very much.”

In addition to this weekends _ USA Today_ magazine story, The Washington Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Rolling Stone magazine have recently featured WVU s first-of-its-kind bachelors degree program.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook since the article appeared in _ USA Weekend_ ,”said Dr. Yura,”and weve gotten lots of e-mails from people interested in our program. I really appreciate the exposure the CASE Fellowship provided us.”

“We are really pleased that through the CASE Fellowship this dynamic program is once again making press,”said Bill Nevin, manager of external communications at WVU s News and Information Services.”We look forward to showcasing more of WVU s many outstanding programs in the future.”

WVU also hosted a second CASE Fellowship in June called Food for Thought , which highlighted the Universitys food production programs.