A graduate teaching associate in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media is scheduled to present papers on campus press rights at two academic conferences this weekend.

James Miller, 33, will discuss the results of a qualitative study he conducted exploring how college administrators perceive their role as overseers of the campus press at the College of Communication and Information’s Annual Research Symposium in the University Center on Friday at 8:30 a.m.

“It is a research interest of mine because I was a student newspaper adviser for six years,” Miller said.

He will also present the results of a similar study at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Midwinter Conference at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa., Saturday at 4 p.m.

“Saturday’s topic will be based on the same research, but it will be a bit different,” Miller said.

He will discuss how administrators balance First Amendment freedoms of the campus press with the broader interests of their schools.

“Courts traditionally say student journalists have the same rights as professional journalists, broadly, that's true,” Miller said. “Yet a lot of censorship happens for additional reasons.”

Miller’s research involved interviewing six administrators in the Southeast.

“I interviewed just six for an hour to an hour-and-a-half as a pilot study,” he said.

Miller said he is participating in the conferences for two reasons.

“We’re supposed to do it as academics,” he said. “But my dissertation topic is along those lines, and by presenting, I will get feedback from people, which will help me with my dissertation.”

Miller said he has mixed feelings about going to Pennsylvania.

“I get to stay in a nice hotel in Pittsburgh at a low price, conference rate, so I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “But I am not looking forward to the eight-hour drive.”

Miller said he is also concerned about leaving because his wife, Sara, is nine-months pregnant.

“I am worried that while I am away in Pittsburgh, my wife might go into labor or something,” he said.