School
News
Alumni News
The board of Trustees of Kent State University unanimously approved the
formation of the College of communication & Information. The new College
includes four seperate Schools: Communication Studies, Journalism and Mass
Communication, Library and Information Science, and Visual Communication
Design. The new College will begin functioning effective July 1, 2002.
Current Newsletter
Volume 12, Issue 1
Spring 2001
Drs. Nichole Egbert and Paul Haridakis, two of our newer
faculty members in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State
University, have received prestigious awards. Dr. Egbert received the
Dissertation Award from the Health Communication Divisions of the
International and National Communication Associations. She completed her
dissertation, "Volunteering to Provide Social Support to Hospice
Patients: A Test of Problematic Integration Theory," at the University of
Georgia.
In her dissertation Nichole examined social-support processes of
health-care providers with their patients. She looked at the role of
uncertainty and evaluation in providing social support to hospice patients.
Her surveys of hospice and hospital volunteers suggested that volunteers try
to confirm a patient's point of view when the patient thinks positively about
a situation and feels certain about that evaluation. She also found
differences in the philosophies of hospice and hospital volunteers, suggesting
that hospital volunteers would benefit from communication training dealing
with empathy and emotional support.
Dr. Haridakis received the Kenneth Harwood Dissertation Award from the
Broadcast Education Association. He completed his dissertation, "The Role
of Motivation in Policy Considerations Addressing Television Violence,"
at Kent State University. In his dissertation Paul asked whether understanding
the motives people have for watching televised violence would help
policy-makers better understand the impact of media violence. He noted that
researchers have suggested that exposure to TV violence has powerful effects
on consumers, such as increasing aggression. Relying on such findings,
policy-makers have sought to regulate television to protect vulnerable viewers
such as children. He found that viewers' own experiences with crime, their
personalities, and their motivation were stronger predictors of aggression
than was exposure to violent TV programs. This suggests that exposure has been
over-emphasized in media policy decisions, but factors such as viewer
background and motivation have been under-emphasized.
Please join us in congratulating Nichole and Paul on this well-deserved
recognition.
Papers presented at ICA:
Viewer Aggression and Relationships with Television
Characters: Homophily, Identification, and Parasocial Interaction, Karen
Eyal (M.A.,2000) U of California, Santa Barbara & Alan M. Rubin.
The Role of Motivation and Audience Characteristics in
Explaining Viewer Aggression, Paul M. Haridakis and Alan M. Rubin.
The Language of Violence Matters: Sexual Assault, Verbal Abuse, and
Aggression, Session Chair: Rebecca B. Rubin.
Pursuing Secondary Goals in Requests: Effects of Verbal Aggressiveness,
Self Monitoring, Chronic Goal Importance, and Relationship, Janet R. Meyer.
Congratulations to Lisa and Mark Schroeder on the birth of
their daughter, Kayla Michelle!
Carole Kane, P-T Instructor, has accepted an
invitation to serve on the editorial board of COMMUNICATION TEACHER, a
quarterly publication of the National Communication
Association.
Kane has also begun her second year of work on a U.S. Dept. of Education/KSU
College of Education PT3 grant, which runs three years. So
far she has secured equipment/supplies for use with her COMM. 25851 courses
(Communication for Teachers) including a camcorder and tripod, digital camera,
scanner, disks, ink cartridges, and subscriptions to nine professional
journals. The grant website is: http://pt3.educ.kent.edu.
Kane has also begun implementing a course website for
COMM. 25851. Although still "under construction" she reports her
students are very receptive to the idea. She welcomes any ideas, suggestions,
comments. The course website is: http://class.kent.edu/wct224/
The site is password protected. To enter, type User Name: guest Password:
guest Then click "OK".
Congratulations go out to Rebecca Rubin for receiving
the Ohio Distinguished Teacher of the Year. It was awarded at the 64th
annual Speech Communication Association of Ohio conference.
Alan Rubin has assumed the position of Interim Director
of the School of Communication Studies.
We have two new faculty on board this year. Nichole Egbert,
who just finished her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, is in health
communication and organizational communication. Paul Haridakis,
who just finished his Ph.D. at Kent State, is in media policy and effects and
new technologies. We heartily welcome them both to the faculty.
Carole Kane, Part Time Faculty is a participant in a
teaching triad which was awarded $5,000 from the United States Department of
Education grant to KSU for $1.2 million for implementing technology in the
classrooms of the future. The grant will be housed in the KSU's College
of Education, and it is titled PT3 ("Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use
Technology"). Website: http://pt3.educ.kent.edu/.
Kane teaches COMM 25851 (Communication for Teachers) which is
a requirement for Education majors in middle school and integrated language
arts fields. Her work will include:
*infusing technology into her own teaching,
*Supplementing the textbook to include technology as an aid
to
communication between student-student,
teacher-student,
teacher-teacher, teacher-parent,
school-community,
*assessing her students on their technology competence,
*constructing projects, assignments, exams, mentoring
activities that
stress technology.
Other members of her triad include a professor from the KSU
College of Education and a teacher from the Ravenna School System.
Dr. D. Ray Heisey, Emeritus Director & Professor is
Vice-Chair of the
International and Intercultural Communication
Division of the National Communication Association. He was also elected Councilor (one of three
members who serve on the Executive Council with the officers, primarily
responsible for determining the annual awards on publications) of the
Religious Communication Association. He was also appointed Editor of a
new series with Ablex Publishing Corp., called Advances in Communication
and Culture. The first volume is scheduled for publication in
2000 and is at the publisher now. It is titled Chinese
Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communication. Contact Ray at rheisey@kent.edu
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Dr. Sandra Petronio, Professor at
Arizona State University,
was our
Summer 2000 Visting Scholar. She is shown here
with members from her graduate seminar
in Communication and Privacy. |
Honors Week Brunch
During Honors Week our annual awards event was a brunch held on April 18, 2000
in which undergraduate and graduate students were recognized for their accomplishments through the year.
 Undergraduate
students receive recognition at our annual Honors week awards celebration. |
Graduate
Students receive recognition at our annual
Honors week awards celebration.
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Press Release
- High Touch Communication in a High Tech World: Studies Conclude that People Prefer
Communicating Face-to-Face in the Age of E-mail and the Internet.
KSU School of Communication Studies
Establishes Internet Presence with Ohio Link Grant - Instructional Web Site
New Foundations Course Online
Sept. 15, 1998- The School of Communication Studies, having received an
OhioLINK grant to develop a web-based instructional website, is now online.
Professor Rebecca Rubin, and Assistant Professors Carolyn Radcliff (M.A., 1997) and Erica
Lilly from the Library Reference Department, spent the summer constructing a Communication
Studies Instructional Web Site, which will be used as a basis of the new cornerstone class
in the Communication Studies major. The site contains instructional units and
hyperlinks to important communication sources in five areas: Professional
Resources, The Kent Communication Studies Major, Internet Basics, Searching Communication
Sources, and Communication Skills. The site is open to the public, but OhioLINK
links work only for those accessing the site from OhioLINK institutions. Students
and alumni might want to pay particular attention to the Professional Resources area; it
contains information on preparing to job hunt as well as hyperlinks to sites where jobs
are listed.
Kent State University Calendar of
Events - Weekly academic and events calendar.
Alumni
News
School News
January 2003
Lance Angell (Ph. D., 1999)
doclra@aol.com
reports that he is now Director of Institutional Research,
Planning, and Assessment at Dominican College in Orangeburg, NY (about 1/2 hr.
northwest of New York City). It's a private Catholic college with an
enrollment of about 1600. This is his first week so he's still adapting to New
Yawk. ;-) It is, however, a little more his pace than Kentucky was, he
reports, but not as beautiful.
John Izzo, (Ph.D., 1993) of Izzo
Consulting, was interviewed in Fast Company. Here's the link:
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/66/onethingdoneright.html
Cecelia Merkel (MA,
1995) finished her Ph.D. in Library Science at the University of
Illinois. She's teaching a course on Web Design this spring and continuing
work on organizing the training & doing community
outreach at Prairienet, a community computer network that serves East Central
IL. She can be reached at
c-merkel@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu. See her homepage:
http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~c-merkel/vita.html
Betsy Perse (Ph.D., 1987)
(Acting Chair at University of Delaware) is off to New Zealand for a couple of
weeks with a group of students. (It's summer down there!)
Beth Graham (Ph.D., 1987)
is now the Ombunds (person) at Ohio University.
Robin Clair's (Ph.D., 1990) book, "Organizing
Silence: A Wolrd of Possibilities" received the Outstanding Book of the
Year Award from the org com division of NCA. She was also named a Fellow to
Center for Artistic Endeavors at Purdue University in order to finish her
novel--"Echoes of Silence".
Don Taylor (Ph.D., 1991) was promoted to Full
Professor. He spends half his time in an administrative capacity performing
the functions of Assistant to the Provost designated as Faculty Fellow in the
office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He started his
second year in this capacity this fall. He also spent two weeks as part
of his sabbatical during the summer of 2000 at the White House in Washington
DC assessing the Clinton administration's policies for reducing the digital
divide in Africa. He traveled to the Ivory Coast in West Africa with his
Provost and the VP in his President's office to establish linkage
opportunities between universities there and CSU Sacramento. He also received
a small grant to visit Botswana in southern Africa this fall to assist the
university there in developing a communication studies degree program.
Betsy Perse (M.A., 1985) has been promoted to Full
Professor at the University of Delaware. Her boo, Media Effects and
Society was just (2001) published by Lawrence Erlbaum Inc.
John Leipzig (Ph.D., 1980) was named the permanent Dean
of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in
December 2000. He is still involved with the Communication Department and
considered a Professor of Communication.
Matt Martin (Ph.D., 1992) is Department Chair at West
Virginia University.
Scott Myers (Ph.D., 1995) started teaching at
West Virginia University Fall 2001.
Steve Bruning (Ph.D., 1992) , Qi Wang (M.A.,
2000) and Ann Zaphiris (M.A., 1998) all presented papers at ICA in May
2000.
Lisa (Flaherty) Liggett (Ph.D., 1998) and her husband, Michael recently had a baby daughter. Noreen
Elizabeth was born on February 10th at 5:35 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs, 8 oz.
Lisa will be going back to work soon at American Greetings as a
communication consultant.
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John Leipzig (Ph.D., 1980) was named Dean of the
College of Liberal Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Decemeber
2000.
Kathleen Golden (Ph.D., 1990) has co-edited a
book.
Waugh, C. G., Gorden, W. I., & Golden, K. M. eds. (2000). Let's Talk, A
Cocgnitive-Skills Approach to Interpersonal Communication. Dubuque, IA:
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
Carolyn Anderson (Ph.D., 1992) from the University of
Akron is Chair of the Interpersonal and Small Group Division of Central
States. She reminds us of the October 2 deadline for sumissions.
The convention, this year is in Cincinnati, so we hope to see lots of alumni
there!
Gyeong-ho Hur (Ph.D., 1995) who recently visited Kent, is
now Assistant Professor and Director of Professional Speech and Debate at
Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea. His email address is ghur@chollian.net
and his website is at http://www.DrHur.pe.kr.
He looks forward to welcoming a large group of Kent grads at the 2002 ICA
conference is Seoul.
Mary Step (Ph.D.,1998 ) is a full time lecturer at Case
Western Reserve University and busy developing the communication studies
curriculum. Her email address is mms8@po.cwru.edu.
We have decided to expand the COMMSTUD list to include all
graduate alumni of the School. If you have email addresses for any
alumni, please forward them to kschobin@kent.edu.
We will update the list and forward a copy of it to everyone, in case you want
to email anyone individually. Thank you for your
assistance.
Pawena Sirimangkala (Ph.D.,
1993)
Standing with her husband, Pongchai Sritongsuk, in front of their new
house in Pembroke Pines, Florida
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Dr. Randi (Nevins) Stanulis (M.A. 1986),
Associate Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Georgia, is
currently on maternity leave. She just had her second boy, Alex, three
weeks ago; she also has a 3 year old named Scott. Contact her at 427
Aderhold Hall, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 or e-mail her
at Randi@coe.uga.edu.
Jackie Wright (B.A., 1997) recently joined the
Southfield, Michigan office of Grant Thornton as marketing coordinator.
Her main duties consist of marketing, public relations, and special events
planning. Wright previously was a coordinator of internal communications
at Global Crossing Communications. She resides in Sterling
Heights. She is active in the Public Relations Society of America and
Detroit Business and Social Club.
Ronda (Smith) Knox (Ph.D., 1996) received
word that her promotion to Associate Professor at the University of
Wisconsin--La Crosse is effective Fall of 2000. She and Mike bought a 43 acre apple orchard in Minnesota (only 20 minutes from La Crosse).
The property has an old 2-story farmhouse and an outbuilding for Mike's art
studio. Mike is still in graduate school in Madison, but will graduate
in December. Congratulations!
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Amy Barta (M.A., 1997) Clark and her husband are transferring to
Kentucky. They had a baby boy in January 5, 1999. Their son's name is
Jacob Bradley Clark.
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Rick Buerkel (Ph.D., 1996) and his wife DeDe had a daughter
on June 5, 1999.
Carole Kane (B.A., 1962)
is beginning her 11th year as an instructor in the School of Communication
Studies on the Main campus. She also teaches at KSU Stark regional campus
when needed. Her maiden name in 1962 was Painter.
Pam Conyngham (M.A.,
1991) is Senior Account Manager of Sales and Marketing at United Healthcare of Ohio.
Mary Ann Flannery (Ph.D.,
1989) is the new Department Chair at John Carroll University. She is working on a
book, to be published by Mellen Press, on peace conference rhetoric.
Matthew Martin (Ph.D.,
1992) received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at West Virginia University,
effective Fall semester.
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Alumni, Chuck Wigley, Jill Rudd, and Lisa
Flaherty, attened the ECA Convention which was held in Charleston, West
Virginia.
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Michael Freedman was the
speaker at our anual Honors week awards event in April.
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Mary Step's
teaching at Case Western Reserve. Email her at mrruff@att.net
Xiaoyu Xiao is now
working and living in the D.C. area.
email her at xy8888@hotmail.com
Scott Myers is basic
course director at Creighton University in Omaha.
email him at scotia@creighton.edu
Susan (Pyles) Gary has
moved to North Royalton and is currently working at Ohio Savings Bank in
Cleveland as a training specialist.
Cam Armstrong married
Mark Baylor on July 11th. They live in Lewistown, PA in an old house that they
recently renovated. Mark's a musician and teacher. Cam is Director of
Community Development for Family Planning Services in a 5-county area. email her at mac@acsworld.net
Kathleen Golden at
Edinboro University, who was promoted to Associate Professor effective September 1997 and
tenured effective January 1997! Kathy reports that she, Charles Waugh, and Bill Gorden are
working on a book on conversations. Several other alumni have contributed chapters.
Publication is expected in early January. More later..... Kathleen Golden at
Edinboro University, who was promoted to Associate Professor effective September 1997 and
tenured effective January 1997! Kathy reports that she, Charles Waugh, and Bill Gorden are
working on a book on conversations. Several other alumni have contributed chapters.
Publication is expected in early January. More later.....
Robin Clair, who was
promoted to Associate professor and tenured at Purdue University this year, just left for
sabbatical research. She'll be on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, NC, continuing her
research of Elias Boudinot (Kilakeena), a Cherokee editor and activist who lived during
the 1800s (if interested, see Robin's 1997 piece on silence in Western Journal of
Communication).
Carole Barbato,
was
promoted to Associate Professor at the East Liverpool campus. Her daughter, Alissa, is
attending KSU.
Ronda Smith, at the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, who is planning an August wedding in Indianapolis to
Mike Knox.
Kim Phipps, is moving
to Messiah College next year as their new academic dean.
Matt Martin, is
co-editing the 2nd edition of Personality and Communication; it should be out in
time for the NCA convention. Several KSU students, faculty, and alumni have chapters in
it!
Andy Rancer, at the
University of Akron, is looking forward to his sabbatical, which starts in January
1998.
Virginia Katz,
received the 1995-96 Horace T. Morse-University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for
Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. Only 10 such awards are given each
year for the entire University of Minnesota system. The award adds $1500 to her salary
each year and an additional stipend for professional development. Look for her 1996
article in Business Communication Quarterly (vol. 59, pages 25-35) on
"Preparing students to meet the media."
Mary Anne Higgins,
has
taken a one-year position at the University of Akron for 1997-1998.
Pawena Sirimangkala,
has just moved to Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. Hut has accepted a position
with a Miami architectural firm.
Linda Pierce Rea,
took
a group of Hiram students to Guatemala and El Salvador last December for intercultural
study. In May/June, she spent a month in language school, living with a family in
Quetzeltenago, Guatemala, and then helped construct a community center in Cozumel, Mexico.
She'll be taking a group to Mexico next summer and a group to Guatemala and Mexico in
Spring, 1999; others are welcome to join the group.
Attention B.A. and M.A. Alumni:
Send items for this news page to comm@kent.edu. To e-mail us directly, click on this
address.
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