Faculty Highlights

November 2009:

Kimberly Voss,  an assistant professor of Journalism in the Nicholson School of Communication, has been awarded one of four grants by the American Journalism Historians Association. Voss’ grant will support a multimedia encyclopedia for the teaching and research of women in journalism history.

September 2009:

Dr. Robert C. Chandler, director of the NSC, delivered a General Session presentation titled Pandemic! Crisis Communication Challenges and Solutions, at the 2009 Fall World Conference on Disaster Recovery.   The conference was held September 13-16 in San Diego, Calif.  The theme was Strategies for a Successful Business Continuity Program.

July 2009:

Mr. George Bagley and Dr. Tim Brown have co-authored a manuscript "Words on the Market: Consent Theory and the Public Interest," which has been accepted for publication in the "Communication Law Review."  The paper addresses the conceptual paradigm for public interest regulation in electronic media.

July 2009:

Dr. Harry Weger attended the Smart Marriages Conference held at the Shingle Creek Resort in early July.  At the conference he received training to teach the PREP marriage education curriculum from the founders of the program, Howard Markman and Scott Stanley. The PREP curriculum teaches communication skills that help married couples manage conflict, helps increase intimacy and commitment, and improves couples' overall satisfaction with their marriage.

July 2009:

Dr. Kimberly Voss and UCF Journalism Graduate Christine Harper co-authored a paper Litigation Rather than Enlightenment: Unlocking the News-room Doors for Women Journalists in the 1970s and 1980s.  The paper has been accepted for presentation at the 2009 American Journalism Historians Association Confer-ence October 7 - 10.

July 2009:

Dr. Sally Hastings paper, "E-Priming the Listener: Sensitizing Students to Listening for Verbal Aggression," will be published in the upcoming issue of the International Journal of Listening.  This pedagogical essay describes a method for teaching interpersonal commu-nication students to effectively recognize verbally aggressive cues that sometimes preceed physical aggression.

July 2009:

Dr. Robert Chandler has been selected for the Cambridge WHOS WHO, among Executives, Professionals and Entrepreneurs.

July 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita's paper "The Japanese Dowry Ritual of Tansu: Dehistoricising Women's Lives " was accepted to the 32nd annual Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender conference at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, Calif., Oct. 15 - 18.

June 2009:

In 2008/2009 Harry Weger published three refereed journal articles, won two competitive paper awards and chaired two thesis defenses. He joined the editorial boards of Argumentation and Advocacy as well as Communication Research Reports and served as the NCA representative to the Alta Conference on Argumentation steering committee. Dr. Weger also served on the UCF Faculty Senate and on the College of Science Graduate Studies and Research committee.

June 2009:

Dr. Robert Chandler has been invited to address managers at the recently merged Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines Management Conference on July 17. His “Disaster Recovery Strategy and Emergency Crisis Communication” and “Effective Distance Communication and Issue Resolution” presentations will draw upon his research in emergency and crisis communication.

June 2009:

Chandler presented an international Webinar "Brand Rehab:  How to Restore your Reputation after a Crisis" on June 16.

June 2009:

Ann Miller is spending three weeks in Nairobi conducting research on the impact of ethnicity on patient-provider communication in Kenya, a year after post- election violence brought the nation to the brink of civil war along ethnic lines.

June 2009:

Dr. Kimberly Voss's article, "Carol Sutton and the Louisville Courier-Journal: The Problem of Being First," has been accepted for publication in the journal American Journalism (scheduled for Winter 2010 publication).

June 2009:

George Musambira and Jonathan Matusitz have had the following two refereed papers accepted for presentation at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) annual conference in Boston, Mass. to be held August 5-8:

George Musambira and Jonathan Matusitz’s International Communication Division (ICD) paper "Communication Technology and Culture: Analyzing Selected Cultural Dimensions and Human Development Indicators" examines the extent to which Hofstede's cultural dimensions of Individ-ualism/Collectivism and Masculinity/ Femininity predict global penetration of communication technology and global human development patterns.

Jonathan Matusitz and George Musambira's Communication Technology Division (CTEC) paper "Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Technology: Hofstede's Dimensions and Human Development Indicators" investigates how much Hofstede's cultural dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance account for the global diffusion of communication technology and global human development patterns.

June 2009:

Dr. John Malala is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking on the relationship between work and national development. Two of his many conference presentations were based at the Central University of Science and Technology and a four-day seminar at a church in Kinshasa. Malala's itinerary also includes a presentation at Milundu College in the Bandundu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 13, another conference presentation at Bulungu on June 16, a conference presentation at Kinshasa on June 24, a presentation at Matadi on June 27, and finally a paper presentation at the International Conference on Learning July 1-5 in Barcelona, Spain.

June 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita and Dr. Rick Kenney are co-authors of a proposed chapter titled, “A ‘Vexing Implication’: Siamese Cats and Orientalist Mischief-Making,” which has been accepted for publication in the forthcoming anthology Film, Disney, Diversity, to be published by McFarland.

June 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita’s paper “Social Interactions Among Japanese Expatriates in the U.S., and the Challenges They Face” was accepted to the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies conference at Kumamoto Gakuen University, in Kumamoto, Japan, Sept. 18-20.

June 2009:

Dr. Chandler participated in the "Institute for Academic Leadership" chairs and directors workshop held in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. June 7-10.

May 2009:

Dr. Jim Katt presented his co-authored paper at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in San Diego. The paper "What to Do? Examining the Effects of Different Types of ADLs on Geriatric Well-Being" was written in collaboration with Linda Speranza (Valencia Community College), Wendy Shore (Johns Hopkins University), E. Lea Witta (University of Central Florida, College of Education), and Karen Saenz (University of Alabama-Birmingham).

Katt was also elected chair of AERA’s Adulthood and Aging Special Interest Group.
The latest issue of Communication Education (Volume 58; Number 2; April, 2009), a publication of the National Communication Association (NCA) and the premier educational communication journal, features an article by NSOC’s Jim Katt, and co-author Steve Condly. The article, entitled "A Preliminary Study of Classroom Motivations and De-motivators from a Motivation-Hygiene Perspective," applies Fredrick Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory to the classroom setting.

May 2009:

Kimberly Wilmot Voss and Lance Speere’s paper, "Where She Stands: Ruthe Deskin and Her Place in the City of Bright Lights and Bigger Personalities After 50 Years at the Las Vegas Sun," was recently accepted for publication in the Nevada Historical Quarterly.

May 2009:

Dr. M.C. Santana was selected Research Paper Competition Chair for the Gender Studies Division of the Broadcast Education Association during their annual convention in Las Vegas, Nev., in April. Santana has been a member of BEA since 2001.

May 2009:

Dr. John Malala will present a paper at the 16th International Conference on Learning to be held in Barcelona, Spain, July 1-4. Dr. Malala's paper, "The Role of Interactive Games and Entertainment in the Creation of Lasting Knowledge" discusses the importance of digital interactive games in education.

May 2009:

Dr. Will Kinnally is lead author of a scholarly paper, "Reactance and the Hostile Media Effect: Placing the Effect Within the Theory," with Dr. Laura Arpan of FSU, that has been accepted to the Communication Theory and Methodology Division at the AEJMC annual conference in August.

May 2009:

Dr. Rick Kenney’s paper "‘They are Romanies’: Social Construction of an Oppressed Minority for an Elite Audience," has been named winner of the James E. Murphy Top Faculty Paper Award by the Cultural and Critical Studies Division of AEJMC and is one of four refereed papers Kenney will present at the annual convention in August. The other papers are "Before (and after) Kerner: Paul Swensson and the News- paper Fund," accepted by the Minorities and Communication Division; "Recall of and Attitudes Toward Brand Placement in Reality TV Programming," co-authored with former graduate student Temitayo Fayemi (M.A., 2006) and accepted by the Advertising Division; and "Max Weber, the Protestant Ethic, and the Corporatization of College Media," co-authored with Journalism alumna Christine Dellert (B.A., 2006) and accepted to the College Media Advisers/Council of Affiliates panel on the theme of "Issues and Challenges Facing Campus Media." Additionally, Kenney’s lesson plan "The Keys to the Kingdom: How to Teach Information Fluency Through a Campus Sunshine Audit to Unlock the Secrets of Govern-ment" won an AEJMC Great Ideas for Teaching (GIFT) award and will be presented in Boston at a poster session. It is Kenney’s second GIFT prize in three years. Another of Kenney’s lesson plans, "Thinking Globally, Writing Locally: The Real Dirt on Environmental Journalism," co-authored with Dr. Kimiko Akita, has been accepted for publication in a forth-coming booklet, Teaching News Terrifically in the 21st Century, sponsored by AEJMC’s Newspaper Division. Kenney also will participate on a panel, "The Future of Editing," during the preconvention at AEJMC in August.

May 2009:

Ms. Shari Hodgson is the originator and Chairperson of the Leadership Winter Park Youth Leaders program. It is an exclusive program designed to expose young people to opportunities for leader-ship within their community.  The program is open to students entering their sophomore, junior or senior year in high school. 

May 2009:

Dr. Steve Collins is first author of a scholarly paper, "Who is Minding the Storm: Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Factors Predicting Hurricane Preparedness," with Dr. Harry Weger of Interpersonal Communication and Dr. Mark Johnson of the UCF Statistics Department, that has been accepted for presentation and placed on the top paper panel to the Science Communication Interest Group at the AEJMC annual convention.

May 2009:

Dr. Robert Chandler, pandemic communications expert, presented two world-wide webinars.  The first on "Swine Flu Communication Best Practices" was presented April 29 and "Employee Communication: Truth and Transparency" on May 6.

Chandler was also interviewed by Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC), a global integrated media company.  The interview regarding the pandemic was in the featured article "Expert: Technology Can Help and Harm During Swine Flu-Like Scare" on May 5. 

May 2009:

Professors Rick Brunson, Rick Kenney, Joan McCain and M.C. Santana have each been awarded a UCF Teaching Incentive Program Award. 

April 2009:

Dr. Tim Brown and Dr. Steve Collins are co-authors of a scholarly paper, "A Tale of Two Sites: Comparing New Media Use at Television News Operations and Newspapers," accepted for presentation to the Radio-Television Journalism Division at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication  in Boston this August.

April 2009:

Dr. Rick Kenney and Journalism alumna Christine Dellert are co-authors of a paper accepted to the 2009 AEJMC annual convention in Boston in August. Their paper, "Max Weber, the Protestant Ethic, and the Corporatization of College Media," will be presented to a special session titled "Issues and Challenges Facing Campus Media," co-sponsored by the College Media Advisers and The Council of Affiliates.

April 2009:

Dr. Rick Kenney will participate on a teaching panel, "Teaching Communication Ethics in the 21st Century: What remains stable? What changes?" sponsored by the Communication Ethics Division at the NCA annual convention in Chicago in November.

April 2009:

Dr. Sally Hastings and Dr. George Musambira co-authored an article with a colleague from another university, Judith Hoover, that will appear in the spring issue of Women & Language.  The article "Opening a Gap" in Culture:  Women's Uses of The Compassionate Friends Web site.  The article is part of their ongoing research program addressing issues of communication and bereavement.

April 2009:

Dr. Denise DeLorme is co-author of a manuscript, "DTC Advertising Skepticism and the Use and Perceived Usefulness of Prescription Drug Information Sources" that has been accepted for publication in "Health Marketing Quarterly."

April 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita has had two chapters, "Rescuing Cats, Rescuing One Another" and "Feminist Trash Talk: Why I Pick Up Your Litter," accepted for publication in a scholarly book, Beyond "Burning Bras": Feminist Activism for Everyone, which is tentatively scheduled for publication by Praeger Press in fall 2009.

March 2009:

Dr. M. C. Santana took journalism majors Sarah Rogers and Shaun Bevan on a nine-day excursion through Italy including Venice, Florence, Verona, Assisi and Rome as part of a longer project called Travel Photography started by Santana during her sabbatical. They joined 31 other college students from North and South Carolina.

March 2009:

Professor George Bagley, an Associate Professor in the R/TV program, has been awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award.  He was one of 18 selected for the award in the College of Sciences.  This is the third time he has been a recipient of the award.

March 2009:

NSOC welcomes Rebecca Morales as our new Coordinator
of Academic Support Services. She provides advising assistance and helps students meet their educational goals. She will also be overseeing the development of the Nicholson Academic Student Services Center (NASSC) in room 143.

March 2009:

Dr. Robert C. Chandler, NSOC Director has co-authored (with
Dr. J. D. Wallace Lubbock Christian University) an article “The Role of Videoconferencing in Crisis and Emergency Management,” in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning.

March 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita’s article "Bloopers of a Geisha: Male Orientalism and Colonization of Women’s Language" will be published in Women and Language, 32(1), in spring 2009.

February 2009:

Dr. Barfield is serving on the Board of Directors for the Osceola County Health Department Healthy Start Coalition as well as on the Board of Directors for the Early Learning Coalition.

Barfield is a member of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (AACH) and on the membership committee of the organization. He is recruiting Florida Hospital faculty and other health professionals in the Orlando/UCF community to help grow membership.

February 2009:

Dr. Steve Collins and Dr. Tim Brown will present their paper, "What 'they' want from 'us': What newspapers and television newsrooms want from college graduates," at the 2009 Broadcast Education Association Convention in Las Vegas on Friday, April 24th. That paper took first place in the Courses, Curriculum, and Administration division of the BEA Research Paper Competition.

February 2009:

Dr. Denise DeLorme is co-author of a manuscript, "Evaluation, Use, and Usefulness of Prescription Drug Information Sources among Anglo- and Hispanic-Americans." The paper has been accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Health Communication.

February 2009:

Dr. Kimberly Voss’ article "The Short but Promising Career of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Bobbi McCallum," has been accepted for publication in Columbia, the Magazine of Northwest History.

Voss is also presenting the paper, "Edee Greene: Fort Lauderdale Editor and Advocate," later this month at the Florida Conference of Historians.

February 2009:

Dr. Rufus Barfield is in the NASA Faculty Kennedy Internship Program (KIP) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). His participation in this program began in the summer of 2008 as one of five faculty interns selected from various universities around the United States. He was the only communication faculty intern. All the other faculty interns were in engineering fields.  Barfield was invited to participate in the spring 2009 program.  His task in the summer was to develop an Upward Communication Strategic Plan for the senior level management/leadership at KSC. Currently he is implementing the strategic plan with KSC senior management. 

February 2009:

Dr. Akita will conduct a workshop for the Multicultural Student Center on Japanese culture and intercultural communication, "A Taste of Japan," 12:30-2:30 p.m., March 26, in the Garden Key Room 221AB.

February 2009:

Dr. Akita will lead an event, "East Meets West: Japanese Musical Excursion," with other Japanese music performers in the DiversiTea sponsored by the Office of Diversity Initiatives at UCF, at the Barbara Ying Center, noon - 1 p.m., March 4.

February 2009:

Dr. Akita will give a talk on Japanese culture and perform koto with other Japanese music performers for the Learning Institute for Elders at UCF (LIFE@UCF) on March 3.

February 2009:

Dr. Kimiko Akita’s paper, "The chrysanthemum, transplanted: How Japanese and Japanese-Brazilian Immigrants Face Challenges on New Soil," has been accepted to the third Annual Asian Pacific American Studies Conference at Michigan State University in April.

January 2009:

Dr. Kimberly Voss’ article, "Forgotten Feminist: Women's Page Editor Maggie Savoy and the Growth of Women's Liberation Awareness in Los Angeles," has been accepted for publication in the March 2009 issue of the journal "California History."

In addition, Voss’ article, "The Florida Fight for Equality: The Equal Rights Amendment, Senator Lori Wilson and Mediated 'Catfights' in the 1970s," has been accepted for publication in Florida Historical Quarterly.

January 2009:

Dr. John Malala travelled to Germany (December 1-4, 2008) to present a paper at the "European Conference for Academic Disciplines" which was organized by the International Journal of Arts and Sciences. The title of his paper was "The New Information Technology and the Danger of a Vicious Cycle in the Publication of Biographical Books." This refereed conference was attended by academics from over 30 countries.

January 2009:

Dr. Will Kinnally’s article titled "Getting Up on the Download: College Students’ Motivations for Acquiring Music via the Web" was recently published in the journal "New Media & Society."

January 2009:

Dr. Ann Miller has had an article accepted by African Journal of AIDS Research. Title and co-authors are as follows: Miller, A.N., Golding, L., Nugla, K., Wambua, M. A., Kizito, M. N., Mutua, E., Odondi, C., Booker, N.A., Mwithia, J.K., and Rubin, D. L. "Couples communication on sexual and relational issues in Machakos District, Kenya"

November 2008:

Ms. Christine Hanlon will discuss "clickers" during a panel at the National Communication Association's annual convention in San Diego, California, this November.

October 2008:

Dr. Harry Weger recently had two manuscripts published.The first, with co-author and former grad student, Melissa Emmett,"Associations Among Romantic Intent, Relationship Uncertainty, and Relationship Maintenance in Young Adults’ Cross-Sex Friendships" in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. The second,"Impression Management in Televised Debates: The EffectAudience Perceptions of Debaters’ Likability"was published with co-authors John Seiter, Harold Kinzer and Andrea Jensen in the journal Communication Research Reports. Weger was interviewed by Jim Turner from WDBO radio in Orlando regarding nonverbal behavior in presidential debates.

October 2008:

Dr. Kim Voss presented her paper, "Powerful Partnership: Florida Women's Page Editors and Club Women," in early October at the American Journalism Historians Association convention in Seattle. The paper received honorable mention for the Beasley Prize which recognizes research on women in journalism history. At the end of October, Voss will be presenting "A Toolbox for Women in the College Newsroom" at the College Media Advisers convention in Kansas City.

October 2008:

Dr. Rick Kenney and Dr. Kimiko Akita are co-authors of “When West Writes East: in Search of an Ethic for Crosscultural Interviewing,” which has been accepted for publication in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics. The article resulted from their funded collaborative research, which was accepted to the Media Ethics Colloquium 2007 at the University of Hawaii.

October 2008:

Dr. Denise DeLorme is coauthor on an article "Operationalizing
the Second-Person Effect and Its Relationship to Behavioral Outcomes of Directto-Consumer Advertising,"which was recently published in the American Behavioral Scientist.

October 2008:

Faculty members Carol Bledsoe, Christine Hanlon, Jim Katt and Steve Neel will conduct a panel session Tailoring the Public Speaking Course: Increasing Relevance & Visibility at the Florida Communication Association's annual convention in Gainesville, Florida October, 18-20.

September 2008:

Dr. Kimberly Wilmot Voss and co-author Lance Speeres article, "Way Past Deadline: The Women's Fight to Integrate the Milwaukee Press Club," has been published in the Wisconsin Magazine of History. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wmh/currentissue.asp.1

September 2008:

Dr. Rick Kenney has been selected as the faculty advisor for the UCF chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Ms. Joan McCain has been appointed Area Coordinator for the Advertising/PR program.

Dr. Kimberly Voss has just been named a national winner in the annual National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) Communications Contest.  Voss received first place for communications research for her article "Vivian Castleberry: A Case Study of How a Women's Page Editor Lived and Translated the News of a Social Movement."  The article was published last Spring in Southwest Historical Quarterly.  Dr. Voss is currently working on a book about Vivian.

August 2008:

Dr. Ann Neville Miller was funded by the University of Georgia Center for Health and Risk Communication to attend the National Summit on Poverty and Health Communication August 11-12 and the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media August 12-14. Both were held in Atlanta, Georgia.

May 2008:

Dr. M.C. Santana's work was chosen to be displayed in in the Orlando Museum of Art. The title of the exibit is Art < 12 Small Works/Large Images will be displayed on June 5 from 6 pm to 9 pm and will be for one night only.

May 2008:

Director and Professor Mary Alice Shaver and husband, Assistant Professor of Journalism Dan, are leaving the School and Florida to move to the Media Management and Transformation Centre located in the Jonkoping International Business School in Jonkoping, Sweden. Both will be professors in the Business School while working at the centre for the next five years. The NSOC wishes them both well as they begin their new adventure.

Dean Peter Panousis recently announced that Dr. Bruce Whisler will assume the position of Interim Director for NSOC. He is a former chair of the Music Department at UCF, has served as Assistant to the Dean and more recently has been Budget Coordinator for Academic Affairs. Whisler began as Interim Director on April 28th and will continue until the search has closed and a new Director appointed. Welcome, Dr. Whisler.

April 2008:

Dr. Harry Wegers manuscript that he co-authored with John Seiter, The Effect of Generalized Compliments, Sex of Server, and Size of Dining Party on Tipping Behavior in Restaurants, has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

April 2008:

Dr. Rick Kenney taught more than 100 of the nations professional copy editors at the annual meeting of the American Copy Editors Society in Denver in early April. He led a session titled All This and Ethics, Too? The Moral Imperative of Copy Editing and moderated and presented in a session titled Stop Plagiarism Before It Gets to Print. Kenney was recognized at the ACES banquet for his work as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund residency director and as an alumnus of the funds editing intern program the only person to have achieved both distinctions.

Kenneys article The Real Gender-Bender: The Curious Case of Coverage of the Steve Stanton Story appears in the Spring 2008 issue of the Florida Communication Journal.

April 2008:

Dr. Denise DeLorme has been awarded a nationally competitive research fellowship from the American Academy of Advertising for her co-authored proposal, "Prescription Drug Information-Seeking Behaviors and DTC Advertising Effects among Asian American Consumers."

DeLorme also received an Honorable Mention Award for Best Reviewers of 2007 on the Journal of Advertising Editorial Review Board.

April 2008:

Dr. Kristin Davis attended the Southern States Communication Associations 78th Annual Convention in Savannah, GA on April 3-6. It was held at the Hyatt Regency in beautiful historic, downtown Savannah. This years theme was Communicating to Change the Human Condition. She was invited to present on two spotlight panels: (1) Spotlight on Scholarship: Celebrating Scholars New to SSCA II; (2) The Job Search: Advice for Candidates and Employers from New Faculty

April 2008:

Dr. Rufus Barfield conducted workshops at the 2008 South Carolina Obesity Prevention Summit, presented by the Eat Smart Move More Coalition on March 6 and 7.  The work-shops included Coalition Building and Evaluation and Coalition Development. The workshops focused on how to form community coalitions in pursuit of South Carolina Department of Health grant funding and on community health intervention in obesity.

In April, Dr. Barfield will attend the 2008 Scholarly Conference on College Sport Issues in College Sport symposium.  He will serve as a panelist on Conducting the Business of College Sport Well trends and Issues in College Sport, sponsored by the University of Memphis and the College Sport Research Institute. 

April 2008:

Mr. George Bagley's article "A Presence in Time and Space:  Authority and Meaning in the Reception Complex" has been accepted for publi-cation in the Spring 2008 issue of "Kinema: Journal of Film and Audiovisual Media."

April 2008:

Drs. Kimiko Akita and George Musambira were accepted to participate in the Diversity Track of the 2008 Summer Faculty Development Conference, UCF, which will be held in April 29-May 2, 2008.

April 2008:

Dr. Kimiko Akita presented a series of four interactive lectures about Japanese culture to LIFE (Learning Institute for Elders) at UCF in March and April.

April 2008:

The NSOC has awarded scholarship grants up to the amount of $5,000 each to:

Dr. Kimiko Akita who plans to further her study of womens lives: how womens behaviors and fortunes are influenced by hegemonic patriarchy, and how western reputations of them have exoticized and sexualized them.

Dr. Kristen Davis will use the funds to advance knowledge regarding Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Syndrome sufferers and the impact their illness has on their social network, primarily family members, partners and friends.

Dr. Jim Katts grant title is Big Three vs. Big Five: A side-by-side test of trait measures and their usefulness in identifying relationships between personality traits and communication variables.

April 2008:

Dr. Fred Fedler was awarded emeritus status on April 2nd at UCFs Founders Day ceremony. This honor acknowledges the many contributions he has made to NSOC during his career.  He joined the faculty in 1971, and has served as division head for 20 years.  Fedler has also published four books, including the textbook Reporting For The Media now in its eighth edition and 66 articles.

April 2008:

This year the Nicholson School of Communication has awarded two Grasty Awards to outstanding faculty members. The awards, named in honor of Bill Grasty, a former chair and UCF vice president were awarded for Excellence in Teaching and for Outstanding Research to:

Dr. Jonathan Matusitz, Outstanding Research

Dr. Maria Cristina Santana, Outstanding Teaching

April 2008:

After more than 100 years of teaching excellence, three very distinguished professors will be retiring from the NSOC this May. Doctors Bob Davis, Fred Fedler and Tom Morgan, who joined the university when it was Florida Technological University, were essential to the development of the advertising/public relations, journalism and radio/television programs. Decades later the Nicholson School has grown to produce thousands of successful graduates in Central Florida and around the world. As a final salute and heartfelt farewell, UCF alumni, students and faculty gathered on Wednesday, April 9 at the FAIRWINDS
Alumni Center. The Swinging ‘70s celebration transported party-goers back in time to an era of tie-die, go-go boots and peace and love – when Davis, Fedler and Morgan first joined the university. Dr. Bob Davis is the division head for the advertising/public relations division and was essential in developing the program into what it is today. He taught his first class at UCF in 1977.

April 2008:

The Media Management and Transformation Center at Jönköping International Business School is pleased to announce the hiring of two of the world*s leading scholars on advertising and media management. Mary Alice Shaver, a specialist in advertising and media competition, has been named Hamrin Professor of Media Economics. She is formerly chair and professor of the Department of Advertising at Michigan State University, professor and head of media doctoral studies at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and professor and director of the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. Dan Shaver, a specialist in media and management and digital media, has been name an associate professor of media economics. He received an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina and has been on the faculties of Michigan State University and University of Central Florida. Dr. Shaver was formerly a newspaper editor and executive.The willingness of Mary Alice Shaver and Dan Shaver to join the faculty show the importance of MMTC to media economics and management scholarship and underscore its extraordinary global reputation.

March 2008:

Dr. Denise DeLorme has a co-authored article titled, "Seniors' Uncertainty Management of DTC Prescription Drug Advertising Usefulness," accepted and forthcoming in the national, refereed journal "Health Communication". DeLorme has also recently been elected to serve as secretary of the American Academy of Advertising for 2009.

March 2008:

Dr. Jeff Butler was selected to give a presentation on Listening Skills to all the university advisors at the monthly meeting on February 29. "He gave some very helpful, informative tools to practice when advising, and it was well received by the group", said Ms. Susan Jefferson.

March 2008:

Dr. Kimiko Akita's paper "Curious yellow: Challenges of a Japanese Woman Teaching in the Sunshine State" has been accepted to the Eastern Communication Association Conference, Pittsburgh, Pa. May 1-4. She will present her paper on the panel "Making a Difference: Connecting Culture and Community in Predominantly White Classrooms by Understanding Teaching Frameworks Among Four Faculty of Color."

March 2008:

At "Women making History Celebration 2008" ceremony the following faculty were recognized as women that enhance research and leadership capacity of UCF. Kimiko Akita (Communication), Archana Dubey (Physics), Cherie Geiger (Chemistry), Linda Walters (Biology), Jane Waterman (Biology) and Cynthia Young (Math). We honor them during Women's History Month at the Women Making History Luncheon.

March 2008:

Dr. Jim Katt will be presenting a paper titled "Doing Well: A SEM Analysis of the Relationships Between Various Activities of Daily Living and Geriatric Well-Being" at the annual convention of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in New York City during the last week of March.

March 2008:

An Undergraduate Teaching Equipment grant was recently awarded to the NSOC. The $4,990 grant was the result of a proposal by Dr. Joe Hall, the R/TV Area Coordinator. This grant will provide for the acquisition of one of the critical missing elements in our HD system a broadcast quality HD monitor to view and evaluate the HD video students are shooting and editing.

February 2008: The following people were participants of the CASTL grant.Twelve proposals were submitted, and three were chosen for an award of $2,500 each. The three proposals that were chosen are the following: Drs. J Katt, S Hastings, and J Butler; Nicholson School of Communication, College of Sciences; "The Honors in the Major Thesis Experience". Dr. R Kenney; Nicholson School of Communication, College of Sciences; "How High-Achieving Undergraduate Researchers Describe Their Experience" Drs L Walters and J Waterman; Department of Biology, College of Sciences; and Dr. L Nadelson; Department of Educational Studies, College of Education; "Including Research in Upper-Division Science Courses at Large Universities: Does It Maximize Student Learning and, If So, What Formats are Most Effective?" Congratulations to all!

December 2007:

The Provost awarded the Nicholson School of Communication an annual stipend of $2,500 through the Winter Park Health Foundation. This is in recognition for our contribution to Junior Achievement of Orlando. Steve Neel, who teaches one section of Introduction to Communication, earned this award through his successful implementation of an optional unit of study in which students may elect to go to one of Orlando's public schools to teach a five-week civics unit to a 5th grade class. After their experience, students are required to write a paper reflecting upon their experience and connecting it to one of the communication theories studied in the course. Last semester, 115 students from Mr. Neel's class participated in this initiative.

December 2007:

Dr. Fred Fedler from the Nicholson School of Communication: Honorary membership in Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honorary

November 2007:

Robert H. Davis from the Nicholson School of Communication: Honorary membership in Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honorary

November 2007:

Ms. Christine Hanlon received a $500 grant for the NSOC from The Learning Institute for Elders at University of Central Florida.

October 2007:

Congratulations to two NSOC faculty who received awards at the Florida Communication Association Convention. Jim Katt received the FCA Annual Award for Outstanding Scholarship. This award is given to someone who has shown outstanding scholarly achievements. Shari Hodgson received the FCA Annual Award for Outstanding in Teaching.This award is given to someone (at any level of teaching speech communication) that has demonstrated outstanding ability in the classroom.

October 2007: Ryan Sheehy, Membership Chair 2007-2008 Alumni Chapter Ryan graduated in 2000 she currently teaches in the Advertising and Public Relations Department at UCF.

October 2007:

Andrew Schrock (MA '06) presented two papers at the 2008 Convergence and Society: Media Ownership, Consolidation, and Control Conference at the University of South Carolina, Oct. 11-13, 2007. The papers titled "MySpace Dependency: Why Consumers are Using Social Networking Sites" (a paper from his Master's thesis, directed by Dr. Brown) and "Convergent Technology Use: Instrumental, Contextual, and Socially Mediated" (part of his current work at California State University-Long Beach).

October 2007: Journalism Professor Rick Brunson (UCF Class of 1984) has been named the top Society of Professional Journalists campus chapter adviser in the country. Brunson, who had already planned a trip with student chapter members to the national convention in Washington, D.C., next month, learned in August 2007 that he would be honored with the David L. Eshelman Award at the Mark of Excellence luncheon on Oct 5th, 2007.

September 2007: Congrats to Rick Brunson, The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to honor him with the David L. Eshelman Outstanding Campus Adviser Award. For the 2007 academic year, Brunson also received the Student Adviser of the Year Award from the University of Central Florida Knights of the Round Table, an advisory council that honors outstanding members from the university's registered organizations. Brunson will be recognized Friday, Oct. 5 during a luncheon at the 2007 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill.

August 2007: Ms. Shari Hodgson was honored on August 9th with the "Community Service" award from the Center for Drug Free Living.

July 2007:

Dr. Jim Katt recently served as Technical Advisor for the 2007 National Lutheran Youth Gathering in Orlando (July 28 - August 1). This gathering brought together 27,000 high school age youth and adult leaders from all over the country for the five-day, triennial event.

May 2007: This year the Nicholson School of Communication is proud to announce that Mr. George Bagley, Dr. Rita Graham and Dr. Burt Pryor are each recipients of the Teacher Incentive Program (TIP) $5,000 award.

May 2007: Melissa Patterson - College Journalist of the Year competition in the Sunshine State Awards, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists' 3rd place.

April 2007: 30 year Service Awards: Dr. Joe Hall and Dr. Bob Davis

April 2007:

Congratulations! for those who won the Grasty Awards- NSOC outstanding faculty members

Rick Brunson: Excellence in Service Award
Denise DeLorme: Outstanding Research
Rick Kenney: Excellence in Teaching

April 2007: Congrats! NSOC Hall of Fame
Inductee: Joan McCain
Honorary Inductee: Tom Morgan

April 2007: Stephanie Rice received a grant from College of Arts and Humanities for an interdisciplinary project to produce a documentary DVD/cd on Jazz legend, Sam Rivers.

March 2007: This spring the panel of judges for the Roast and Toast scholarship program at UCF selected six winners. The Advertising PR majors chosen were April Colasurdo, Kevin Felker, Brittany Miller and Claudia Rosario. The two Journalism majors selected were Brandon, Bielich, and Jessica Tuggle. Each winner will be presented with plaques at the March OAC/FPRA meeting and will receive a $1,000 stipend.

March 2007: MC Santana was invited by the National Education Association to participate in the panel "Tenure, Promotion and Faculty of Color" during their convention in San Diego, CA on March 2-4, 2007. Santana is a founding Board Member of the UCF Latino/a Caucus which was featured in the article "At Central Florida, Hispanic Women Give Each Other Advice and a Sympathetic Ear" by Robin Wilson for The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 26, 2006.

February 2007: 2007 Research Grants - $15,000 - awarded to: Dr. Tim Brown and Dr. Steve Collins, Dr. Kenney, Dr. DeLorme and Dr. Dan Shaver.

January 2007: 2007 Research Grants - $15,000 - awarded to: Dr. Tim Brown and Dr. Steve Collins, Dr. Kenney, Dr. DeLorme and Dr. Dan Shaver.

January 2007:

Congrats! Dr. Jeff Butler received Lead scholars faculty improvement grant, $2000.

December 2006: Teaching Award from Chi Omega Fraternity- 2006: George Bagley

October 2006: Dr. Sally Hastings attended the Florida Communication Association Conference in October of 2006, where she was involved in three panels. In November of 2006, she attended the National Communication Association conference in San Antonio, TX, where she was involved in four panels.

April 2006:

TIP Awards 2006-2007: Mr. George Bagley , Dr. Rita Graham and Dr. Burt Pryor

April 2006:

Advisor of the Year Award: Given to Rick Brunson by the UCF Office of Student Involvement.

May 2005: Shari Hodgson and Jim Katt have been recommended as 2005 CAS Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) award recipients. The TIP program rewards faculty for teaching productivity and excellence. Selection criteria include teaching quality and effectiveness, commitment to instruction, innovation, creativity, and productivity based on a portfolio of assignments and evaluations collected over the previous 4 academic years.

April 2005:

TIP Awards 2005-2006: Christine Hanlon, NSOC

April 2005:

Teacher Incentive Program Awards 2004-2005
The University of Central Florida Teaching Incentive Program (UCF-TIP) rewards faculty for teaching productivity and excellence. UCF-TIP was developed through a joint effort between the Office of Academic Affairs and the Faculty Senate. Selection criteria include teaching quality and effectiveness, commitment to instruction, innovation, creativity, and productivity based on a portfolio of assignments and evaluations collected over the previous 4 academic years. The selection committee is comprised of faculty members and one student within the College. Award recipients receive a $5,000 salary increase.
Shari Hodgson, Nicholson School of Communication
Jim Katt, Nicholson School of Communication