The Department
The Department of Communication Studies offers the B.A., the M.A., and the Ph.D. degrees in Communication Studies. The graduate faculty in the Department of Communication Studies is well known, at both the regional and national level, for accomplishments in research, teaching, and service.
The faculty is nationally recognized for research endeavors. Faculty members consistently receive Top Paper honors at regional and national conventions and publish numerous articles every year in state, regional, national, and international journals. Many of these papers and articles are co-written with graduate students. Additionally, three faculty members (Drs. Melanie Booth-Butterfield, Matthew M. Martin, Scott A. Myers) have been identified as being among the Top 100 researchers in the Communication Studies discipline and four faculty members (Drs. Theodore A. Avtgis, Melanie Booth-Butterfield, Matthew M. Martin, Scott A. Myers) have been identified as being among the Top 50 researchers in the Communication Studies discipline from 1996-2001. Most recently, Drs. Theodore A. Avtgis, Melanie Booth-Butterfield, Matthew M. Martin, Scott A. Myers, Brian R. Patterson, and Keith D. Weber have been identified as being among the most prolific researchers published in Communication Research Reports during the last twenty years.
The faculty is committed to providing a quality educational experience for both undergraduate and graduate students. As such, the faculty has received a number of teaching awards that reaffirm this commitment. Moreover, several faculty members have been recognized by the Eastern Communication Association, the Western Communication Association, and the International Communication Association for their effective instruction in the classroom. In 2007, Dr. Keith Weber was awarded the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award and the West Virginia University Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award.
The faculty is heavily involved in providing service to the communication discipline. Not only do faculty members serve as paper readers, paper respondents, and Interest Group Chairs at regional and national conventions, but they serve on a number of editorial boards for multidisciplinary journals such as Communication Monographs, Psychological Reports, and Communication Quarterly, to name a few. Faculty members have served as Editors of Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, and Communication Teacher. In addition, Dr. Melanie Booth-Butterfield has served as President of the Eastern Communication Association.
