Communication Studies Newsletter—Apr. 2007
Dr. Patricia Kearney Receives
Alumni Recognition Award
On March 16, 2007, Dr. Patricia Kearney, Professor and Associate Chair of Communication Studies at the California State University, Long Beach, was honored as the first Outstanding Alum from the Department of Communication Studies.
Dr. Kearney is currently the editor of Communication Education. She is recognized as one of the 100 scholars in the field of Communication Studies from 1915 to 2001. Dr. Kearney has also co-authored several textbooks including Public Speaking in a Diverse Society and Fundamentals of Human Communication.
Dr. Kearney has spent considerable time assisting college students with their financial management skills. She created a series of modules on life skills to help students avoid financial and academic distress as they prepare for their future careers.
In 2006 the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences established a Departmental Alumni Recognition Program to enable college units to honor successful alumni for their civic leadership or social welfare activities, their professional and business life, and their intellectual and cultural pursuits.
“Pat Kearney is an outstanding teacher and scholar and we are extremely proud to have her as an alum from our program,” remarked Dr. Matthew Martin, Chair of the Department. “Beyond her many accomplishments, she is also a great person and friend to our department. This recognition is well deserved.”
On Thursday, March 15th, accompanied by her husband and colleague Dr. Timothy Plax, Dr. Kearney joined the faculty at Oliverios for dinner and reminiscing. The next day she met with the doctoral students over lunch to exchange WVU graduate stories and to offer career advice. That evening was the formal recognition banquet that was held in the Erickson Alumni Center.
“I had great educational experiences at WVU,” said Dr. Kearney. “I learned to take teaching seriously, and I learned to value the systematic study of communication in the instructional process. I love turning on my own students to the social scientific research process. I thank the teachers at WVU for setting such good examples for excellence in both teaching and research.”
Mottet Triumphantly Returns
Recently one of the top researchers in the discipline of Communication Studies, who also happens to be an alum of West Virginia University, returned to Morgantown to give an invited presentation. Dr. Timothy P. Mottet, an associate professor at Texas State University, delivered a lecture titled “Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Role of Communication in Managing Expectations in a ‘College Lite’ Environment” to over 200 audience members.
According to Dr. Mottet, ‘College Lite’ is the idea that the current university environment does not support instructors who have high expectations and demand significant workloads. If students believe that an instructor is too demanding, they have negative affect towards the instructor and might ‘punish’ the instructor with negative evaluations.
In a recent study with his colleagues that was published in Communication Education, Dr. Mottet reported that “instructors may be able to make moderate to high course-workload demands on students and still preserve how students perceive their credibility as long as they use nonverbal immediacy behaviors. Instructors’ relational messages seem to trump their task messages in ways that allow them to challenge and push their students academically” (p. 162).
The audience was very appreciative of Dr. Mottet’s presentation. One student remarked, “I usually have class in this same room at about the same time. I wish my finance instructor would have listened to this speaker, he really would have learned a lot.”
Dr. Mottet also met separately with graduate students, discussing his other research as well as career options in the field of communication studies. “Tim is a top teacher and a top researcher in our field; he has few peers. We were very fortunate that he was willing and able to come to Morgantown to spend some time with our students,” said Matthew M. Martin, Chair of the department.
“It was true honor to come back home to WVU,” exclaimed Dr. Mottet at the end of his visit.
Intersections: The Crossroads of Testing the Interpersonal Theories that We Teach
In the fall of 2006, the students in COMM 700 were divided into research teams and assigned the task of designing and conducting studies that tested a communication theory. Each group first compiled an annotated bibliography of their selected communication theory. Two groups studied the relationship between friends, while the other groups focused on the student-teacher relationship and the superior-subordinate relationship. At the Eastern Communication Association Convention in Providence, very early on Sunday morning, the groups formally presented their studies that are listed below.
“Predicted Outcome Value Theory: How disclosure of a terminal illness impacts judgments” by Sean M. Horan, Mary Eidsness, Angela Johnson, Meghan Schoo, and Nicole Smith
“Communication Privacy Management Theory: Exploring negotiated ownership” by Carrie Kennedy-Lightsey, Michelle Thompson, Kimberly Leezer, and Brooke Zackery
“The role of communication traits on the quality of Leader Member Exchange” by Paul E. Madlock, Melissa Ervin, and Leah Bogdan
“Student excuse-making from a Face Saving Theory perspective” by Matthew M. Martin, Mike Fowler, Alex Smith, and Karissa Zigarovich
Not a Traditional Spring Break
While many college students frolicked during their recent spring break, Andrea Dispenza, a major in our department, decided to spend her break helping others. Below is a brief report she wrote on her return.
“For if every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you can’t quite speak the language, and you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a foreign country can be a love affair.” Thanks in part to the Department of Communication Studies, I was able to participate in the WVU Spring Break 2007 Service Learning Course: International Educational Issues in Petersfield, Jamaica.
Through an integrated one-week academic intensive experience in rural Jamaica, I was able to make connections between my academic study and its application, clarify my academic aspirations, develop work-related skills and heighten a sense of civic responsibility, while providing valuable work in the community.
While in Jamaica, we painted the Petersfield library and attended primary, secondary, and high schools in order to learn about the Jamaican education system. At Paradise Preparatory School Morgan, I assisted in a third grade computer class where there was a total of eight computers and three students to a computer. At Petersfield High School we talked to an “at-risk class” about education, how important it is and encouraged them to not only stay in school but to continue their education upon graduating high school.
The women are the core of the community; they open their hearts and homes to everyone, striving for a better future for their children and beloved country. In living and working with these women, I found them to be inspiring and the inner strength that they possess as individuals in uniting their community was truly remarkable.
It was an amazing experience, one that will shape my entire life, and I am sincerely grateful to all those who made it possible.
Andrea and Ms. Anna Heaven, her host sister, at the Association of Clubs during out culture exchange evening.
