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Undergraduate Student Organizations

All undergraduate students who have an interest in Communication Studies can join the Undergraduate Student Association, Lambda Pi Eta, and COMMbassadors. Dr. Scott A. Myers is the current advisor of all three organizations.

Students also have the opportunity to serve as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in our undergraduate courses or as Undergraduate Research Assistants for faculty members who are working on research projects.

Undergraduate Communication Association
The Undergraduate Communication Association (UCA) is an organization comprised of students who have chosen Communication Studies as either their major or minor. The UCA has three primary goals—community engagement, career development, and network development—and provides members with the opportunity to engage in activities and events where they can grow as professionals and community members while connecting with other Communication Studies students. The UCA meets monthly during the Fall and Spring semesters.

In addition to their monthly meetings, UCA participates in a variety of service and social activities that benefit the department, the university, and the community. At the department level, UCA has assisted the faculty at recruiting events such as the First Year Academy and Major Match. At the university level, UCA participates in Trunk or Treat at the WVU Coliseum and student organization recruitment fairs. UCA is active in the community through volunteering for the Make-a-Wish Foundation’s annual Walk for Wishes, conducting canned food drives for Bartlett Housing Solutions, and assisting the United Way in their annual Community Clean-Up Day. On the social side, UCA hosts an annual holiday party for its members and the faculty as well as attending West Virginia Black Bears and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games.

Students can join the UCA at any point during the Fall and Spring semesters. Officer elections for the following year are held at the last meeting in the Spring semester.

UCA is governed by an executive committee. The 2023-2024 executive committee consists of:

  • President Kristen McMullen, who is a senior Communication Studies major from Allegany, New York, with an emphasis in Organizational Communication. In addition, she is pursuing a Multidisciplinary Studies degree, a major consisting of three minors: general business, marketing, and public relations. Outside of UCA, Kristen has been a COMMBassador as well as a member of the American Marketing Association and Women in Business. 
  • Secretary and Social Media Manager Alyssa Batchelor, whois a junior Forensic Examiner major from Lancaster, Ohio, with minors in Communication Studies and Statistics. Outside of UCA, she is the Secretary for the Filipino Student Association and the Treasurer for Genesis KDC. Alyssa also is a member of Delta Delta Epsilon, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Project 168, and the Asian Association. 

Lambda Pi Eta (Xi Nu Chapter)
Lambda Pi Eta (LPH) is the National Communication Association’s undergraduate student honor society. The membership is Lambda Pi Eta is composed of undergraduate students who have declared an interest in the field of Communication and have achieved a high level of academic excellence.

To be eligible for membership, students must be either a Communication Studies major or minor, have completed 60 credit hours with a cumulative 3.0 or higher GPA,  and have completed a minimum of 12 semester hours in COMM courses (excluding COMM 490 and COMM 491), with a cumulative 3.25 or higher GPA in those courses.

Students who meet the criteria for membership in Lambda Pi Eta are invited to join each Fall and Spring semester.

COMMbassadors
The COMMbassadors is a competitively-selected group of Communication Studies majors who represent the Department of Communication Studies at various recruitment, retention, and promotion events during the school year. They serve  as a point of contact for prospective and current students, parents, department faculty and graduate students, and the WVU community at large. COMMbassadors represent the undergraduate experience at several events, including Welcome Week’s Academic Day, COMM 191 Orientation Course, Discover and Decide Open Houses, Major Match and Tour WVU Days, and COMM Course Registration Drives.


Students who are selected as COMMbassadors undergo training prior to the Fall semester and attend events throughout the Fall and Spring semesters. They receive three credit hours of COMM 491: Professional Field Experience for their service.

 

For the 2023-2024 year, four students are representing the Department as COMMbassadors. These students are:

  • Kaylyn Avenia is a senior Communication Studies major from New Hartford, CT, with an emphasis in Strategic/Organizational Communication. In addition, she is pursuing a minor in Marketing. She is an active member of the Undergraduate Communication Association as well as a WVU Presidential Communication Ambassador. 
  • Trenton Harris is a junior Communication Studies major with an emphasis in Interpersonal Communication from Wheeling, West Virginia. He is also a public relations minor. In addition to his academics. he works at the Hatfields dining hall, helping provide meals to students.
  • Harper Jack is a senior Communication Studies major with an emphasis in Social Media and Communication Technology from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition, she is receiving a double minor in marketing and sports communication. She is also is a member of the Undergraduate Communication Association. 
  • Lindsey Keppler is a senior Communication Studies major with an emphasis in Social Media and Technology Communication from Jefferson, New Jersey. In addition, she is pursuing a double minor in Advertising and Strategic Social Media. She is an active member of the Undergraduate Communication Association as well as WVUBelieveThem.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
COMM majors have the opportunity to serve as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) in one of the Department's large lecture courses (i.e., COMM 102, 104, 105, 112, 122, 306, 308). To serve as an UTA in one of these courses, student must have completed the course with a grade of B or higher. Students must enroll in COMM 490: Teaching Practicum for three credit hours during the semester in which they serve as a UTA. 

In the Spring 2024 semester, 43 students representing 23 majors served as UTAs for the Department’s large lecture courses that enrolled over 1100 students.

To inquire about serving as an UTA, students should contact the instructor of the COMM course prior to the next semester's registration period.


Undergraduate Research Assistant
COMM majors who are interested in the communication research process or are thinking about enrolling in a COMM master's degree program may consider serving as an Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) for a faculty member. To serve as a URA, students must secure the permission of a faculty member, who then will supervise them working on a particular research project. URAs may be assigned various tasks, such as locating and reading journal articles, writing portions of a research manuscript, soliciting research participants, or collecting research data. Students must enroll in COMM 491: Internship for three credit hours during the semester in which they serve as a URA.


To inquire about serving as a URA, students should contact the faculty member with whom they would like to work.