Where Are They Now?

Every year, students from the   Department of Communication graduate with big dreams and high hopes of landing that first, real-life job. In the spirit of continued departmental connection and unity after graduation, I checked in with Diana Vela and Olivia Sharp, both former Department of Communication students and authors featured in previous Communiqué newsletters, to see how their new post-collegiate life is shaping out to be.

Diana Vela currently works at Sullivan University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in their Human Resources department as a Human Resources Assistant. Ms. Vela works closely with other Human Resources professionals in the office and assists in the posting of new positions and data management of potential Sullivan employees. She credits her success in finding a job so quickly after graduation to the excellent mentoring she received from Department of Communication professors, especially Ms. Charlotte Elder. According to Ms. Vela, the most influential class she took while at WKU was her Honors Business Public Speaking class, or Honors COMM 161, with Dr. Angie Jerome. “This class was the class I took while I was discovering what major I wanted to declare…it sparked my interest in the major,” said Ms. Vela. She suggests for the graduating senior, “Get involved and take internships, even if they are unpaid! These internships most definitely pay off when you are hired a few months out of college versus someone who graduated at the same time without any internships.”

Olivia Sharp also resides in Louisville, Kentucky working as the WE Day Program Education Coordinator at the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association. Her responsibilities include working on statewide YMCA events including Kentucky United Nations Association (KUNA) and the Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) as well as supervising service trips across the state. Ms. Sharp most enjoys as a YMCA employee watching today’s youth grow and develop into strong, civically engaged citizens. As for using her Corporate and Organizational Communication degree, Ms. Sharp says she often applies the strategies and theories taught in Persuasion with Dr.Jerome as one of her biggest responsibilities is to persuade schools that they need both Kentucky YMCA and WE Day programming for their students. Her biggest piece of advice for graduating seniors is to “Enjoy your senior year and use your professors as professional and personal resources.” She emphasized the high quality of professors in the department, and recommends, “taking in every moment surrounded by the best mentors and influences on campus!”

These recent graduates are prime examples of what hard work and perseverance can achieve as students enter into post-collegiate life. Though they are beyond their days of writing for this newsletter, both Ms. Vela and Ms. Sharp explained that the Department of Communication, the relationships forged, and their memories here will always hold a special place in their hearts.

 

Looking for an Internship?

Internships benefit students because they provide “real world” experiences and opportunities. Internships can boost a resume and make you look better to future employers. For Corporate and Organizational Communication majors, completing an internship is a requirement for graduation; for Communication Studies majors, it can stand in for Capstone. Here are several great internship opportunities in Bowling Green.

Lost River Cave

This past summer, Afton Connor, a senior in the Department of Communication, completed an internship at Lost River Cave. She was responsible for handling the marketing and social media accounts. While interning, her biggest project was to coordinate the organization’s annual fundraising event, the “Scarecrow Trail.” In order to plan this event, she had to contact different businesses and organizations to try to get them to donate to or to participate in this event. From her internship, she says that she gained experience in event planning, marketing, communication, sales, and customer service. Afton stated that she would love to work for this organization or a similar non-profit organization in the future because, “I love the mission and passion behind a non-profit. The only downfall is that there is not a lot of money in these areas of work, but at least the people love what they do.” When asked if she had any advice for students who may be interested in interning at Lost River Cave, Afton says “You need to be passionate about the organization and the mission behind it. This position is an unpaid internship, therefore, it is crucial for you to love what you are doing.” She also added that it is a great internship for anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in sales, marketing or public relations.

AroundCampus

WKU student Ashlee Gregory recently interned for an organization called AroundCampus. As an intern for this organization, Ashlee was responsible for calling other businesses and organizations to ask if they would be interested in ad space for the WKU student planner. She was also responsible for helping put together the ads into the WKU student planner that is given away free from the Preston Center each year. When asked what she learned from this experience, Ashlee says “I learned how to get told “no” over and over again and still push through the day. I also learned that you have to be persistent in order to get sales.” Ashlee says that she would possibly consider working for a similar organization in the future. The ability to be able to cold call effectively and persevere if businesses tell you ‘no’ are skills that would be needed if you are interested in this internship.

Corvette Plant

The Corvette Plant is seeking interns who are deadline dependable, flexible, creative, and able to work in a very fast paced environment. The Corvette Plant has many internship opportunities available in the areas of Communications, Human Resources, Safety, and many more. Interns are responsible for doing a variety of jobs, one of which is leading tours through the plant. In order to be considered as an intern at the Corvette Plant, students must be available to work at least 11 hours a week, be available to meet a minimum of 4 tour times, and be fluent in English. For people specifically interested in a Communication internship, responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: writing and distributing the weekly newsletter to the plant, giving tours, designing banners and décor to boost plant enthusiasm, organizing and assisting with special events, and updating the plant website. Overall, interns need to be always ready and willing to work with various members of the plant leadership on all types of projects.

For additional information on internships in the Bowling Green area, contact Dr. Mize-Smith at jennifer.mize.smith@wku.edu for fall and spring internships, and Dr. Helen Sterk at helen.sterk@wku.edu for summer internships

Communication Student Organizations

The Department of Communication is full of a variety of student organizations and programs to get students involved. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is available to all Communication majors through the Business College. Contact Stacey Gish at stacey.gish@wku.edu. Communication Ambassadors is well-known as an undergraduate organization for students who wish to promote the Department of Communication. Contact Prof. Charlotte Elder at charlotte.elder@wku.edu. The interCULTURAL Club is for all students interested in promoting good communication across cultural boundaries. Consult with Facebook at www.facebook.com/Interculturalclubwku/?fref=ts.

Among them, Lambda Pi Eta and the Communication Organization for Graduate Students are introduced in this article.

According to Dr. Kong, faculty advisor of Lambda Pi Eta (LPH), it is completely free to join and is mainly voluntary when it comes to involvement. The requirements include having an overall GPA of 3.0 and 3.2 for Communication classes. Dr. Kong states that the primary goal of LPH is to “prepare you for the academic profession, leadership, and to strive for excellence.” The students in this honors society benefit by hosting social and networking events, having different contests amongst each other, and it also boosts their resumes. Dr. Kong says, “Please attend events organized by these clubs upon seeing a flyer or email so you can ‘feel-out’ if you like the people or the programs. All of these clubs and organizations are open to new ideas.”

Dr. Jerome serves as the faculty advisor of the Communication Organization for Graduate Students (COGS). According to Dr. Jerome, Cody Norris started it for a leadership project several years ago in attempt to bring the graduate students together since some of them are busy working full-time. Some are new to the program. Some are international students who are not familiar with the American education systems. This program plans social events, special dinners, and other opportunities for graduate students to come together and be able to feel more comfortable around each other. This is also a great way to boost your resume and shows that you strive to be better connected to the departmental community. Dr. Jerome states that, “The Department of Communication is represented very well and there are wonderful opportunities to get involved regardless of interest or GPA. This club is also free to join, but is obviously restricted to those who are graduate students in our program.” She also goes on to say that she would like to see COGS get involved in educational seminars and volunteer work. Students who are interested in COGS, talk to Dr. Jerome.

Overall, there are plenty of ways for incoming and current students to get involved and have fun within the Communication Department. I have only highlighted a couple of programs but there are plenty of opportunities offered. The more students who get involved, the more fun the organization will be. Furthermore, students that utilize their opportunities are going to get more out of their educational experience. In the words of Dr. Jerome, “Get in here!”

Taking a Swing at that Second Job?

Hi, Alums–Ready for that second job? Louisville Slugger is looking for a Marketing Communications Manager. Here’s the link: http://www.sluggermuseum.com/careers/ Good luck!

NCA 101st Annual Convention

Once a year, Communication scholars, teachers, and students alike assemble at an annual conference organized by the National Communication Association (NCA) with the purpose of furthering communication research. Each year Western Kentucky University’s Department of Communication sends a team to the convention to share their research from the previous year, learn about what other researchers have been studying, and make connections within the field.

This year the event took place November 19-22nd in Las Vegas, Nevada and WKU sent a team of sixteen professors, graduate students, and undergraduates to participate.

Professors Mize Smith, Thompson, Payne, Jerome, Brown, Kong and Sterk represented WKU. Like the other professors, Dr. Blair Thompson presented his own research, reviewed other papers to determine which papers would receive awards, and participated on a panel of experts that would answer any questions that arise. Dr. Thompson pointed out that WKU faculty and students have taken home many awards over the years, but also value the connections they make with other researchers. Through networking at the conference, Dr. Thompson has teamed up with schools like Clemson and Xavier for research. Dr. Angela Jerome also shared some of the benefits of attending, “It’s great to see, discuss research, and catch up with the people that I attended graduate school with at the University of Kansas. It also gives students a broader view of what we do in research and what they are capable of doing. An all-around great experience”.

Undergraduate student Paige Settles attended as one of two student representatives for the National Forensics Association National Council. She discussed policies for the next tour this coming April and business that has been conducted throughout the year.   Before the competition she also reiterated Dr. Jerome when discussing what she was most excited about, “I am really looking forward to the variety of areas within communication that the conference covers. This is one of the biggest things that surprised me last year, the variety of research that you have access to. I’m already looking at the schedule and trying to decide which panels that I want to attend.”

Those representing WKU enjoyed another great experience this year under the bright lights of Las Vegas.

 

Advisory Council Helps Develop the Department

Many of us have come to class and gone after class. However, many of us have no idea about what is going on within our department as it comes to fundraising and when it comes to department based decisions. This is where the Advisory Council of the Department of Communication comes into play.

Dr. Sterk, department head, sheds light on what the Advisory Council is and what fundraising plans they have for the future of our department. The Advisory Council is made up of successful alumni and friends of the department who are willing to help the us stay up to date on what is needed to be successful after college is over. According to Dr. Sterk “We have just begun to work toward fundraising with the Communication Advisory Council. This year, the Department put forward a proposal for uses of funds. So, this year is a planning year.” She continued, “As a department, our operating budget covers necessary office costs and also costs related to producing and promoting faculty and student research. When it comes to extending our reach through graduate assistantships and undergraduate scholarships, it takes more than our yearly operating budget to make those happen.”

The Advisory Council is considering multiple ideas for advancing our department, such as an award for an outstanding faculty member and graduate student. The award would be $1,000 for the faculty and an outstanding graduate student would receive $500. The named faculty member could be featured in an event where they present their research. Another idea is book scholarships for $1000 for the department to purchase textbooks for most of our classes and keep them in the Communication Success Center for reading in there. These are both intriguing for our department.

Having an Advisory Council benefits our department. Dr. Sterk explained “The benefits of their advice include many curricular changes. At the graduate level, we have revised the graduate certificate program in Communicating in Organizations, and added another certificate program in Communicating in Healthcare. Students can complete these graduate certificates completely online. In addition we offer a Joint Undergraduate Master’s Program (JUMP) as well as many masters courses online. At the undergraduate level, we have changed the capstone requirements so students in the Communication studies program may choose either an internship or the COMM 494: Capstone in Communication course. Students in the Corporate and Organizational Communication program complete an internship as their capstone course.”

The Advisory Council is on our side, developing ideas and opportunities for the future of our department. Because of the Advisory Council, we continue on the fast track to success in the Department of Communication at WKU.

Dream Jobs of Senior Communication Majors

The knowledge and skills developed while pursuing a degree in Communication allow students to pursue careers in a wide variety of fields. Even more importantly, with this knowledge students can be confident that they will be successful upon graduation, and can have the courage to go after the jobs of their dreams. Three students, soon to be on the job market, shared their dream jobs.

James Martin, a double major in both Communication Studies and Religious Studies, graduated in December, 2015. His dream job is to become an international missionary, a dream he has had since he was 19 years old. This job involves sharing the gospel, making disciples and planting churches in a cross-cultural context. James mentioned that he wants to do more than simply be a Christian, and he has been on short and mid-term mission trips both nationally and internationally. When asked why this was his calling and how he has prepared to achieve his dream, he responded, “I have lived my entire life overseas, I daily spend time in the Bible seeking God’s will and direction for His calling, and I make an effort to live the life of a missionary here in America because all Christians are called to make disciples, no matter where they live.”

Meredith Chinn, who will be graduating in May, 2016 from the Corporate and Organizational Communication program, is interested in pharmaceutical sales. According to Meredith, sales representatives educate physicians and other medication-prescribing professionals on new developments in the rapidly advancing pharmaceutical industry. She learned about this job originally from her mother, and she seriously started thinking about it as a potential career path this past summer. She has begun to prepare herself for her dream job by placing herself in challenging situations, practicing her interview skills, and she has started looking into applying for sales positions.

Karen Powell, who will be also graduating in May, 2016 from the Corporate and Organizational Communication program, has a very specific dream job. Her dream is to be the Vice President of Recruiting for a large company. Responsibilities of this position include planning and directing an organization’s employment and recruiting programs, policies, and objectives in order to achieve optimal staffing levels. She explained that she would love to develop and administer recruitment strategies that meet organizational needs and be responsible for overall recruiting, hiring, and onboarding of employees. Karen is currently looking at entry-level recruiting jobs in the surrounding metropolitan areas.

All of these students agree about the significance of communication in their dream jobs. For example, James said that communication will enable him to present the gospel to a variety of people more effectively and clearly by listening to and understanding their needs. Meredith mentioned that her major has given her the confidence to speak and present herself professionally, and has allowed her to build relationships with several different professors and other colleagues from a variety of career paths. Karen explained that having a Communication degree makes students very marketable in almost any field, and being successful in the recruiting field is entirely reliant upon one’s communication and selling skills. Additionally, each student stated that they are confident in their communication skills that they have developed throughout their curriculums.

Clearly, the job opportunities with a Communication degree are endless, and the educational achievements that these students have reached, and are continuing to reach, through the Communication program have instilled in them the skill set they need to walk confidently on graduation day.

 

Message from Helen Sterk, Department Head

This fall’s highlights include the promotion of six, count ‘em, six! faculty members and the Department of Communication’s strong contributions to international communication.

First, Dr. Holly Payne was promoted to full Professor. Congratulations, Dr. Payne!

This year marked the first time instructors could be promoted. Formerly, there was only one instructor rank, with no possibility of promotion. As of this year, instructors now have three ranks open to them. Five instructors were promoted to the second rank, all names and records we know well: Gayle Allison, Bruce Crawley , Charlotte Elder , Gary Hughes, and Patricia Witcher. Please join me in congratulating them on their promotions!

The Department of Communication contributes strongly to WKU’s international reach. Donna Schiess and Rita Meredith led Study Abroad courses to Australia and Argentina, respectively. Dr. Kong, from South Korea, and Dr. Ishii, from Japan teach full-time in the department. Dr. Chai teaches COMM 263 and 463 online from Bangladesh. Two years ago, the department hosted a South Korean professor on sabbatical, Dr. Kang. And this spring, we will host a Chinese scholar in intercultural communication on her sabbatical.

This past fall, Dr. Ishii, Dr. Garmon, Dr. Kong, and Ms. Strode led workshops on intercultural communication at WKU’s International Education Week. The first workshop featured on Developing Communication Skills was ‘Cultural 101 Workshop for International Encounters’ and the second was ‘Diversity Management Training.’ A note on Dr. Ishii—she consults regularly on intercultural communication competency with companies such as Sumitomo Electrical Wiring Systems and Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products; speaks for the Japanese Business Association; and mentors WKU’s Japanese Culture Club. Dr. Ishii’s experience-based leadership on intercultural communication is invaluable to our department.

These two highlights show how the department’s quality is built from within. Our full-time faculty members take their work seriously, care for their students, and move learning beyond our six classrooms.

 

Faculty Spotlight—Dr. Laura Brown

She’s spunky. She’s cool. She’s the “professor with the nose ring.” She’s hip. She’s different. She’s WKU’s Department of Communication’s new professor, Dr. Laura Brown. After traveling nearly 1,000 miles from Austin, Texas, Dr. Brown is here to stay in Bowling Green, Kentucky. After interviewing the new local star, I’d like to tell the students and faculty of the Department of Communication who exactly Dr. Laura Brown is.

A.C.:   So where are you from?

L.B.:   Well, I’m originally from the Chicago area, but I’ve been living in Austin, Texas, for the past five years. I went to a smaller institution called Elmhurst College for my undergraduate degree where I studied Organizational Communication. It’s about 15 minutes outside of Chicago. Then I went on to complete my master’s degree in Illinois, and finally, my doctorate in Interpersonal and Health Communication at the University of Texas.

Not exactly your “small-town” girl per-se… And let’s not forget to mention that Dr. Laura Brown was known to be the number one potential professor in the nation for Health Communication.

A.C.: So why WKU? Why Bowling Green?

L.B.:   I just loved how excited the students were. They were so involved, engaged, and participated in my lecture. That was definitely persuasive. In regards to the faculty, it was cool to me that it is a smaller department, but a lot of the professors hold leadership positions in both regional and national organizations. Geographically, even though Bowling Green is a small city, it’s reassuring that Nashville is close by.

Hey… we might be small, but we’re oh so mighty. Even though our department isn’t exactly on the large side, the discipline of Communication is.

A.C.: What is interesting about studying communication, and when did you know that teaching communication is what you wanted to do?

L.B.: Something that is really great about a communication degree is that it’s flexible. You can do so much with it. This is also something that is scary sometimes because there’s no set path for after you graduate. I wish that students could try and see the flexibility as a strength because it is. Also, after you graduate, it’s typical to have 3 or 4 different careers over a life time. It’s okay to change your mind. As far as when I decided this path was for me, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do until my junior year of undergrad. I originally thought that I wanted to study romantic relational development. Then I did a research project on how families cope with lung cancer. This was so interesting to me, and it sparked an interest in health communication.

A.C.:   So here you are now. Distinguished, finished with school, and living out the dream that you hoped for. What comes next? What are your immediate and distant goals or aspirations?

L.B.: Currently, my main goal is to have my dissertation published. It discusses LGBTQ healthcare experiences including making coming out disclosures to health providers.

What an honor for us to be able to call Dr. Laura Brown ours!

A.C.: It seems as if you’ve got it together, at least from a student’s perspective. So what would you say to us? What bit of advice do you have for all of us students who might be struggling on the daily?

L.B.: Seize opportunities. One thing I wish I would have done in college is study abroad. At the time, it seemed so expensive and impossible, but it would have been an amazing experience.

Whether she’s teaching, or participating in hobbies like trivia and yoga, or getting confronted by a bear (true story), Dr. Brown is a unique individual with a fresh perspective for WKU’s Department of Communication. The students and faculty are so lucky to be able to know that WKU is now home for such an intelligent, positive, and energetic individual. With this being said, welcome to the Hill, Dr. Brown!

 

WKU Hosts 38th Annual OSCLG Conference

Western Kentucky University hosted the 38^th annual meeting for the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender on October 1-4, 2015. Activities and sessions were held at the Hyatt Place Hotel and the Augenstein Alumni Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky where 150 members and attendees participated. This purpose of this meeting was focused around Communication and Sexuality. Sessions included topics such as sexual assault, gender identity, culture, feminism, health communication, and much more.

On Thursday, October 1^st, 2015, roughly 20 members and attendees participated in the first session of the conference – Sexual Assault and Safety hosted by chair, Ms. Jeanine Minge, Cupola 1 at the Hyatt Place Hotel. First, Dr. Diana K. Ivy from Texas A & M University – Corpus Christi, addressed the importance of “College students’ sexual safety: The verbal and nonverbal communication of consent.” Dr. Ivy first addressed consent (i.e., what is consent?). The session soon transferred into a roundtable discussion with participants and Dr. Ivy. It is no surprise that most individuals find it difficult to discuss sexuality and/or sexual assault. Ms. Elizabeth Madariaga, the Western Kentucky University director of sexual assault services, briefly discussed Title IX policies and other efforts made by the university to prevent sexual assault/misconduct on campus and for WKU students in general. Attendees and members in the discussion reviewed Texas Tech University’s effort to ease communication about sexual assault and safety through the use of Defineyourline.org where students can submit questions/answers on the issue. Dr. Ivy is concerned with the role communication and education plays on university campuses.

The first session set the stage for the rest of the conference, which was highlighted by dynamic panels on sexuality, same-sex marriage, reproductive politics, and sexual assault and prevention.