Faculty Matters A School of Communication e-newsletter

Vol. 2 Issue 4 April-May 2015 Hi Colleagues, Thank goodness the heightened chaos at the end of this semester was for a good cause. We were interviewing candidates to teach with us. Since no further positions have been announced, how golden our two lines shine! Gaining these faculty positions benefits the School and is emblematic of the outstanding status that Communication holds in the eyes of the dean, the provost and, yes, the new president. Institutional knowledge and a strong voice have been instrumental in securing resources and growing Communication’s reputation as the university sets out to pursue a new strategic direction. Only a handful of faculty lines were funded across the university, and we were granted not one but two of them. Although these teaching positions cannot fully address our needs in the wake of the school’s unprecedented separations of the recent years, such success demonstrates how well Communication is faring during this time of transition. The School has distinguished itself among its peers in the briskly competitive division of natural and social sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences. End-of-the-semester chaos. An unbudgeted future. General education upheaval. Contemplation of a new university name. Recalling the start of how the year began may help us remember how well we weather change. As sirens blared, we corralled hundreds of students into the Kolbe Hall basement – yes, we have a basement! -- for an afternoon of tornado warnings and sightings that extended into the evening. The cramped basement provided safe yet uncomfortable quarters. A modest request was granted after that experience: the Kolbe Hall tornado shelter was expanded to include the ground floor. The positive results stemming from this crisis situation model the results that can be recouped from the uncertainties that confront us as the academic year draws to a close. The unexpected death of a colleague mid-semester keeps us mindful of lost talent as well as those who didn’t hesitate to step in to instruct the specialized classes that Dr. Paul Jacoway was teaching. Please extend your gratitude to Dr. Kitty Endres, distinguished professor; Mr. Juan Contreras, lecturer; Mr. Chris Collins, adjunct, and Ms. Randi Hoy-Rappach, graduate assistant. Expanding the reach of the School’s brand included launching this newsletter Faculty Matters. I’d like to thank Christina Marek, the graduate student who worked with me to start the newsletter in Fall 2014. I’d also like to recognize the News and PR Team, which provided information and ideas for the newsletter and other school media this Spring: Leyna Chovan and Megan Vorndran, graduate students, and Bob Vaia, who is working toward his B.A. Bob initiated the Zip Spotlight feature, and he continues to create converged media content for your reading and viewing pleasure. I hope you enjoy this final 2014-2015 edition of Faculty Matters.

Photo by Bob Vaia School of Communication Interim Director Dr. Therese Lueck

This spring, I announce my retirement with the pride of having served as the School’s spokesperson. The diversity of the student body that drew me to the University continues to present opportunities as well as challenges. The University still confronts the need to demonstrate the value of higher education in a region redefining itself from its industrial roots. As a woman with a Ph.D. as well as professional journalism experience, I came here to serve as a role model. I’ve discovered myriad ways to serve in that capacity and found my own role models along the journey. Serving as interim director has provided a fitting capstone for my 26 years with the School of Communication at The University of Akron. Thank you, Terry

SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

HOLDS GREAT SPEAK OFF

Words have the power to teach. They have the power to change minds and hearts. They also have the power to persuade. On the evening of April 22, five competitors from The University of Akron’s General Education Speech Program tried to persuade four judges into giving one of them the title of best public speaker and a check for $1000.

The speech contest was based on the problem/solution speech in which students must put together a speech to persuade the crowd on a topic that they believe needs attention, but they must also provide a solution to the problem.

The top five competitors in the final round of the competition were given five minutes to present their speech using six reputable sources, and they were each required to use a form of technology

such as a PowerPoint presentation during their speech.

According to Bonnie Keiper, coordinator of the General Education Speech Program and senior instructor, the road to the finals was an arduous one.

“All of these students are enrolled in Introduction to Public Speaking or Effective Oral Communication. You can’t be in the speech competition unless an instructor nominates you from his or her class,” Keiper said.

Speech instructors collect all the names of the students in those classes from both the Fall and Spring semesters and base their nominations off of that list of names.

The preliminary round was held on April 17 at Kolbe Hall with 106 students all competing for the top five spots.

Competitors in the preliminary round gave their speech twice in a round robin format. They presented their speech to two judges with nine other students in the room. Judges ranked them one through nine and gave them a score from one to twenty five. Students then left the first presentation

Photo by Bob Vaia

Dr. John Zipp, professor of sociology, served as Master of Ceremonies for the 4th Annual Great Speak-Off.

Photo by Bob Vaia Senior Instructor Bonnie Keiper, coordinator of the General Education Speech Program, organized the event and presented the awards.

and gave their speech a second time, with the average of both scores used to determine their place in the competition.

This painstaking coordination ensured that students were not judged by their own instructors, and no student was in the second presentation with any of the same students.

The finals of the Great Speak-Off were held on Wednesday, April 22 in the Grand Ballroom at Quaker Square here in Akron, to a large crowd of guests, faculty and students.

The Master of Ceremonies for the event was Dr. John Zipp, professor of sociology, who has hosted the contest since its inception in 2012.

The judges for this final round were Mark Cohen, publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal, Samuel DeShazior, economic development director for the city of Akron, Harvey Nelson, co-owner of the Main Street Gourmet in Akron, and Gertrude Wilms, Akron’s chief city prosecutor.

Their job was not an easy one.

University of Akron lecturer and speech and debate team coach Mark Rittenour, who coordinates the speakers for the preliminary round, knows what speech judges look for in a speech to determine a winner.

“It’s important to have a call-to-action, That is what separates it from an informative speech, but a persuasive speech should start by informing that a problem exists and then moves to the persuasive aspect of, after educating the audience, convincing them to act to correct the problem for themselves or society as a whole,” said Rittenour.

Heather Davies, a post-baccalaureate student majoring in dietetics, was the winner of the top prize, with a speech on diet and portion control titled “Sizing Up Your Health.”

Davies, who lost 60 pounds, and credits portion control with her successful weight loss, said, “I know the importance of it. It was an easy thing to talk about.”

The other winners were second place-Hayley Cargill, third place-Corrine Reed, fourth place-Elizabeth Clifford, and fifth place-Elaina Zehetbauer. The alternate for the contest was Kristen Vargas.

Clifford, a mechanical engineering major, spoke about changing the funding of education. She said, “I love seeing the reaction of people’s faces to what you’re saying.”

WAKR Morning Show host and UA Special Lecturer Chris Keppler interviewed Keiper on April 24 about the contest and included a portion of that interview, as well as portions of the contest itself, in a segment the public affairs show “Spectrum” on Sunday, May 3, on WAKR and WONE.

Photo by Bob Vaia

The five finalists with their awards (from left to right): Hayley Cargill-2nd, Elaina Zehentbauer-5th, Elizabeth Clifford-4th, Corinne Reed-3rd, and Heather Davies-1st.

Photo by Bob Vaia Dr. Therese Lueck, interim director of the School of Communication, delivered the opening remarks.

Photo by Bob Vaia Great Speat-Off Winner Heather Davies with Senior Lecturer May Ann Kate Lombardo. Videographer Jamie Newhall in background.

Photo by Bob Vaia 2nd Place winner Hayley Cargill with Dr. Sylvia White, associate professor.

Photo by Bob Vaia 3rd Place winner Corinne Reed with Senior Lecturer James McGuire.

Photo by Bob Vaia 4th Place Winner Elizabeth Clifford with Associate Lecturer Rita Nmai.

Photo by Bob Vaia 5th Place winner Elaina Zehentbauer with Special Lecturer John Dages.

Photo by Bob Vaia Dr. Sylvia White, associate professor of communication, plays the dulcimer in the local group Mixed Up Strings.

ZIP SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Sylvia White

There is a side to people that most of us never see, let alone hear. Those people we come in contact with every day have talents that we are often never aware of. That can certainly be said for a School of Communication associate professor. Dr. Sylvia White is an avid dulcimer player with Mixed Up Strings, a local dulcimer group. After thirty-plus years of teaching – 22 of them at The University of Akron -- White is retiring. She plans to devote more time to her music. Visit the School’s homepage to see Dr. White rehearse with Mixed Up Strings.

Students ‘Pay It Forward’ with Two Class Projects

For the first time in 63 Pay It Forward Projects at The University of Akron, the presentations were so good the judges awarded two $1,000 prizes instead of one. The two non-profits that were given $1,000 to go forward with my students’ projects were Life is Good No Matter What and The Akron Zoo. The group that worked with Life is Good No Matter What (pictured at top of following page) planned a getaway vacation for an individual who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They did all the phone calls and planning of the excursion from start to finish. They also documented the complete getaway to Georgia in a short film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE2Hkp8c3B4 which the organization will be using to try to get additional funds through grants. The Akron Zoo group redeveloped the Jelly Fish Encounter at the Akron Zoo for the May 2017 opening of a Burrowing Exhibit. They developed the floor plans and did the full budget, including securing a well known artist to create a mural for the opening. The group was also given the authority to budget $300,000 of the zoo’s budget for this project. One group that did not get chosen was able to secure $500 for their organization to have radio advertisements in Northeast Ohio, and they indicated they will be going forward with the project on a $500 budget. --James Durbin

--photo courtesy of James Durbin

Students pose with the founder of the nonprofit and the recipient of the getaway trip with his son.

--photo courtesy of James Durbin The Akron Zoo group poses with its check.

Students Stay Involved Outside the Classroom

--photo courtesy of Julie Cajigas CMIP students visit with with Elissa Nadworny digital education journalist at NPR Students in the Converged Media Immersion Program recently traveled to Washington D.C., where they saw the inner workings of prominent media operations, including National Public Radio.

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--photo courtesy Carol Savery

Two students from the Interpersonal Communication class taught by Carol Savery, adjunct, took part in the recent Walk A Mile event. Mary Kallinicou (left) sophomore, pre-education, and Aaron Sturnbaum, junior, communication, are pictured during Walk A Mile in downtown Akron.

Student Joins Knight Legacy The John S. Knight Memorial Journalism Fund selected Zaina Salem, a junior Communication major in News and Public Relations, as a 2015 Knight Scholar. Salem, of Uniontown, will receive a $5,000 Knight scholarship for the 2015-2016 academic year. This semester Salem was one of the first 15 students admitted to the Converged Media Immersion Program. She served as managing editor of The Buchtelite for the full academic year, and next fall she will take over as editor-in-chief. “Zaina is a pleasure to work with,” said this year’s editor-in-chief, Alicia Finch. “She is attentive and studious with everything she does. She deserved the scholarship she was awarded.” The Akron Press Club honored Salem and other scholarship winners at an April 24 luncheon. Four students from Kent State University also received Knight scholarships, while a KSU student received the Akron Press Club Scholarship and a Malone University student received the Ludel B. Sauvageot Scholarship for public relations majors. All the scholarships are worth $5,000. Last year, Communication major Anna Tultz, who graduated in December, was among students receiving the John S. Knight Scholarship. The John S. Knight scholarships are awarded in memory of the longtime Akron Beacon Journal editor whose column, The Editor’s Notebook, won the 1968 Pultizer Prize for editorial writing. Knight, along with his brother, James, bought other papers and established Knight Newspapers in the late 1930s. The growing company became Knight Ridder after a 1974 merger. The McClatchy Co. bought Knight Ridder in 2006. --Roger Mezger

College Honors Communication Scholars The College of Arts & Sciences presented scholarships to five Communication students at the Annual College Scholarship Awards Reception. Lauren Ferritto, PR, received a Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Scholarship. Billie Radcliffe and Allyson Smith each received a Charles E. Bulger PhD. and Esgar Bowen Foltz M.D. Endowed Scholarship. Hannah Adams was awarded a William J. Costigan Family Endowed Scholarship. Aaron Sturbaum was a recipient of the Judith A. and Roger T. Read Scholarship. The College scholarships were presented Wednesday, April 28, in the Honors College.

File photo Zaina Salem, winner of a 2015 John S. Knight Memorial Scholarship

School of Communication Awards Scholarships The Ashton Prize recipients are Lauren Ferritto, Billy Radcliff, Kaylie West. The Betty Jane Lichtenwalter Scholarship recipient is Allyson Smith The Pixley Scholarships have been awarded to Morgan Alley, Courtney Bosetti, Shannon Ede, Audrey Fliegel, Samantha Hickey, Lauren James, Katie Koehler, Jeff Raimer, Wesley Spencer, Julie Yockey. The Carl Dunkle & Margaret Allen Sheppard Memorial Scholarship winners are Amanda Marotta, Kyle Troyer.

Communicators’ Years of Service Recognized

35 YEAR • Blake Thompson

30 YEAR • Richard Kent

25 YEAR • David Ritchey

10 YEAR: • Joan Dilillo

5 YEAR:

• Elizabeth Graham • Christopher Keppler • Connie Lenzer • Kathy Miracle • Amanda Rabinowitz • Tang Tang • Don Welch

Spring/Summer 2015 Calendar May 4-10: Final exams May 10: Graduation (undergraduate ceremony): 10 a.m. May 10: Graduation (graduate student ceremony): 2 p.m. June 26: Summer Visit Day: 10:30 a.m.-Noon: Faculty sign up in KO 108 July 24: Summer Visit Day: 10:30 a.m.-Noon: Faculty sign up in KO 108