Posted on No Comments on Honoring Mark Waugh: The Mark Waugh Scholarship

Honoring Mark Waugh: The Mark Waugh Scholarship

Earlier this month, the JMU Debate team lost their beloved friend and alumnus.

 

Mark Waugh was a student who embodied the JMU culture in every aspect of his life. He left a lasting imprint not only on the JMU Debate team, but on the JMU community as a whole. He graduated in 2012 and joined the debate team his freshman year. Mark graduated with the most wins in JMU debate history, including the novice national championship his freshman year and five other tournaments in total. His senior year, Mark was named to the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) All-American team, which put him among the top 30 debaters in the nation, and he twice qualified for the prestigious National Debate Tournament (NDT). Mark was also an outstanding student, being selected for membership in JMU’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

 

As Michael Davis, Director of the JMU Debate team, noted, “Mark Waugh was one of the best people I have ever met. He was one of those people who effortlessly combined a commitment to excellence with a fun and easygoing attitude.”

JMU has created the Mark Waugh Memorial Foundation Fund, with all donations going towards the JMU Debate team. Mark Waugh was a wonderful, energetic person who left an impact on all he met.

 

If you would like to donate to the Mark Waugh Memorial Foundation Fund, go to this link:

 

 

Under my gift will support select “Other” and enter “Mark Waugh Memorial Fund”.

 

If you would like to donate by check please send those made payable to James Madison University with “Mark Waugh Memorial Fund” in the subject line and send them to:

 

Dr. Michael Davis
James Madison University
MSC 2106
800 S. Main St
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

 We thank you for your time spent here at JMU and the legacy you left with our debate team.

 

Posted on No Comments on The End of October

The End of October

It has been quite the busy two weeks here in Harrison. Read on to see what has been going on. If you have anything else to add please comment below.

Speech Team

Speech team members at the Cedar Crest competition last week.
Speech team members at the Cedar Crest competition last week.

The JMU Speech Team continued their impressive competitive season this past weekend in Allentown, PA on the campus of Cedar Crest College.  The team, including 4 first year competitors, finished in third place for the weekend against schools including; Cedar Crest College, Cornell University, Lafayette College, Liberty University, George Mason University, Saint Joseph’s University, Seton Hall University, West Chester University, and Wilkes University.

Individual results are as follows.

Day One

  • Shelby Akins, SR SCOM, 5th Informative Speaking, 5th After Dinner Speaking
  • Virginia Bonds, FR SCOM, 6th Program Oral Interpretation
  • Jessie Bur, Soph SMAD, 6th Poetry Interpretation
  • Abby Fiege, FR MATH, 4th After Dinner Speaking
  • Katie Lese, SR SCOM, 4th Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Communication Analysis

 

Day Two

  • Shelby Akins, SR SCOM, 5th After Dinner Speaking
  • Virginia Bonds, FR SCOM, 5th Program Oral Interpretation, 2nd Novice Prose Interpretation
  • Jessie Bur, Soph SMAD, 1st Extemporaneous, 6th Impromptu Speaking
  • Abby Fiege, FR MATH, 3rd After Dinner Speaking
  • Katie Lese, SR SCOM, 2nd Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Communication Analysis
  • Nathan Selove, FR THEA, 1st Prose Interpretation.
Speech team members at the Cedar Crest competition last week.
Speech team members at the Cedar Crest competition last week.

The team, coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid, will have a weekend off before facing their largest competition of the semester in Peoria, IL on the campus of Bradley University.

IABC Meeting

Students at the IABC meeting
Students at the IABC meeting

Last week on Thursday, October 17th IABC held another meeting before their elections. If you have any questions please contact Dr. Janell Bauer (bauerjc@jmu.edu) or Dr. Heather Carmack (carmachj@jmu.edu) for more information.

We are all very excited to see what our newest organization accomplishes in their first year!

PRSSA

On Thursday, Oct. 10, @JMUPRSSA accepted an annual grant awarded by the Blue Ridge PRSA chapter.

PRSSA President Ryan Thomas traveled to accept a grant awarded by the Blue Ridge PRSA President Heidi Ketler.
PRSSA President Ryan Thomas traveled to accept a grant awarded by the Blue Ridge PRSA President Heidi Ketler.

 

On Friday, Oct. 11, @JMUPRSSA visited 8 PR firms and organizations to learn more about best practices, industry trends and future opportunities. They took a bus up Friday morning with more than 30 members, toured different agencies, then wrapped the day up with an alumni networking event.This was the first agency visit of the semester and PRSSA is planning for more agency trips in the Spring.

PRSSA 10
PRSSA students with professionals at the Adfero and fleishman-Hillard.

SCOM professors were recognized

Dr. Corey Hickerson received a teaching and technology award and Dr. Brian Kaylor was nominated he State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s prestigious Outstanding Faculty Awards with seven other JMU professors.

Congratulations!!

“El Pintor” with Dr. Carlos Aleman

The Latin Ballet of Virginia performed “El Pintor” (The Painter) at Harrisonburg High School
this past Wednesday, October 23rd. The event was co-sponsored by Dr. Carlos Alemán of the JMU Professors in Residence.

Upcoming

Homecoming Week

Next week officially starts Homecoming Week here at JMU. Students are excited for the Bleed Purple day next Monday. While, we are excited to see our SCOM Alumni! Check out the Homecoming Week Twitter or Facebook for updates. Also, keep checking with JMU SCOM, we may have something exciting planned for our alumni!

Alumni Award Nomination  

The deadline to apply for the Alumni Award is February 15th, for all you amazing alumni you will not want to miss this deadline!

The award is given annually to an alum who manifests the following criteria:

a.     Outstanding contributions to the discipline/profession

b.     Outstanding service to the department, university, community, region, nation

c.     SCOM major, minor, co-curricular and extracurricular programs alumni are eligible

You can nominate yourself, too!!

The award is presented at the year-end SCOM Celebration event in the Spring semester. More information on the award and the procedure/deadlines for submitting a nomination packet can be found by clicking on this link.

 

Don’t forget, our poll for the new SCOM Blog name is still going on! Vote on your favorite or make a suggestion!

Posted on 1 Comment on Vote on the New Blog Name

Vote on the New Blog Name

We want to rename our blog site to refocus the purposes of this blog: 1) To be a source of information for students, alumni, and faculty, 2) to create conversations within the SCOM community, and 3) to promote engagement among those involved with the SCOM program.

Your voice is important to us. Please vote below. If you have an idea, please leave a comment.

[poll id=”1″]

Posted on No Comments on The Week in Review

The Week in Review

Speech Team Update

The JMU Speech Team had their most productive weekend of competition to date this past weekend on the campus of George Mason University.  Twelve teams representing 7 different states joined JMU at the Virginia is for Lovers tournament hosted by our team and the George Mason Speech team, including: Pacific University (Oregon), University of Florida, University of Akron (Ohio), Seton Hall University (New Jersey), Sarah Lawrence College (New York), and St. Joseph’s University (Pennsylvania).  The JMU team finished in 2nd place and Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) was overall top speaker.  The individual results are as follows:

Shelby Akins (Sr, SCOM) 2nd Communication Analysis (QUALLED), 5TH Informative Speaking, 6th Prose Interpretation

Jessie Bur (Jr, Eng/SMAD) 1st Impromptu Speaking, 1st Persuasive Speaking (QUALLED), 6th Poetry Interpretation, 5th TOP SPEAKER

Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) 1st Duo Interpretation, 2nd Informative Speaking (QUALLED), 2nd Poetry Interpretation (QUALLED), 1st Prose Interpretation (QUALLED), OVERALL TOP SPEAKER

Katie Lese (Sr, SCOM) 4th Dramatic Interpretation, 1st Duo Interpretation, 2nd Prose Interpretation (QUALLED)

Nathan Selove (Fr, THEA) 1st After Dinner Speaking (QUALLED)

Kendrick Smith (Soph, SPAN) 2nd Program Oral Interpretation (QUALLED)

In order to qualify an event for the National Individual Event Tournament (NIET) a student must compete in at least three tournament final rounds and their placings in the final round must equal a total of 8 or less.  The JMU team now has 6 members qualified (the most we have ever had qualified this early in the season) for the NIET to be held in Tempe, AZ at Arizona State University in April.

The team, coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid,  travels next to West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

Family Weekend

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Family weekend was a great success and thankfully the weather stayed nice! If you have pictures from family weekend that you would like to add, please email Dr. Isaac Woo (woocw@jmu.edu) or Chelsea Legendre (legendcj@dukes.jmu.edu).

Upcoming Events

PRSSA Agency Visit

PRSSA is taking their first trip of the year to D.C. to visit different PR agencies today. The organization will be taking a bus up to D.C. and have the opportunity to meet with PR professionals. Then there will be an alumni networking event to conclude the trip.

IABC Meeting

SCOM’s newest organization, the International Association of Business Communications, will be having one more meeting prior to their elections. Elections will be held in November and if you are interested in running for a position, you will not want to miss these meetings! Contact Dr. Heather Carmack at carmachj@jmu.edu for more information.

Next Meeting: October 17th

Time: 6:30 PM-7:30 PM

Posted on No Comments on For the Students

For the Students

Gretchen Hansen is one of the Program Support Technicians for The School of Communication Studies. She grew up and went to school in Luray, VA (home of the Luray Caverns), and still currently resides there.  She began working at SCOM in February 2003, and just had her 10 year anniversary.  It was a great opportunity to sit down with her and ask her for some tips and advice for our SCOM students. To contact Ms. Hansen, please email hansenga@jmu.edu or call (540) 568-6775.
 
 Deadlines
  • Graduation Application– Due to your adviser October 15th.  Make an appointment with your adviser in advance to go over the application.
  • Apply for SCOM – November 15th: Applications are submitted through email scom@jmu.edu  
SCOM Minor
  • Submit application before registering for SCOM 240 & 241 in the Spring.
  • When you find out your Spring 2014 registration appointment time, email that information to scom@jmu.edu, along with your section choices.
  • There are six sections each available for the intro classes, 240 and 241.  You must choose the same section number for both.  (EX: 240.0001 & 241.0001)
Graduating Senior Majors
  • Register for SCOM 394 now if you are graduating in December, if you are unable to register, contact the SCOM office at (540) 568-6228, or stop in.
  • Go to Ashby Lab toward the end of the semester and take the assessment tests, but avoid exam week.

 

 

Do you have any more questions or comments? Please feel free to comments on this story.

Posted on No Comments on Ready for the Family Weekend?

Ready for the Family Weekend?

Well, family weekend hasn’t started yet, but, SCOM had another good week.

SCOM Speech Team

The JMU Speech Team completed their second weekend of competition at Liberty University.  The team competed against a number of Virginia schools including George Mason University, Liberty University, Radford University, Lynchburg College and Virginia University of Lynchburg as well as out-of-state schools including Seton Hall University (NJ), Cedar Crest College (PA), Lafayette College (PA) and Bowling Green State University (OH).  Overall the team finished in 2nd place with 7 members on our team to George Mason University with 28 members on their team.

Individual results are as follows:

Day 1:
Shelby Akins (Sr, SCOM) 1st Communication Analysis
Jessie Bur (Jr, Eng/SMAD) 6th Poetry Interpretation, 5th Impromptu Speaking, 1st Persuasive Speaking, 2nd Overall Speaker
Zach Healy (Sr, SCOM/SMAD) 1st Informative Speaking, 5th Overall Speaker
Katie Lese (Sr, SCOM) 3rd Informative Speaking.  This event is now qualified for our national tournament in April.
Nathan Selove (Fr, THEA) 6th Dramatic Interpretation, 4th Duo Interpretation with Smith, 3rd After Dinner Speaking
Kendrick Smith (So, Eng/SPAN) 4th Duo Interpretation with Selove, 2nd Program Oral Interpretation
Day 2:
Shelby Akins  3rd Communication Analysis, 6th Prose Interpretation
Jessie Bur  1st Persuasive Speaking, 3rd Impromptu Speaking
Abby Fiege (Fr, MATH) 6th After Dinner Speaking
Zach Healy 2nd Prose Interpretation, 3rd Poetry Interpretation, 3rd Duo Interpretation with Lese, 5th Informative Speaking, 2nd Overall Top Speaker
Katie Lese 3rd Prose Interpretation, 3rd Duo Interpretation with Healy
Nathan Selove 2nd After Dinner Speaking, 5th Duo Interpretation with Smith
Kendrick Smith 1st Program Oral Interpretation, 7th Poetry Interpretation, 5th Dramatic Interpretation, 5th Duo Interpretation, 4th Overall Top Speaker.
Next weekend the team travels to George Mason University.  The team is coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid.

 

Congratulations!!

Field Trip

Professor Isaac Woo’s Sports Public Relations class (SCOM 313: Topics in Communication Studies) visited the Washington Capital’s game last Friday.

Thanks to Megan Elchenberg, communication coordinator, Brian Kiefer, PR asssitant, and Debs Francisco, web manager, students had great experience here.

Please visit here (http://bit.ly/1g7uqIL) to read more about what they leaned from this experience.

IMG_20130927_184145_894
Students at the press box.
IMG_20130927_184216_363
View from the press box.
IMG_20130927_222045_890
Students with Mr. Brian Kiefer, PR Assistant, after the game.

Upcoming Events

Debate Team 

James Madison University is hosting a debate exploring the ethical issues of animal based research. The debate is part of a larger series of over 20 universities and the JMU is the only university in the United States that has been invited to participate. The debate will be at 7:30 in Miller 1101 on October 14th.

More information can be found here:

http://animalresearchdebate.idebate.org/news-articles/big-animal-research-debate-goes-international

PRSSA Agency Visit

JMU PRSSA will have their first agency visit of the year to D.C. on October 11th, Friday.

Places they are visiting are

  • The Adfero Group
  • APCO Worldwide
  • Fleishman Hillard
  • Burson Marsteller
  • AARP
  • Fannie Mae
  • Weber Shandwick
  • Ketchum

 

Family Weekend

Family weekend is here! From the football game, to picnics, to a 5K race, Family Weekend is shaping up to be a lot of fun! For a more detailed schedule click here. Comment below if your parents are coming up!

If you have any events or activities of SCOM to share, please send information to Dr. Isaac Woo (woocw@jmu.edu) or Chelsea Legendre (legendcj@dukes.jmu.edu) or Tweet us @JMUSCOM.