SCOM students and faculty welcomes the new season with a couple of exciting news:
Alumni Day Event
Quick safety tips before leaving for spring break!
Before everyone heads off for break, here are some safety tips to consider!
As students usually leave their lovely homes for a whole week, there are some factors to consider before leaving it completely vacant.
Read more Quick safety tips before leaving for spring break!
Eventful week for SCOM as February comes to an end
As we have less than 24 hours to say goodbye to February. SCOM students and faculty have spent their last couple weeks successfully.
Debate Team
The JMU Debate Team has qualified two teams to the National Debate Tournament (NDT) for the first time in 22 years, since 1992.
(Banner of NDT, click picture for site)
The NDT is a qualification-only tournament that selects only the top 78 teams in the country to participate.
(Banner of NDT, click picture for site)
Is graduate school right for you? Tips from JMU SCOM Faculty members.
Students were encouraged to come to Graduate School Info Sessions hosted by Dr. Bsumeck, the SCOM graduate school, and the JMU PRSSA chapter this past week. Students and faculty were able to openly discuss some questions and concerns about graduate school. The JMU SCOM professors also advised students on how to apply and gave different tips for an easier transition into grad school.
(Left to Right – Dr. Britt, Dr. Carmack, Dr. Woo, Dr. Bsumeck and students during the session)
Some questions that were covered included:
Read more Is graduate school right for you? Tips from JMU SCOM Faculty members.
Snowy February, but SCOM Stays Engaged in the World
The month of February seems to fly by! A snow storm finally hit the city and it is all white around Harrison Hall. Yet, this snow storm could not stop people around SCOM from being actively involved with the world outside of the school.
Dr. Tim Ball was selected as one of only 24 faculty members from across the US named to the Student-Learning Outcomes in Communication Project sponsored by National Communication Association.
According to the NCA website, “NCA recently received a grant from the Lumina Foundation to conduct a faculty-driven student learning outcomes project for the Communication major…The goals of the project are to productively support curriculum planning and improvement within the Communication discipline, and to help position Communication centrally in institutions’ general education curriculum development efforts.”
Dr. Ball has been a faculty member at JMU since 1998. He has served as the GCOM Basic Course Director in the General Education Program since 2003. Congratulations, Dr. Ball!!
Read more Snowy February, but SCOM Stays Engaged in the World
Wondering what comes after graduation? Is graduate school right for you?
SCOM Graduate Program hosts an information session for students who want to know more about graduate school next Tuesday, Feb. 18. Students who are interested can attend one of the two sessions: 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.or 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
According to a recent Georgetown University study, communication graduates with advanced degrees (a masters or PhD) will earn about $10,000 more per year by mid-career than graduates without advanced degrees. http://ncablog.org/2013/06/05/whats-a-comm-major-worth/. Here is an excerpt from the article.
COMM majors who are recent college graduates command median earnings of about $33,000. This is higher than Humanities and Liberal Arts majors ($30K) and equal to Law and Public Policy majors ($33K), but lower than Engineering majors ($54K) and Business majors ($39K). Graduate degree holders in COMM have median earnings of $64,000, ahead of majors in the Arts, Education, Recreation, and Psychology & Social Work.
For COMM, the unemployment rates are 7.8% for recent college graduates, 6.0% for experienced college graduates, and 4.2% for graduate degree holders. Recent college graduates in the Humanities and Liberal Arts face a 9.0% unemployment rate while those in Psychology & Social Work are looking at an 8.8% rate, and those in Social Science are facing a 10.3% unemployment rate. Read more Wondering what comes after graduation? Is graduate school right for you?
Get to meet Dr. Carlos Alemán
Dr. Carlos Alemán is an associate professor at the School of Communication Studies, and one of only eight professors in the university with an appointment as a JMU Professor in Residence (PIR) http://www.jmu.edu/pir/about.html. The PIR program is sponsored by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President at JMU in order to promote educational attainment and college aspirations of Virginia high school students.
Through his PIR appointment at Thomas Harrison Middle School, Dr. Alemán is able to develop and support outreach programs and activities that focus on student populations that have historically lacked opportunities for attending colleges. Once day, while stopping for a cup of coffee, he met a local high school teacher and a community organizer who were just getting started with a brand new outreach organization called the Shenandoah Valley Scholars Latino Initiative (in short: SV-SLI). Three months later, Dr. Alemán was invited to the SV-SLI Board of Directors, and began serving as the SV-SLI University Coordinator of Mentoring and Academic Programs.
End of January Weekly Update
Harrison Connect resumes its effort to connect people around Harrison Hall at JMU.
The School of Communication Studies has kicked off its Spring 2014 semester and it is already the end of January.
We are delighted to begin our SCOM weekly updates.
Here we go.
Harrison Connect: New Student with a directed project.
Karen Kim, senior student concentrating in PR, is now managing Harrison Connect as well as the JMUSCOM Twitter account. Please follow her posts during this semester. Please email her at: kim2jy@dukes.jmu.edu if you would like to share anything through our Twitter account as well as the Harrison Connect blog.
Undergraduate Research: Papers are accepted!!
Eight students will present at the Eastern Communication Association conference. Please click here for more information.
Alumni Award 2014: Please nominate outstanding alumni for this award.
The winner will receive up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations in order to receive their award on our annual alumni day, which will be held in 2014 (Time and date T.B.A)
Nomination packets must include: a cover letter, two letters of support, and a resume or curriculum vitae. All materials should be submitted to the Assistant Director of Communication Studies at the following address:
Alumni Award c/o Dr. Toni Whitfield, SCOM Assistant Director
54 Bluestone Drive, MSC 2106 Harrisonburg, VA 22807
OR submit the package electronically to: whitfits@jmu.edu
Speech Team: Off to a Good Start
The JMU Speech team traveled to Alexandria, VA to the campus of Northern Virginia Community College to compete in the Richard J. Ernst Speech Tournament. The tournament featured teams from across the Commonwealth as well as teams from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The individual results are as follows:
Day One:
- Shelby Akins–7th Prose Interpretation
- Jessie Bur–6th Poetry Interpretation, 4th Communication Analysis
- Magdalene Dada–4th Poetry Interpretation
- Tom Giordano–6th Extemporaneous Speaking
- Armin Haracic–1st After Dinner Speaking
- Zach Healy–1st Communication Analysis, 1st Duo Interpretation
- Katie Lese–1st Duo Interpretation
- Katrina Miles–4th Prose Interpretation
- Nathan Selove–4th Persuasive Speaking, 5th Dramatic Interpretation
3rd Overall Team.
Day Two:
- Shelby Akins–2nd After Dinner Speaking (now qualified for the American Forensic Association-National Individual Events Tournament to be held in April at Arizona State University)
- Jessie Bur–5th Informative Speaking, 6th Communication Analysis
- Magdalene Dada–4th Poetry Interpretation
- Abby Fiege–6th After Dinner Speaking
- Armin Haracic–5th After Dinner Speaking
- Zach Healy–1st Communication Analysis, 4th Duo Interpretation
- Katie Lese–4th Duo Interpretation, 2nd Persuasive Speaking
- Katrina Miles–2nd Poetry Interpretation
- Nathan Selove–1st Persuasive Speaking
Third Overall Team Sweeps
Every member on the JMU Speech team advanced to a final round this weekend; a well deserved honor for the hard working members. After a much needed weekend off, the team coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid, will host the ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ Speech Tournament on our campus the weekend of February 8-9.
Debate Team: Madison Cup is coming SOON
This year’s Madison Cup is now set for the 14th annual “James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum” on Thursday, April 17th, 2014.
The James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum is a unique inter-collegiate debate competition, combining the excitement and challenge of a tournament competition with the participation and empowerment of a public audience.
The funding is supported by the Rupe Foundation, which will provide competition prize money for: the top ten teams and the top twelve debaters. Three teams will qualify for travel stipends.
2014 Topic: This house believes that warrantless electronic surveillance by the U.S. Government has done more harm than good.
Other cool and unique features include:
*$30,000.00 in prize money
*Debating and competing in front of a public audience
*No entry fees
*Continental breakfast, snacks and lunch provided
*Video web-cast of the final round
*Great PR for your debate program
*Madison Cup traveling trophy
Public Relations Student Society of America: Packed House
PRSSA JMU Chapter had its first meeting and an outstanding 102 students attended.
Their New York City agency visits are coming up in February.
The chapter will also elect its new leadership team members on Monday.
Eight SCOM students present at the Eastern Communication Association Confernece
Even though we have had pretty cold weather in this semester so far, the weather did not bother School of Communication Studies at all. SCOM began the semester with a good news.
Eight students will present at the Eastern Communication Association, which will be held in Providence, R.I. from April 23 to April 27.
It is still early, but, please feel free to leave your messages of congratulations to the authors here.
Those papers are:
“Who are You? Developing and Managing Identity in Different Contexts of Student Life”
Christine Anzur, Samantha Kempter, Caitlin Kennedy, and Katherine Leeds.
“Flirtation on Social Networking Sites: A Competitive Paper Presentation”
Stefanie Leshner, Elissa Smith, Kara Stucklen, and Neal Sweeney.
There are certainly more deadlines for conferences coming up. Please check SCOM website or HERE for more information.
Well, Congratulations, all SCOM students who are presenting at the ECA conference this year!!