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!!
The National Communication Association Convention (NCA) was held Nov. 20 – Nov. 24 in Washington, D.C. Below are a few pictures of our professors presenting their research papers.
And, the School of Communication Studies wants to recognize our finest alumnus for 2014.
The Distinguished Alumni Award is given every spring to an alumnus who demonstrates outstanding contributions to the discipline or profession and demonstrates outstanding service to the School of Communication Studies, James Madison University, their community, region or nation.
The School of Communication Studies Community Committee is requesting your nominations and self-nominations for this award by Feb. 15, 2014. The winner will receive up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations in order to receive their award on our annual alumni day to be held in April 11, 2014.
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:
Under my gift will support select “Other” and enter “Mark Waugh Memorial Fund”.
Speech Team
The JMU Speech Team returned from their largest tournament this semester with impressive accomplishments. The team finished 14 out of over 40 schools and over 400 competitors, including 16 of the Top Twenty teams from last year’s National Individual Events Tournament. The individual results are as follows:
Jessie Burr (JR, SMAD/ENG) Semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking–Top 12 out of 126 Speakers
Zach Healy (SR, SMAD/SCOM) 4th Informative Speaking–out of 87 Speakers
Nathan Selove (FR, SCOM/THEA) Novice Prose Semi-Finalist–Top 12 out of 52 Speakers and Novice After Dinner Speaking CHAMPION
The team, coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid, travels this weekend to Seton Hall University.
Teaching Assistant
We added a story of our very first Teaching Assistants for our first graduate program. Please read it here, if you missed it.
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.
Now, it is already one month away from the end of the semester. Let’s finish this semester strong!!
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.
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
JMU Debate team celebrates Mark’s NDT qualifier.
Mark with the debate team and his professors
Mark with the debate team and his professors
We thank you for your time spent here at JMU and the legacy you left with our debate team.
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.
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
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.
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
Last week on Thursday, October17th 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 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 students with professionals at the Adfero and fleishman-Hillard.
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!
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.
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:
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
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.
