News

PR/Advertising students take top honors in state competition

May 2013—Two Communication majors in the Public Relations & Advertising concentration took top honors in the statewide competition of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda in St. George. Danielle Rich competed in three events, winning first with both her hospitality management and parliamentary procedures teams.  Her business presentation team took third. Harrison Spendlove was also on two teams that won first place: parliamentary procedures and business presentation. These first-place achievements qualify Rich and Spendlove the opportunity to represent Utah at the national competition this summer in Anaheim, Calif. Rich graduated in Spring 2013. Spendlove was also approved to run for the national president of the organization.

Signpost wins best website in Society of Professional Journalists contest

May 2013—The Signpost won first place for Best Affiliated Website for a (Large) Four-Year University in the annual Mark of Excellence Awards for the Society of Professional Journalists in Region 9. Region 9 includes schools in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Kory Wood’s column titled Abstract Academic won second place for Best Humor or Lifestyle Column in that same competition. The Signpost’s website, which can be found at www.wsusignpost.com, will now compete in the national contest. In the Utah Press Association contest, The Signpost won first place for Best Staff-Produced Ad by Aaron Fisher. It won second place for Best Use of Ad Color (Jake McIntosh) and third place for Best Use of Ad Color (Aaron Fisher) and third place for Best Special Section for the Fall Orientation issue.  

Professor, Studio 76, two graduates named finalists for Crystal Crest Awards

May 2013—Instructor Drew Tyler and Studio 76, the student organization he advises were both finalists this year in the annual Crystal Crest awards. Tyler was a finalist in the Master Teacher category while Studio 76 was a finalist in Registered Organization of the Year. Journalism graduate Corie Holmes was a finalist for Talent of the Year while PR and advertising graduate Krystal Garner was a finalist for Personality of the Year.

Two students finalists for Utah PR Student of the Year

May 2013—Two students in the Public Relations & Advertising concentration are among the five finalists in the Utah Public Relations Student of the Year. Amber Price and Morgan Ryker represented Weber State in the competition and are awaiting their results. They competed against two finalists from Brigham Young University and one from Utah State University. Last year WSU student Amy Fiscus won the competition.

Studio 76’s YouTube channel passes one-year mark, doubles views

May 2013—Studio 76 is successfully continuing its rebranding process into a video-audio producer of content for the Web. Its YouTube channel marked its one-year anniversary in April. It has recorded 123,000 views and 140. The number of views is double Weber State News’ record. In Fall 2012 Studio 76 produced nine shows: some weekly, some biweekly, one daily. In Spring 2013 it produced two weekly shows and created lots of entertainment content for X96 and a 20-minute documentary for WSUSA. Faculty adviser Drew Tyler credits Paul Castleberry, the executive producer, with the success of the studio. Studio 76 was a finalist for Crystal Crest’s Organization of the Year and Castleberry was the winner of Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Department of Communication. Tyler was also one of five finalists for Crystal Crest’s Master Teacher award.

Former debater quoted in KSL Television story

April 2013—Mike Shackelford, a WSU debater from the class of 2005, was interviewed for a KSL Television story on how technology has changed college debate. The story can be found at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1194&sid=24574917. Shackelford was interviewed during a story about Weber State’s hosting of the National Debate Tournament, which brought 500 college debaters and coaches from around the nation to Ogden the end of March and April. Shackelford qualified for four National Debate Tournaments in four years.

Advertising student takes fourth in national campaign contest

April 2013—Adrien Covington, a BIS student with an emphasis in Communication, took fourth-place in the national DECA competition in the adverting campaign category. Covington did a campaign for his brother’s campaign for high school student body president. This semester Covington did a campaign for The Sweet Tooth Fairy stores in Sheree Josephson’s advertising class. DECA is an international association of college students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service. The organization prepares leaders and entrepreneurs for careers and education in marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and other business areas.

WSU to host National Debate Coaches Association’s national championship

April 2013—Weber State Debate was notified in April that it has been selected to host the National Debate Coaches Association national championship on April 11-13, 2014. WSU beat out the University of Miami in Coral Gables in the final round of consideration. WSU just finished hosting a successful 2013 National Debate Tournament. The NDCA is the second-most recognized national championship for high school debate in the nation. The best high school debaters, representing some of the finest public and private high schools in the United States, will be in attendance. About 500 students and coaches are expected to attend. It is expected to inject about $1 million into the local economy.

Josephson receives Hemingway award to fund eye-tracking laboratory

April 2013—Dr. Sheree Josephson, chair of the Department of Communication, received a Hemingway Faculty Vitality award to help establish an eye-tracking laboratory at Weber State University. The $5,000 award will be matched with $5,000 in capital funding to purchase the needed equipment. Eye tracking is one of the most effective and accurate ways of accessing how visual information is processed because the eyes don’t lie. Josephson has been using this methodology for about 25 years to study information design on the Web and in television news. She has also used it to study cross-racial eyewitness identification and the use of serial versus simultaneous presentation of the eyewitness photographs.

Steimel receives grant to travel to conference

April 2013—Dr. Sarah Steimel, assistant professor of Communication, received funding from Research, Scholarship and Professional Growth committee (RS&PG) to attend the Western Speech Communication Association’s annual meeting April 4-6. She presented a top paper in the Communication Education division titled "Community partners’ assessment of service learning in an interpersonal and small group communication course." She was also the program planner/chair of the Organizational and Professional Communication Division for 2012-2013. She planned the 2013 conference and attended the business meetings there.

44 students graduate with a bachelor’s in Communication

April 2013—Congratulations to this year’s baccalaureate graduates in Communication.

Civic Advocacy: Amy L. Gerrard, Nikki Van Overbeck, Laura J. Stevenson, Shawn Evan Storbo, Davis Sturgeon

Electronic Media: Julia Bachison, Morgan Briesmaster, Paul Castleberry, Jeremy C. Compton, John Jordan Coyle, Krystal Garner, Travis Grimes, Alyson Hills-Martin, Stacie Marie Hinojosa, Brandon W. Lamb, Nicholas Nava, Derek M. Schouten, Kimberly J. Ulibarri, Kaydee Volpi, Kiersten Voorhees

Interpersonal & Family Communication: Nick Bellamy, Kara Lynne Burton, Chelsea Folkerts, Daniel Jackson, Lacey N. Johnson, Glen Colt Mortenson, Samantha Ramsey, Bryce C. Schow

Journalism: Jerrica Archibald, Corie Sue Holmes, Eric D. Jensen

Organizational Communication: Spencer Gene Arave, Hanna S. Baskerville, Danielle Edwards, Nathan Garner, Curtis A. Mickelson, Seth Taylor, Kate Lynn Terry

Public Relations & Advertising: Nathan S. Alexander, Michael C. Diamond, Deserae Dorton, Amy L. Fiscus, Chase E. Freebairn, Emily Mary Freshman, Lauren Gardner, Kellie Erin Glass, Braxton John Green, Summer Green, Derek Harrebomee, Connor Neal Harrison, Jeremy Krause, Stacy J. Mccaig, Reid Anthony Mayer, Ryker Morgan, David G. Pehrson, Jennifer Peterson, Kelsy Marie Peterson, Joshua L. Poli, Coultin T. Porter, Danielle Aileen Rich, Melinda A. Saunders, Sasha Seegmiller, Janet Tango, Nick Thurgood

21 students graduate in first Master of Professional Communication class

April 2013—Congratulations to the first graduating class of the new Master of Professional Communication.

Shelisa A. Allen-York, Karen Leslie Bateman, Lori K. Bodily, Michael L. Brice, Cory J. Cunningham, Derrick M. Dean, Tamara Kay Eppens, Paul R. Grua, Emily Gunderson, Jeffrey P. Haney, Brooke A. Harris, Donna C. Hernandez, Wright Francis Hopkin, Carrie A. McCloud, Jessica Marie Miller, Christy Lee Nielsen, Monica L. Schwenk, Jennica Song Semon, Tyler Jordan Smith, Zachary A. Williams

Graduate hired to communication team at Utah governor’s office

April 2013—Katriina Adair, a Communication/English graduate, has been hired as correspondence assistant on the Communication team at the Governor's Office. In this role, she will write various types of letters, declarations, and other documents on behalf of the governor. She will also assist the public information officer with editing news releases and other material for publication.

Hafen to attend LGBTQII conference in San Francisco

April 2013—Dr. Susan Hafen will attend the “Expanding the Circle” on June 24-27 in San Francisco. The conference is for educators and administrators to evaluate dynamics in curriculum development, administrative practice and student services in a way that can have long term and meaningful impact on our institutions." The keynote speaker is Kate Kendall, a Weber State alum who was on the WSU Debate Team. Hafen hopes to use the information to develop an Honors course about LGBT identities through popular culture.

Communication adjunct publishes article with WSU English professor

April 2013—Stephanie Heath, an adjunct in Communication has co-authored an article titled “’This Chaos Will Surely Work’: Scripting and Staging Tristram Shandy, Gentleman,” in the Literary Journal, The Shandean, volume 23, fall 2012. Heath and Victoria A. Ramirez, professor of English, have been invited to present their article’s salient points at the Tercentenary Conference for Laurence Sterne 1713-2013, in London July 8-11.

Professor, MPC student to present panel at WSU

April 2013—Dr. Kathryn Edwards and MPC student Danielle McKean will present a panel titled "Leveraging your Virtual Influence: Social Media 101" at the Utah Women in Higher Education Network conference on April 5 at Weber State University.

Communication graduate publishes children’s book

March 2013—Jerome Jones has published a children's book titled “The Mystery of the Lost Recipe.” It is available as a hardback book or in the Apple or Kindle stores. He said it makes a “great gift to a teacher, parent and student.”

Steimel elected to three-year term on Faculty Senate

March 2013—Dr. Sarah Steimel, assistant professor of Communication, has been elected to a three-year term on Faculty Senate.

Steimel publishes volunteer research in Communication Research Reports

March 2013—Dr. Sarah Steimel, assistant professor of Communication, has published “Connecting with volunteers: Memorable messages and volunteer identification” in Communication Research Reports in January 2013. It is on pages 12-21.

PR professor’s work recognized with top paper award at ICA

March 2013—Yeonsoo Kim has received the best paper award from the International Communication Association. Her paper is titled “Strategic Communication of Social Responsibility (CSR): Effects of Stated Motives and Corporate Reputation on Stakeholder Responses.”

Professors present at military intelligence conference

March 2013—Sheree Josephson, Clair Canfield and Brent Warnock presented on March 2 at the 24th annual language conference hosted by the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade, linguist division. Josephson presented “Communicating on Screens: What Eye-tracking research Shows Us About How Viewers Process Visual Information.” Canfield presented on “Conflict as Possibility: Using Collaboration as an Integrative Approach to Conflict. Warnock, an adjunct instructor, presented “Communication is the Game of the Gods.”

Hafen’s article on human-animal communicators is in print

March 2013—Dr. Susan Hafen’s article titled “Listening with the third eye: A phenomenological ethnography of animal communicators” is now in print. It is contained in an edited volume of essays on Human-Animal Communication available now in hardback as part of Routledge's series in rhetoric and communications. The publisher anticipates the book will be available in paperback (for course adoption) by this time next year.

Debate team finishes No. 1 in district, No. 20 in nation

February 2013—The Weber State Debate team finished No. 1 in District II and No. 20 in the nation, according to the final National Debate Team overall rankings for Fall 2012. The new year is also off to a great start. At the January 2013 tournament at Indiana University, Catherine Shackelford and Hanna Shoell won the junior division. Shackelford was also named top speaker in the junior varsity. In the varsity division, Khalid Hussein Sharif and Dillon Olson made it to the octafinals. Olson was named fourth-best speaker in varsity. Also this month, WSU Debate hosted the 16th annual Val Browning Round Robin. Sixteen of the best intercollegiate debating teams in the nation squared off for a two-day day competition. Teams such as the University of Michigan and the University of Missouri-Kansas City were in attendance. Weber State's Dillon Olson was named seventh-best speaker in the highly competitive field of 32 talented speakers.

Two students have work accepted into national undergraduate research conference

February 2013—Communication students Paul Castleberry and Sasha Seegmiller will present their work at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Seegmiller’s research project is titled “A comparison of constituent instructions to politicians' voting records. This project was mentored by Dr. Susan Hafen. Using uses and gratification theory, Castleberry studied what kind of content would increase viewership on Studio 76’s YouTube channel. Castleberry is the general manager of the studio. His project was mentored by Drew Tyler and Dr. Susan Hafen. 

Two Communication majors state officers in Future Business Leaders of America

February 2013—Communication majors Harrison Spendlove and Danielle Rich are both state officers in Utah’s university/college chapter of Future Business Leaders of America. Spendlove is the college/university president, while Rich is the public relations officer. Both were busy when Weber State University hosted the high school competition.

Journalism graduate publishes vampire book

February 2013—Ryan Larsen, a recent journalism graduate, has published a young adult novel titled “Starved: The Tale of the Chubulecent Vampire.” The book is available in print from Amazon or for download on a reading device. The book cover asks: What happens when a chubby kid becomes a vampire? The book was edited by another communication graduate.

MPC student hired in Homeland Security position

Lori Bodily, a student in the Master of Professional Communication program, will be moving to Missouri to work in the Homeland Security’s Immigration Department. The job will involve program management, training and human resources. Bodily said the jobsite is an underground limestone, temperature-controlled cave where all the citizenship and immigration records are stored in a safe place if emergency hits. She said she got the job because of the MPC program.

Steimel publishes volunteer research in Communication Research Reports

February 2013—Dr. Sarah Steimel, assistant professor of Communication, has published “Connecting with volunteers: Memorable messages and volunteer identification” in Communication Research Reports in January 2013. It is on pages 12-21.

Hafen’s article on human-animal communicators is in print

February 2013—Dr. Susan Hafen’s article titled “Listening with the third eye: A phenomenological ethnography of animal communicators” is now in print. It is contained in an edited volume of essays on Human-Animal Communication available now in hardback as part of Routledge's series in rhetoric and communications. The publisher anticipates the book will be available in paperback (for course adoption) by this time next year.

PR professor has two papers accepted into conferences

February 2013—Dr. Yeonsoo Kim, a professor who teaches public relations, has had two papers accepted into conferences. Her paper “Women’s Health Issues: Premenstrual Syndrome and Sysphoric Disorder Issues.” The paper will be presented at the Association for Marketing and Health Care Research in February. Another paper, "Strategic Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Effects of Stated Motives and Corporate Reputation on Stakeholder Responses," has been selected for the International Communication Association’s 2013 conference “Challenging Communication Research.” Only 36 percent of the papers and panels submitted were accepted.

Steimel appointed as Engaged Learning Series coordinator

February 2013—Dr. Sarah Steimel, assistant professor, has been named the Engaged Learning Series coordinator in the Community Involvement Center. In this role, she will help develop the annual campus-wide theme and corresponding events, speakers and exhibits that provide relevant engaged learning opportunities for students in all academic colleges and all departments in Student Affairs. The theme will revolve around a public concern that the university will help to implement to improve the issue over time. Steimel will receive one course release for her service.

Communication professor authors book for Comm. 2110

February 2013—Dr. Becky Johns, in consultation with other professors who teach Interpersonal and Small Group Communication, has authored a textbook titled “Connecting: Interpersonal and Small Group Communication.” The purpose of the book was to tailor curriculum to that class and also to help students save on textbook costs. The book costs students about $30, compared to $120 for textbooks from college publishers.