ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION ALUMNI NEWSLETTER Hello, Redbirds! OVERVIEW: Julie Navickas honored with teaching Welcome to our annual School of Communication alumni newsletter! I am Dr. Steve Hunt, the Executive Director of the School of Communication award (SoC). I am absolutely thrilled to present this 2019 edition of our newsletter. It RSO Spotlight: Forensics Union is packed with exciting highlights that have occurred during the past year and WGLT expereince exciting changes that are still happening as we move toward 2020. Four new tenure faculty join the With the fall semester in full swing, everyone in the SoC has been extremely School of Communication busy working on ways to maximize our ability to serve our awesome students. TV-10 recieves nine Silver Dome And, oh yeah, all of our faculty are busy teaching too! Some of the highlights in this newsletter include blurbs about our new awesome faculty, some amazing Awards work our student organizations are doing, and other exciting changes and WZND continues award-winning additions to the School. streak It seems like there is never a dull moment in Fell Hall, so with this newsletter School of Communication welcomes we try to convey just a snapshot of some of things we are doing. As always, our new instructional faculty focus is our students, so the material in this newsletter concerns just some of the ways we are trying to educate,connect, and elevate our students. Aimee Miller-Ott takes on new role as Graduate Program coordinator W e hope you enjoy this 2019 issue. If you have questions, concerns, suggestions, or if you just want to chat, please don’t hesitate to contact me or RSO Spotlight: Public Relations anyone else in the SoC. We are super pumped about what we are doing and Student Society of America (PRSSA) even more excited about our future. So we invite you to check out the stories School of Communication provides in this newsletter, and we also invite you to come visit us on campus! relevant resources for students to Sincerely, succeed Dr. Stephen K. Hunt Director of the School of Communication Julie Navickas Communication, and honored with Elizabeth Chupp, director of teaching award Advisement for the school. By Elena Roth As a first-generation college Julie Navickas ’07, M.S. ’10, M.S. student, Navickas graduated ’18, was recently honored with from Illinois State with a the Excellence Award for Bachelor of Science. An Outstanding Teaching by an accomplished academic, Administrative Professional Navickas earned a master’s in through the College of Arts and communication and a master’s Sciences (CAS) at Illinois State in English studies from Illinois Julie Navickas State. She worked in the University. This award, as a part Reflecting back on her time at nonprofit sector before of the College’s annual Illinois State, Navickas stated: “I returning to Illinois State in recognition ceremony, is among started my academic career 2013 as an academic advisor the highest honors bestowed here and I found a home here on and lecturer in the School of upon an administrative campus in 2006, and here in Communication. professional by the college. 2019 I’m still here in the same This is a peer-determined Her teaching style utilizes a place, in the same building, with award that recognizes and blended approach, infusing her the same people, and there’s a rewards the administrative advising into the classroom. In reason for that. This place is professional with the most each class, she helps students genuinely the best experience extraordinary record of find the utility in the lessons I’ve ever had and one of the best teaching in the prior three that is easily translated into the decisions I’ve ever made.” years. Navickas was nominated world by “creating a classroom Navickas is a true Redbird at for this award by Steve Hunt, environment that’s holistic, heart. “I love this place. I’m the executive director of Illinois inclusive, and making sure that going to be a Redbird forever.” State’s School of everyone is having a positive experience.” RSO Spotlight: Forensics Union By Elena Roth Illinois State’s Forensics Union is gearing up for what promises to be a challenging and exciting season. The team boasts approximately 40 members between speech and debate, a larger team than past years. ISU’s team is a nationally recognized forensics team with 10 national team championships and over 80 individual titles in its history. Forensics at Illinois State offers Lincoln- Douglas policy debate as well as individual speaking events competition in interpretation, public speaking, and limited preparation genres. Being a part of the team provides members opportunities to travel across the nation and become eligible for partial tuition waivers and scholarships. According to the Director of Forensics Megan Koch, “the forensics team members have set the Forensics Union members at a competition. goal of earning over 100 qualifications for National Forensics Association (NFA) Nationals in April.” Despite this high number, the team members are determined to maintain their focus on producing quality events, not just quantity. Competition has already begun, and a couple debate team members have already experienced success by qualifying for their national tournament. ISU’s main competition will include Bradley University and Western Kentucky. Both of these schools have a greater financial advantage than Illinois State, but what the “forensics team lacks in financial support, we can match on quality,” promises Koch. IThe team is excited to see what other teams are working on and compete in an environment that is sure to be tough. Follow their progress this season by visiting their website at casit.IllinoisState.edu/sites/forensics/. WGLT experiences exciting new changes By Joseph Zompetti This means that both stations will still retain their separate call letters and FM frequencies, but the programmatic, personnel, and financial operations will be streamlined. According to Executive Director of the School of Communication Steve Hunt this relationship “benefits both stations and WGLT microphones universities, but it also shows how WGLT’s success has made it uniquely For the past year, WGLT, ISU’s NPR poised to be a leader for Illinois radio.” affiliate housed under the School of Communication, has experienced WGLT’s recent success transcends its significant changes and is anticipating leadership position and capability to exciting new opportunities on the horizon. secure local programming. This unique moment for WGLT includes a recently merging with another station, At the 2019 Illinois State Civic securing prestigious awards, and hosting a Engagement Celebration, WGLT was special “Radio Faces” event. honored with the Unit/Department Award for civic engagement. WGLT and On June 1, 2019, WGLT assumed the School of Communication are operations of the Bradley University radio extremely proud to have been recognized station, WCBU-FM in Peoria. Because for WGLT’s outstanding contributions to WGLT has seen remarkable success in the civic engagement and demonstrating the last seven years by preserving local university’s core value. programming and news and WCBU was at risk of losing its localism, the merger Lastly, WGLT is proud to announce it will seemed like a promising idea that has now be hosting its annual “Radio Faces” event become a reality. that features a nationally-acclaimed NPR WGLT General Manager R. C. McBride correspondent. This year WGLT invited explains, “Operational roles will be Korva Coleman, who has been with NPR combined with staff in Bloomington- since 1990 and currently serves as a Normal, but there will be staff committed newscaster, most often heard during solely to WCBU and they will be housed “Morning Edition.” For more information on Bradley’s campus.” or to become involved, please visit the WGLT webpage. Four new tenure- With a Ph.D. in rhetoric and Andrew Ventimiglia, Ph.D. track faculty join public culture from Indiana Ventimiglia received his Ph.D. in School of University-Bloomington, Craig cultural studies from the Communication is excited to create courses at University of California, Davis. By Tessa Konzal ISU that align with his own He wanted to have flexibility interests and areas of study, Ashley Hall, Ph.D. between disciplines to explore which include how rap music unusual topics, and this Ashley Hall is a firm believer and discussions around it can program allowed him the that her students will teach her inform the way we talk about freedom to bring his own as much as she teaches them. race and the way race works research questions and figure She is currently teaching within the study of rhetoric. things out from there. He was African American rhetoric and able to create research that communication criticism at ISU Roth Smith, Ph.D. combines media, religion, and and is on track to become a Roth Smith is a new tenure- law to understand how owners tenured professor. Hall track assistant professor in the of religious media use their received her Ph.D. in School of Communication. He media property to create a communication from University received his Ph.D. from the community and distribute ideas. of Pittsburgh and her research University of Texas, where he focuses on African American completed his dissertation on Ventimiglia is excited to be able rhetoric, specifically black an informal group of BMX to develop a media law class women’s communication. bikers that organized to build that is attuned to the contemporary issues that Byron Craig, Ph.D. dirt jumps in the middle of downtown Austin. His other students will face with digital Byron Craig has come to the research includes studies of and social media. He School of Communication at innovation and disaster-related understands that studying Illinois State to share his research in the aftermath of media is much like aiming at a knowledge and experiences Hurricane Harvey.