Other Communication Commons^™

"The Elephant In The Room": Post-Tenure Review, Ronald L. Applbaum

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article examines the tenure systems used in colleges and universities in the U.S. In psychotherapy, a patient who ignores a central reality in his/her personal situation is said to manifest the elephant-in-the-room syndrome. Similarly, in colleges and universities across the nation, many faculty and administrators are ignoring calls for either elimination of tenure or revision of the tenure process. Many policy makers and taxpayers regard tenure as a system that protects faculty members from evaluation. The purposes of this paper are to explore some of the factors leading to calls for post-tenure evaluation, to compare the definitions of post-tenure …

Graduate Study In The Communication Discipline: An Extension Of 1994 Directory Data, Michael W. Shelton

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article provides information on the evaluation of communication education programs at the graduate level in the U.S. American society has become virtually obsessed with evaluation and analysis of its educational institutions and programs. Federal investigations have spotlighted a near crisis state in elementary and secondary education. Scholars and investigators within the communication discipline have devoted much effort to the appraisal of instructional programs, particularly at the graduate level. Specific graduate courses, such as argumentation theory have been examined. Specific programs of study, including mass communication have garnered attention. More generally, masters-level programs in speech communication have been evaluated. The …

Perceptions Of Quality In Journalism And Communications Education: A Delphi Study, Marian A. Smith

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article provides information on a study on the perceptions of quality in journalism and communications education. In many academic disciplines, including communications, accreditation has been the ruling paradigm of quality assurance for many years. Accreditation standards often have been used to measure many characteristics of institutions, but such standards may not be capable of identifying and measuring the true quality of institutional excellence. The study gathered information from a selected group of participants about those characteristics students, faculty and practitioners consider to be necessary components of high quality programs. The study also examined whether the accreditation standards used for …

The Oral Communication Competence Dilemma: Are We Communicating Competently About Speech Communication?, Cathy A. Fleuriet

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the oral communication competence problem among students in public schools, colleges and universities in the U.S. In response to concerned administrators who question the value of the study of speech communication, communication specialists are providing definitions and assessment of oral communication competence in order to solidify the speech communication discipline's role in ensuring competence among students in higher education. Many of the schools fulfilling the mandate through English/Language Arts courses included initial statements in their documents explaining that the requirement is being met through communication courses. A major problem in monitoring the oral communication competency mandate, such …

"Other-Campus" Faculty Participation In The Tenure/Promotion Review Process: External Validation For Internal Decision Making, Craig Newburger

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

No abstract provided.

Educational Assessment As Invitation For Dialogue, Ronald C. Arnett, Pat Arneson

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article offers a communicative foundation for viewing the act of educational assessment as an opportunity for dialogue with a larger public in the U.S. There are three main areas which comprise an invitation for dialogue with the public: the politics of assessment, foundation for dialogue about the communication discipline and the proposal for a dialogic communication with the public as a way to create shared meaning about the process of communication. Invitation to dialogue envisions communication as socially constructed. Both self and other are central to the emergence of truth. The wise communicator is careful, but in the midst …

Using Cognitive Assessment Testing To Evaluate And Improve A University Program In Communication Studies, Michael R. Neer, Joan E. Aitken

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article attempts to demonstrate how cognitive assessment may be used to empower both faculty and students by offering pedagogical and administrative strategies that enhance student learning in the U.S. The faculty limited its cognitive test, the Pre-Communication Assessment Measure to the four competencies--critical thinking, interpersonal, decision-making and theoretical competencies--common to two of five required courses. The components of the cognitive test are: critical thinking competence, interpersonal competence, decision-making competence and theoretical competence.

Administrative Ramifications Of Student Cheating, Susan A. Stearns

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article explains the problems associated with ways cheating situations are handled in colleges and universities. Two specific types of knowledge are needed by faculty members: one, what cheating is, and, two, the university's policy. The potential for problems revolves around the University's Academic Misconduct Code: first, many faculty are not aware of their university's code and second, many faculty do not follow the codes. Administrators are also involved in a number of other decisions that could impact student cheating behaviors. Additionally, administrators are typically the university officials implementing the middle and latter steps of the academic misconduct process. Thus, …

Teaching Versus Research: An Imbalance Of Importance?, Norbert H. Mills, Robert E. Pruett, James E. Sayer, David E. Tucker

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article features two essays presenting the major argumentative positions advanced by teams Robert E. Pruett and James E. Sayer and Norbert H. Mills and David E. Tucker, regarding the topic: Resolved: that teaching and research are mutually-exclusive activities. Pruett and Sayer upheld the affirmative position on the resolution, while Mills and Tucker upheld the negative. In the traditional sense, it is easy to claim that the function of a professor is twofold: to be an effective and creative teacher and, at the same time, be able to accumulate and disseminate knowledge through research. Regardless of what is said, teaching …

National Preferences In Business And Communication Education: A Survey Update, Jerry L. Winsor, Dan B. Curtis, Ronald D. Stephens

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the results of a survey in the U.S. regarding national preferences in business and communication education. From the results of this and the previous study, it appears that the skills most valued in the contemporary job-entry market are communication skills. The skills of listening, oral communication (both interpersonal and public), written communication and the trait of enthusiasm are indicated to be the most important. Again, it would appear to follow that university officials wishing to be of the greatest help to their graduates in finding employment would make sure that basic competencies in oral and written communication …

Are Home Offices Feasible In A University?: Faculty Perceptions Of A Home Office Experiment, Kathy J, Edwards, Richard D. Halley

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article examines faculty perceptions of how the new technologies of E-mail and voice mail that were widely adopted as a result of the home office experiment changed the ways of working and ways of thinking about what is important. The authors discussed both first- and second-level effects of communication technologies in three areas: (1) on faculty interaction both within the department and in the larger campus community, (2) on student/faculty interaction, and (3) on work styles and the ways faculty members think about their work. When the home office project was envisioned, the goal was to use communication technology …

Communication Department Heads: An Analysis Of Positions Available 1990 Through 1994, Michael W. Shelton

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article presents an analysis of positions available in 1990 through 1994 as communication department heads in the U.S. It is not surprising that over 75% of the listings for department heads indicated that the doctorate or other terminal degree would be required. The doctorate has become a standard feature associated with positions in higher education, and most certainly for senior-level positions. Nearly 95% (94.34%) of the listings indicated that candidates would be appointed at the rank of associate professor or higher. Such positions require candidates to meet all of the standard qualifications for a tenured appointment, including possession of …

Providing Focus On Participatory Democracy In Academic Departments Of Communication, Timothy G. Hegstrom, Shawn Spano

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article aims to illustrate how academic departments of communication can help contribute to a revitalized public sphere. Some of the projects to enhance participative democracy in order to show one direction in which the public sphere seems to be changing have been highlighted. Academic departments of speech communication can do much to accommodate this change by focusing more on the relationship between communication and democracy. This intention can be formally stated in university planning documents, course titles and outlines, general education guidelines, the establishment of research and consulting consortia, and in partnerships with external institutions. Benefits to the department …

The Department Chair: A Symbolic Perspective And Some Implications, D. F. Treadwell

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Discusses the role of department chair in universities and colleges. Assuming appropriate academic qualifications, most institutional requirements for a department chair are academic leadership, administrative leadership, successful teaching, active scholarship, and in some cases professional experience. Because teaching and scholarship are normally expected of all faculty, the broad roles that seem unique to the chair are academic and administrative leadership, resource acquisition and allocation, and constituent relationships/boundary spanning. In summary, the rhetorical ability to develop appropriate symbolic structures for departments is the essence of the chair's role and a way to reconcile the many tensions inherent in the job; conventional …

When It's Time To Get Out Of Town, Jack A. Barwind

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Addresses the need for chairmen and chairwomen to articulate their leadership style to both faculty and college administration during the early phases of their tenure.

Editorial Policy

Basic Communication Course Annual

The Editor and the Basic Course Commission invite submissions to the considered for publication in the Basic Communication Course Annual. The Annual is distributed nationally to scholars and educators interested in the basic communication course. Articles are accepted for review throughout the year for publication consideration. Manuscripts exploring significant issues for the basic course, research in the basic course, instructional practices, graduate assistant training, classroom teaching tips, or the status, role, and future of the basic communication course are invited. It is incumbent on contributors to establish a position on how the work they seek to have published advances knowledge …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

Editors and manuscript reviewers for Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 9 (1997)

Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

Table of contents and abstracts for all articles in the volume

Three Metaphors For The Competencies Acquired In The Public Speaking Class, Michael Osborn

Basic Communication Course Annual

The many skills taught in the basic public speaking class come together in three fundamental metaphors. The first of these, the speaker as builder, suggests we need to shape our surroundings through the spoken word. The second, the speaker as weaver, includes the arts of shaping symbols into the fabric of a speech, and of designing evidence and proofs into the tapestry of argument. The third, the speaker as climber, emphasizes overcoming interference. Barriers of fear, indifference, suspicion, and cultural variation recede as speakers and listeners learn to climb them.

Written Feedback In The Basic Course: What Instructors Provide And What Students Deem Helpful, Karla Kay Jensen, Elizabeth R. Lamoureux

Basic Communication Course Annual

Although the issue of speech evaluation has been a mainstay in our discipline, an updated discussion of written feedback merits our attention. To revisit this topic, this two-part content analysis first reveals the type of written feedback instructors offer students in basic public speaking classes.

Building on these findings, the second part focuses on student perceptions of the helpfulness of the written feedback. The findings are collectively discussed and their implications for written evaluations of students' oral performances are considered. Any instructor who has labored over written critiques, wondering whether students actually read and/or use the comments can value from …

Culture Shock In The Basic Communication Course: A Case Study Of Malaysian Students, Eunkyong Lee Yook

Basic Communication Course Annual

Malaysian students compose a large student group coming to the U.S. for higher education. Despite these numbers, however, there has been little attention given to their culture shock in the classroom. The present study investigates the concerns of Malaysian students in the basic communication course. Through interviews with Malaysian students, this study concludes that Malaysian students perceive having three major problems in presenting speeches in basic communication courses.

The first problem is the language barrier. Another is that certain nonverbal behaviors such as gesturing and talking in a loud tone are seen as disrespectful in their culture. Third, they have …

The Em-Powter-Ing Of America: Using Info-Mercials To Teach Persuasion And Popular Discourse In The Basic Communication Course, Daniel W. Heaton

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article describes how a critique of Susan Powter's "Stop the Insanity!" info-mercial provides educators with an effective, class-tested, and fun assignment to be included in the persuasion section of a basic communication course. This assignment provides students with an excellent example of a message from popular discourse that follows Monroe's Motivated Sequence. It also facilitates discussion of several key issues related to persuasion in general. Additionally, because this activity uses a popular discourse text, students enhance their critical thinking skills and become more critical consumers of messages they receive through popular discourse.

The Use Of Simulation In The Beginning Public Speaking Classroom: Let's Make It Realistic, Relevant And Motivating, John J. Miller

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article offers the instructional method, the simulation, as an alternative public speaking assignment in the beginning public speaking course. The three phases of simulation, play, debriefing, and journal writing, are described. Simulations should be realistic and relate to student goals, interests, or career aspirations. As a result, the assignment has two benefits. Simulation creates a clear rhetorical situations which aids students in the topic selection process. Further, its relevancy to the student increases the motivation to learn the art of public speaking.

Computer-Mediated Learning Environments: Theory And Research Into Practice, Chris R. Rasch

Basic Communication Course Annual

Information technology is furnishing modes of accessing and manipulating knowledge which are radically different from those offered by the traditional curriculum. Teaching effectiveness in the basic course is likely to depend increasingly on understanding the nature, function, benefits and potential costs of computer-mediated communication. The purposes of this article are to: (1) review theory and research illuminating the potential benefits and costs of computer-mediated instruction, (2) suggest some starting points for implementing computer-mediated instruction, and (3) identify factors which are likely to influence the effectiveness of teaching in computer-mediated environments.

Two Heads Are Better Than One? Setting Realizable Goals In The Basic Course, Glen Williams

Basic Communication Course Annual

Establishing goals is central to the success of the basic course. The degree to which those goals are realized depends, in large measure, upon the manner in which they are established and reviewed. This article assists course directors and instructional staff by examining the process of defining objectiveness, a process which encompasses goals, mission, and vision and which benefits from widespread, active involvement. This article presents sample objectives for consideration, and it notes the conditions under which the process of defining objectives thrives or is threatened.

A Commentary: The Basic Communication Course, General Education And Assessment, Lawrence W. Hugenberg, Barbara S. Moyer

Basic Communication Course Annual

The importance of developing student communication skills in a general education program is a focal point of each college and university accrediting agency in the United States. However, course directors and faculty frequently find themselves at the center of a controversy when trying to include a basic communication course in skill development in a general education program. This article develops a case for the inclusion of a basic communication course in a general education program.

Author Information

Basic Communication Course Annual

Biographical information about those who contributed scholarly content to this issue.

Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.