Mass Communication Division - National Communication Association

Mass Communication Division
National Communication Association
May 2009
Published three times annually by the Mass Communication Division of NCA.
Publications Editor - Adam Earnheardt, Youngstown State University

Editor's Note
Nominations for Teaching and Service Awards
Book Your Convention Hotel Room
Convention Dates and Deadlines
Position Announcements (3 announcements)

Calls and Notes of Interest
NCA MCD Officers (2008-2009)

The next issue of The Gatekeeper (newsletter for the NCA Mass Communication Division) will be published again in September 2009. We need your news. Please send calls, updates, and other information to share with members of the MCD. Readers of The Gatekeeper love to see position announcements, information about new books and supplements, appointments, and other news relevant to the studies and teachings of mass communication. So please, send your news by September 1, 2009 to Adam Earnheardt at acearnheardt@ysu.edu for publication consideration in an upcoming issue of The Gatekeeper.

NCA Mass Communication Division Invites Nominations for Teaching and Service Awards

The MCD Teaching Award is designed to recognize excellence in teaching, using the term "teacher" in a broad sense. In order to be considered, the nominee must be a member of NCA and the MCD, must have taught for over ten years (post-graduate), and must have been recognized for teaching excellence by his/her department, unit, college/university, or other group or association. This includes, but is not limited to, awards, merit evaluations, student recognition, etc. Self-nomination is encouraged in addition to nominations by others. The nomination packet should include the Application for Candidate Nomination (completed online), the applicant's curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation (not to exceed two pages; one must be from a current or former student).

The MCD Service Award is designed to recognize excellence in service, using the term "service" in a broad sense. In order to be considered, the nominee must be a member of NCA and the MCD, must have served the NCA and MCD in a number of capacities, and must have evidence of exemplary service to several of the following: NCA, MCD, their profession, their community, their department, and/or their college/university. Self-nomination is encouraged in addition to nominations by others. The nomination packet should include the Application for Candidate Nomination (completed online), the applicant's curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation (not to exceed two pages each).

Nominations should be received by September 1. An awards committee will discuss the nominations. The award committee will consist of the immediate past chair, chair, vice-chair, vice-chair elect and secretary of the MCD. The final decision will be made by October 1. The award recipient will be contacted and asked to attend the MCD Business Meeting during the NCA annual convention to receive the award. The MCD reserves the right to not give any awards.

The NCA 95th Annual Convention will house convention sessions at both the Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton. The registration area, exhibit hall, job fair, graduate school open house, convention receptions and general sessions will be held at the Hilton Chicago.

The hotels are located approximately a 15-minute walk from one another. A shuttle between hotels will be available during select times.

Hilton Chicago
720 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: (312) 922-4400
Reservation Deadline: October 20, 2009
Click here to make online reservations.

Guests with room accessibility requests are welcome to call the hotel reservation line or submit their reservation online. However, guests who would like to speak directly with a dedicated hotel representative about their accessibility requests are invited to contact Shelima Castillo between the hours of 9:00am and 5:00pm CST at (312) 294-6836 or email Shelima.Castillo@hilton.com.

A one-night deposit will be collected at the time of reservation. NCA Room Rates (applicable taxes are not included in the rates below):

Palmer House Hilton
17 E. Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 726-7500
Reservation Deadline: October 20, 2009
Click here to make online reservations.

A one-night deposit will be collected at the time of reservation. NCA Room Rates (applicable taxes are not included in the rates below):

May 1, 2009 - Convention Registration opens
June 1, 2009 - All changes to printed program content complete
September 1, 2009 - Last day to upload revised papers
September 17, 2009 - All program participants need to be registered
November 12-15, 2009 - NCA 95th Annual Convention

The Department of Communication Arts at Allegheny College invites applicants for a tenure track position in Media Studies beginning August 2010. Candidates must have Ph.D. and college teaching experience. Teaching load is between 5.5 and 6 courses, depending on Senior Project advising. Candidates with research expertise in ethnography are especially encouraged to apply. All faculty are expected to participate in delivering college-wide first-year/sophomore seminars that emphasize writing and speaking. The successful candidate will provide evidence of excellence in teaching, ongoing scholarship and professional development. Allegheny College is a highly selective private liberal arts college with a dedicated faculty of teacher-scholars. Please send letter of application, vita, and three current letters of recommendation before September 1, 2009 to: Media Studies Search, Allegheny College, Box 45, 520 N. Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335. Allegheny College is an Equal Opportunity Employer, with a strong institutional commitment to develop a diverse faculty and staff. Women and members of other under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.

Roger Williams University
Assistant/Associate Professor of Communication/Public Relations

Extending its search, the Department of Communications invites applications for a tenure-track position of Assistant/Associate Professor in Public Relations with interest and expertise in public affairs, corporate, organizational, and/or strategic communication.

Primary responsibilities include teaching courses in the Public Relations concentration such as Writing for Public Relations, Introduction to Mass Media, and Public Relations Research, as well as other related PR support courses such as crisis communication, case studies, and international public relations. Additional responsibilities include assisting in curriculum design and program development related to the Public Relations concentration in particular and the Communication major in general, advising and mentoring students, and serving on college and university committees. An active agenda of scholarly and/or creative professional activities is expected.

Tenure-track faculty must demonstrate effectiveness in the following categories: 1) teaching; 2) academic advising and program development; 3) scholarly, professional and/or creative activities; and 4) institutional and/or community service.

Please contact the search committee co-chairs for further information:
Amiee Shelton, ashelton@rwu.edu
Roxanne O'Connell, roconnell@rwu.edu

Qualified applicants should submit materials electronically, including: 1) a letter of intent along with statements of teaching philosophy and research interests; 2) a current vita; 3) names and contact information of at least three references; 4) writing samples; and, 5) copies of recent teaching evaluations. Electronic applications should be submitted via email:

Subject: (position ref. # FAC09-027)
Roger Williams University
One Old Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809-2921

Extending its search, the Department of Communications invites applications for a tenure-track position of Assistant Professor in Journalism with interest and expertise in digital media, transmedia, and/or multimodal communication.

Primary responsibilities include teaching courses in the Journalism program, developing new courses that address the role of Internet-based media in contemporary news practices, and supporting the major by teaching foundation courses. Other responsibilities include assisting in curriculum design and program development related to the Journalism concentration in particular and the Communication major in general, advising and mentoring students, and serving on college and university committees. An active agenda of scholarly and/or creative professional activities is expected.

Please contact the search committee co-chairs for further information:
Michael Scully, mscully@rwu.edu
Roxanne O’Connell, roconnell@rwu.edu

Subject: (position ref. # FAC09-026)
Roger Williams University
One Old Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809-2921

"CARD Calls" is a monthly teleconference series for communication scholars featuring research presentations and professional development topics. Every other month there will be a research presentation then after the presentation, the phone lines will be opened for questions and discussion. During the alternating months, the CARD Calls will focus on professional development topics and experts who can share important information about the discipline and how to successfully engage in professional activities.

Registration is Easy CARD Calls are open exclusively to NCA members. Each teleconference will last for one hour, and there is no fee for participation. The only technology that is required for participation is a telephone.

1.Download the registration form
2.Fax or email the completed form to Melissa Anderson (manderson@natcom.org or 202-464-4600)

Please note: the registration deadline for each teleconference is 72 hours prior to the start of the teleconference and there there is registration limit of 100 phone lines (more than one person can be participating from a single phone line).

Please register for the teleconferences as soon as possible to ensure that you get a spot.

Upcoming CARD Calls
Thursday, June 11, 2009—1:00pm Eastern
Current Trends in Master’s Education for Communication Jimmie Manning, Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director of Communication, College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University; Dan Cronn-Mills, Professor and Chair, Speech Communication Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato; and Kendall Phillips, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University

NCA's RFP Tracker identifies funding opportunities (including research grants, residential fellowships, travel funds, awards, etc.) for communication scholars. There are many grant opportunities for those interested in mass communication research. The RFP Tracker lists funding and fellowship opportunities for graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and people outside of the academy.

The Carl Couch Center operates an ambitious awards program as the primary means of fulfilling its mission to promote interactionist scholarship. Seven unique awards programs honor some of the most important scholars in their fields, focus on various aspects of the interactionist tradition, and recognize scholarship in forms from student papers to published works. For complete calls and submission guidelines, visit http://www.cccsir.org/Awards.html The following seven are awarded annually:

The Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award recognizes student-authored papers that apply symbolic interactionist approaches to Internet studies. Participation is open to students at all levels and in all disciplines.

The Norman K. Denzin Qualitative Research Award is presented to authors who interpret or address Denzin's theoretical or interpretive approaches, demonstrate creative narrative ethnographies or autoethnographies as advocated by Denzin, or develop other aspects of Dezin's scholarship.

The James W. Carey Media Research Award recognizes works on topics that have been central to Carey's scholarship. Among others, submissions might focus on technology, time, space and communications, the nature of public life, the relation between journalism and popular culture.

The Bruce E. Gronbeck Political Communication Research Award recognizes published works that interpret or address theoretical-conceptual, historical, and critical-cultural issues of political communication.

The David R. Maines Narrative Research Award is presented to recognize works that interpret or address Maines's pragmatist approaches, apply Maines's narrative concepts, or develop aspects of Maines's scholarship in new directions.

The Stanley L. Saxton Applied Research Award is presented to authors of papers that focus on how theory, research, and/or practice contribute to addressing real, pragmatic, social problems.

The Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award recognizes scholarship highlighting important theoretical issues in the areas of ethics, mass communication theory, and the relationship between media and technology and culture.

NCA MCD Officers (2008-2009)

Chair - Travis L. Dixon Dept. of Speech Comm. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 702 S. Wright St. #244 Lincoln Urbana, IL 61801 tldixon@uiuc.edu (217) 244-0104 (phone) (217) 244-1598 (fax)	Vice Chair - Andrew C. Billings Communication Studies Dept Clemson University 409 Strode Tower Clemson, SC 29634-0533 acbilng@clemson.edu (864) 656-1477
Vice Chair Elect - Marina Krcmar Dept of Communication Wake Forest University PO Box 7347 Winston-Salem, NC 27109 Krcmarm@wfu.edu (336) 758-5407	Past Chair - R. Lance Holbert School of Communication The Ohio State University 3016 Derby Hall 154 North Oval Mall Columbus, OH 43210-1339 holbert.27@osu.edu (614) 247-7644
Secretary - Meghan S. Sanders Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication Louisiana State University 211 Journalism Bldg. Baton Rouge, LA 70803 msand@lsu.edu (225) 578-7380	Secretary Elect - Srividya Ramasubramanian Texas A&M University Department of Communication College Station, TX 77843-4234 srivi@tamu.edu (979) 845-5178
Pubs/Web Editor - Adam Earnheardt Youngstown State University Dept. of Communication 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH 44555 acearnheardt@ysu.edu (330) 941-1845	Graduate Student Rep - Christopher Westgate Texas A &M University Department of Communication Bolton Hall, 4234 TAMU College Station, TX 77843 westgate@tamu.edu (979) 862-2530
Research Committee
Research Committee Chair - Rebecca M. Chory Department of Communication Studies 108 Armstrong Hall, P.O. Box 6293 Morgantown, WV 26506-6293 West Virginia University rchoryas@wvu.edu (304) 293-3905	Research Committee Vice Chair - Jennifer Stevens Aubrey Department of Communication University of Missouri-Columbia 203B Switzler Hall aubreyj@missouri.edu (573) 882-0739
Research Committee Vice Chair Elect - Rebecca M. Verser New Mexico St. Univ. Dept of Comm. Studies MSC 3W; P. O. Box 30001 Las Cruces, NM 88003 rmverser@nmsu.edu (505) 646-1603
Nominations Committee
Laura Beth Daws (Chair) University of Kentucky College of Communication & Info. Studies 124 Grehan Building Lexington, KY 40502 bethdaws@gmail.com (859) 257-3621	Janellen Hill Department of Communication Arts Regis University 3333 Regis Blvd, E-8 Denver, CO 80221 jhill@regis.edu (303) 458-4969
Michaela Popescu Cal State-San Bernandino Dept of Communication Studies 5500 University Parkway San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393 popescum@csusb.edu (909) 537-5862	Karyn Riddle University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication 5014 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Ave Madison, WI 53706 kriddle@wisc.edu (608) 263-7836
Mina Tsay University of Kentucky Department of Communication 238 Grehan Building Lexington, KY 40506-0042 mina.tsay@uky.edu (859) 257-4651
NCA
Legislative Assembly - Stan Tickton Norfolk State University Mass Communication/Journalism 700 Park Ave., Unit 3249 Norfolk, Virginia 23504 stickton@nsu.edu (757) 823-2383	Legislative Assembly - Jane Banks Indiana University/Purdue University Dept of Communication 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd. Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805-1499 banksj@ipfw.edu (260) 481-6548
Resolutions Committee - Beth E. Bonnstetter Dept. of English, Theater and Communication Adams State College 208 Edgemont Blvd. Alamosa, CO 81102 (719) 587-8142	Nominating Committee - Cary Horvath Youngstown State University Dept. of Communication 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH 44555 clhorvath@ysu.edu (330) 941-3631