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COMM Self Study

Department of Communication Studies

Bob Schieffer College of Communication

Self Study

Fall, 2014 with final revisions approved on February 4, 2015

Paul E. King, Professor and Chair

Dr. Kristen Carr, Assistant Professor

Dr. Amber Finn, Associate Professor and Director of the Basic Speech Course

Ms. Katherine Forsythe, Instructor and Associate Basic Course Director

Dr. Johny Garner, Associate Professor

Dr. Amorette Hinderaker, Assistant Professor and Convener of Debates

Dr. Debi Iba, Instructor with Portfolio for International Studies

Dr. Andrew Ledbetter, Associate Professor

Ms. Carrie Moore, Instructor and Director of Public Speaking

Mr. Michael Putnam, Instructor

Dr. Adam Richards, Assistant Professor

Dr. Chris Sawyer, Professor

Dr. Paul Schrodt, Burguières Professor & Director of Graduate Studies

Dr. Melissa Schroeder, Associate Professor

Dr. Paul Witt, Professor

Staff: Ms. Dolores Villegas, Administrative Assistant

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COMM Self Study

I. Brief History and Profile of the Department of Communication Studies

A. History

The mission of the Department of Communication Studies is to educate students to think and communicate in ethical and effective ways that will enrich their personal and professional lives. In order to achieve this mission, the advancement of knowledge through active participation in scholarship (by both faculty and students) and a commitment to professional development are required. In broad strokes, the purpose of this department self study is to assess our effectiveness in attaining this mission.

This Department of Communication self study was prepared by the faculty of the department, primarily during the fall of 2014. Several sections were written by individual faculty members who have special responsibility for selected areas. Other sections were prepared by the Department of Communication Studies curriculum committee members. This introductory section of the document, prepared by the Department Chair, will contain two elements: a brief history and a current profile of the unit.

Fortunately, the history of the Communication Studies Department was well documented in a master’s thesis authored by Yancy Boyd in 1972, titled “A History of the Department of Speech Communication at Texas Christian University” and in our previous program review, prepared by Dr. Chris Sawyer in 2002-2003. This previous review is attached, in full, as an appendix (Previous Department Review) to this document. My comments will focus on the more recent historical trends in the department.

The Speech Communication Department began the 1970’s as a composite of several areas of emphasis: (1) a traditional core unit that explored public speaking, rhetoric, forensics, and some topics in interpersonal communication, (2) a radio/television/film (RTVF) unit with an attached radio station (KTCU), and (3) a Speech Pathology program located in the newly constructed Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic. The units were physically separated yet attached due to size constraints and a common emphasis on the study of human communication. The Speech Communication Department was, in turn, located within the College of Fine Arts (later designated as Fine Arts and Communication). Department Chair, Dr. Ralph Behnke, made the decision early in his tenure at TCU to (1) recommend that RTVF be administratively separated to form it’s own academic department, and (2) to discontinue the TCU forensics program. The final debate coach at TCU was Dr. Michael J. Beatty (Ohio State University) whose area of expertise was more suited to the general study of interpersonal and instructional communication.

Consequently, the Speech Communication Department began the 1980’s with a more cohesive administrative structure and with new facilities, the J.M. Moudy

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Building. The South Building began with the three units that still occupy the space, RTVF and associated studios on the first floor, Journalism and Advertising/Public Relations on the second floor, and the Department of Speech Communication on the third floor. Interestingly, the classrooms and laboratories were constructed with an unprecedented level of input from faculty who would be teaching in that space. So, for example, interpersonal communication was taught in an octagonal room (with four break out rooms) designed to facilitate discussion rather than lecture.

Following Dr. Behnke’s work as Department Chair, no major changes occurred during the terms of Dr. Joseph Helmick (a Speech Pathologist) and Dr. William E. Jurma. The size of the faculty remained at 6 full time positions in Speech and 7-8 in Speech Pathology, a steady number for almost 20 years.

In 1990, Department Chair Dr. Paul King recommended the administrative separation of the Speech, Hearing, Language Pathology programs into a distinct academic department: the Department of Communication Science and Disorders (today the Davies School of Sciences and Disorders, a division of the Harris College of Nursing and Heath Sciences). The Speech Communication Department was reconceived as a program emphasizing Communication in Human Relations—a program title that Dr. Behnke had brought with him from the University of Kansas. Under Dr. King, the program title was operationalized as a unit specializing in the study of everyday communication (particularly in interpersonal and organizational contexts). The thinking was that this approach would provide an opportunity for disciplinary distinctiveness and programmatic unity (such as collegial research) missing when faculty specialties were as disparate as rhetoric and public address, performance studies, and business communications (including writing).

In 1996-97, Dr. William Powers joined the faculty and served as Department Chair until 2002. Under Power’s leadership, a standing proposal to convert two unused classrooms at the West end of the building into a showcase business and professional speaking suite was funded and completed: the Bill and Kathleen Mercer room. In addition, Dr. Powers hired Dr. Chris Sawyer and appointed him as the Department’s first graduate program director.

Dr. Sawyer became Department Chair in 2002 and served in that capacity through 2008. During Dr. Sawyer’s term in office, a number of significant developments occurred, including the addition of a new tenure-track faculty line and conversion of an instructor’s line to a tenure track line, the first such new lines for the unit in about 25 years. The department saw tremendous growth in the number of majors, becoming one of the largest units on campus with respect to that indicator (regularly well above 300). The Department’s name was changed to the Department of Communication Studies, reflecting more contemporary and appropriate conventions, along with the focus of the department on everyday talk. The Department’s first endowed professorship was announced, with Dr. Ralph Behnke (winner of the Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Activity) named the Philip J. & Cheryl C. Burguières Professor of Communication Studies.

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Following Dr. Sawyer’s term, Dr. Paul King agreed to serve as Chair once again. Dr. King’s most recent term has seen rapid expansion of the faculty with the addition of 7 new full time lines (4 tenure track and 3 instructors). The department’s matriculation policy resulted in a reduction in the number of majors to the mid-200’s, solving a persistent problem of overbooking classes. Following development of appropriate criteria and an appointment procedure, Dr. Paul Schrodt (recognized by NCA for career contributions to the area of family communication) was selected as the Philip J. & Cheryl C. Burguières Professor of Communication Studies.

B. Recent Initiatives and Profile

During this recent period, a number of new initiatives have been undertaken. First, we have developed an extensive program in forensics, headed by a Convener of Debates, complete with a $50,000+ budget and a portfolio that includes high profile, on campus, public debates (see Appendix 4). In addition, a new Director of Public Speaking administers new programs such as a campus-wide public speaking scholarship contest (the Wisdom Award), the endowed Gorvetzian Speaker series, and a dedicated communication laboratory (see Appendix 5). We have forged a new relationship with the J.V. Roach Honors College. We regularly schedule Honors classes and have been represented on the Honors College Advisory Committee for several years. For the first time in the unit’s history, we are offering international study courses each summer (the United Kingdom and Italy) and are planning on the development of a spring semester intercultural communication course (2016) that will feature a trip to China during spring break.

Increased faculty size has permitted the unit to revisit the decision made years before during King’s first appointment to focus only on a critical mass of faculty specializing in interpersonal and organizational communication. Growth has permitted the unit to expand offerings to include health communication, social media, mediation, and other areas as well as a broadened epistemological approach (to include interpretive scholarship, see list of undergraduate course offerings in Appendix 1). Today, the Department is the most productive Master’s degree granting unit in the U.S. in terms of scholarship quality and quantity (with the exception being the University of Miami—a small faculty (5) that includes Dean Michael J. Beatty, most prolific active scholar in the field and also lists itself as a doctoral program). If we were compared to all U.S. doctoral programs, we would rank among the top 10 (#6) in quantity (per faculty line), and a similar rank in quality (measured by NCA doctoral program journal rankings—CIOS).

We maintain approximately 230 student majors (day 12, fall semester), although this number has fluctuated greatly in past years, with severe consequences for enrollment pressure and student time-to-graduate. Please note that the number of student majors is under-represented compared to other units since (1) the matriculation policy requires students to complete enrollment classes prior to

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declaring a COMM major (for internal transfers), and (2) the curriculum is not heavily sequenced compared to other programs, allowing for faster completion of 27 hours (B.A.) or 36 hours (B.S.). For example, in 2013, the Department of Communication Studies awarded approximately 1/3 of the undergraduate degrees from the Bob Schieffer College of Communication (111 of 337), compared with a significantly smaller percentage of the number of majors, as shown below.

Year Communication Studies College of Communication2001 136 8582002 154 8502003 208 8882004 242 9742005 271 10502006 283 10672007 327 11212008 354 11602009 338 11642010 243 10882011 248 11442012 231 10992013 231 10802014 233 1034

*Source: TCU Fact Book, Office of Institutional Research

The Department of Communication Studies is an academic unit with a number of highly important service responsibilities. Consequently, it is vital to maintain some control over the number of undergraduate student majors in order to (1) maintain quality, and (2) accomplish our other important missions (providing all TCU students with an opportunity to develop oral communication skills through the TCU core, providing for a large minor field of study, and maintaining a successful graduate program). Our policies and procedures for declaring a major or a minor, including our internal matriculation policy, are shown in the TCU catalog copy in Appendix 1.

The Department is remarkably productive in terms of credit hour production (CHP). In fall, 2014, we produced 5,463 credit hours, compared to a sum of 10,718.5 for the Bob Schieffer College of Communication (or, approximately half of the College total). This CHP total places the unit among the most productive units at TCU, rivaling English (7610), History & Geography (5,752), Nursing (6,194), and Management (5,877).

Through the early 2000s, much of the increase in both CHP and number of majors was facilitated by dramatically expanded use of adjunct faculty. Because we consider the importance of working with full time faculty to be an important part of the TCU Promise, we have established recent initiatives to reduce over-reliance on

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part-time teaching. In 2013, we hired an Associate Basic Course Director (ABCD) to teach multiple sections of oral communication (OC) courses as well as to facilitate expansion of the number of lab sections offered in our Basic Course, COMM 10123. This spring, we anticipate the hiring (pending final Board of Trustees approval in April) of a Director of Business and Professional Speaking. These new instructor-level positions will replace current adjunct teaching. Along with an expanded number of labs in COMM 10123, we expect reliance on occasional faculty to be limited to specialized courses and a few evening offerings in the future.

Remaining adjunct faculty often provide highly specialized professional experiences, for example:

Dr. Kay Harris, Senior Management at Alcon Labs and published author of several studies in health communication and communication anxiety. Dr. Harris teaches Health Communication.

Dr. Rich Shoen, Principle at Rich Shoen and Company, former senior executive with financial corporations, highly experienced writing coach. Dr. Shoen teaches our upper level writing emphasis course.

Dr. Charles Summerville, retired minister, author of text on organizational communication (with Wayland Cummings), teaches business and professional speaking.

Mr. Gerald Appel, graduate degrees in communication and in counseling, currently completing dissertation in intercultural communication, teaches intercultural communication.

Finally, the Department of Communication Studies has maintained a strong M.S. program for well over half a century. The number of students enrolled in the program is very strongly impacted by financial assistance available. A complete report concerning our graduate programming is found in Appendix 2 of this document.

II. Program Mission/Goals/Learning Outcomes/Assessment Results

For complete WEAVE report (for both the Department and our oral communication responsibilities, see Appendix 3.

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A. Department-wide summary

Assessing our AssessmentSummary prepared for Self-Study Review by Melissa Schroeder, 10/1/14)

Stated Mission/PurposeTo educate students to think and communicate in ethical and effective ways that will enrich their personal and professional lives.

WEAVE Goals Demonstrated Knowledge of Communication Theories Knowledge of Principles and Findings in Communication Research Display effective and appropriate use of skills in Personal/Professional

Communication

Strengths:In the WEAVE system we have reasonably recent measures and action plans for both Undergrad and Grad program. Examples of recent projects that have been completed:

Master Syllabus Project (completed 2011) Revision of Department Mission, Goals, Student Learning Outcomes (completed

2012) Exit Exams measuring demonstration of knowledge of communication research

findings and processes (established 2011-12, data reported 2012-13)

Weaknesses: No projects have been established for the undergrad program in the cycle since

2011-12. Although some projects are ongoing evaluations (e.g. exit exam refinement, increased response rates), no new data has been entered in the system since 2013.

Only one project is scheduled for completion this year (including exam questions on research principles, key findings and ethics to the exit exam, due for completion 6/15)

Concerns Curriculum committee named as supervisor for several initiatives (e.g.

developing/implementing standards for Assessing Competent communication in Personal Contexts in the undergraduate interpersonal and OCO courses; exit exam items mentioned above to be added for 6/15 completion date)

COMM 20103 is still listed as one of our WEAVE items. Will Powers still contact person. Indicates some updating needed.

Disconnect between some descriptions and actual action items. Assessment largely based on exit exams not observation of interaction or demonstration of skills.

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Who is responsible for keeping us on track for the program assessment? Is the Curriculum Committee prepared to do this work as part of their committee assignment (that is how it appears to be set up currently).

(note: Since this report was prepared, we have addressed these concerns by appointing Ms. Katherine Forsythe as our Director of Assessment. Ms. Forsythe will maintain an ongoing membership in the Department Curriculum Committee, acting as liaison between the Committee and the Basic Course. Proposed changes in practice will originate in the Committee for consideration by the full faculty).

B. Basic Speech Communication Program Review

COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication Internal Report, 2005-2014Summary prepared for self-study review by Amber Finn and Kathryn Forsythe, fall, 2014

COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication Catalog Description

Surveys fundamental communication concepts with an emphasis on developing public speaking skills. Not available to students who have completed COMM 10133.

Type of Course

COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication is a hybrid course, focusing on interpersonal communication, group communication and public speaking. The course provides an overview of communication concepts, principles, and theories. It is primarily a skills-based course.

Brief History 2005-2014

In 2005, COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication was added to the new Core Curriculum http://www.core.tcu.edu/ as an Oral Communication Essential Competency (OCO) course http://www.core.tcu.edu/OralComm.asp . Other OCO COMM courses included Instructional Communication (no longer part of the curriculum) and Business and Professional Communication. While the number of students accommodated per OCO course was initially relatively even, over the years, basic speech has become the primary OCO course, accommodating approximately 1500 students each year. See Table 1 for the number of students accommodated each year per course.

At the same time the course was added to the Core Curriculum (i.e., 2005), basic speech started being offered in two different formats: (1) blended large lecture/lab and (2) stand-alone integrated lecture/lab. The blended large lecture/lab version of the course involves an online lecture, followed by small performance labs. The online portion of the class focuses on knowledge acquisition, while the lab emphasizes communication skill-building. The stand-alone integrated lecture/lab version is taught like a standard course. Both formats are still being offered today,

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http://www.core.tcu.edu/OralComm.asp

http://www.core.tcu.edu/

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and a fairly balanced offering of the two has been maintained over the years. See Table 2 for the number of students accommodated per year in each format.

Since 2005, the course has been taught by both full and part-time faculty members. In 2005, Dr. Amber Finn was hired as the Basic Course Director to serve as lead teacher for the stand-alone sections and coordinate the blended large lecture/lab version of the course. She remains in this role today. In 2013, an Associate Basic Course Director was hired to teach stand-alone sections of the course and help with the administrative duties of the large lecture/lab course, including developing and monitoring a course assessment plan. Ms. Katherine Forsythe currently serves as the Associate Basic Course Director. In addition to Dr. Finn and Ms. Forsythe, other full-time faculty members who regularly teach the course include Dr. Paul King, Dr. Chris Sawyer, Mr. Mike Putnam, and Ms. Carrie Moore. Additionally, six to eight part-time faculty members teach the course each year. See Table 2 for a breakdown of full-time vs. part-time faculty teaching the course each semester.

TCU’s OCO Learning Outcomes

When COMM 10123 was added to the TCU Core Curriculum, the following learning outcomes were attached to the course:

Students will demonstrate the ability to construct and deliver effective messages, adapted to the audience, purpose, and context of the situation.

Students will demonstrate the ability to facilitate interpersonal and group communication.

These learning outcomes remain in place today.

COMM 10123 Course Learning Objectives

In line with OCO Learning Outcomes and the Department’s mission statement (i.e., to educate students to think and communicate in ethical and effective ways so as to enrich their personal and professional lives), the course learning objectives state that upon completion of COMM 10123, the successful student will demonstrate:

the knowledge, ability, and confidence to construct and deliver appropriate and effective messages in public speaking contexts.

the knowledge, ability, and confidence to facilitate appropriate and effective communication in interpersonal contexts.

the knowledge, ability, and confidence to facilitate appropriate and effective communication in small group contexts.

Consistency between Formats

In order to ensure some consistency between the blended large lecture/lab and the stand-alone sections of COMM 10123, all faculty members teaching the course are expected to:

have the same learning outcomes and objectives focus on interpersonal, group, and public speaking

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use the same textbook include at least two exams in the course require at least two presentations (informative and persuasive) use the same, or very similar, speech grading rubrics use traditional letter grades, not the plus/minus grading system

In addition, in an effort to have ongoing discussions and ensure similar learning experiences for students, the Basic Course Director and/or the Associate Basic Course Director observe the sections of the course taught by part-time faculty every 1-2 years.

Classroom Utilization

The blended large lecture/lab sections of COMM 10123 use Moudy S rooms #314, #300, and #345 every Monday-Thursday from 8 am to 2 pm. The stand-alone sections use various other available classrooms in, or in close proximity to, Moudy South.

GTA Utilization

The blended large lecture/lab version of the basic speech course relies heavily on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to facilitate the small performance labs. Approximately 8-10 graduate students serve as GTAs each year. Dr. Amber Finn, Basic Course Director, trains and supervises the GTAs. The Associate Basic Course Director assists in these duties. In order to ensure consistency between labs, all GTAs are required to:

Attend the annual GTA Training Workshop (described below) Attend just-in-time training sessions (described below) Schedule a time to have their lab observed at least once a year and

coordinate a follow-up meeting (described below) Use the same syllabus and textbook Follow the same teaching schedule, which ensures covering the same topics

and facilitating similar activities Use and enforce the same classroom policies and procedures Use the same grading rubrics

GTA Training

The GTAs serving as lab instructors for the blended large lecture/lab version of the course receive considerable training before they ever set foot in the classroom and continual training and support throughout their time in the graduate program. The goal is to ensure the GTAs have every opportunity to succeed and that the students in the course have a very similar, positive learning experience. Training and support includes:

Annual GTA Training Workshop. GTAs attend a week-long training workshop prior to each academic year. The workshop covers effective

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teacher communication behaviors (e.g., immediacy, clarity, etc.), speech evaluation training, emailing etiquette, classroom management, teaching methods, shared resources, etc. GTAs are required to attend the workshop each year. The experienced GTAs are asked to serve as mentors to the new GTAs during the workshop.

Just-in-Time Training. The Basic Course Director and Associate Basic Course Director meet with the GTAs throughout the semester to ensure consistency and provide continual training. Topics of discussion include upcoming assignments, current struggles, grading, classroom management, etc.

Annual Classroom Observation and Meeting. The Basic Course Director and/or the Associate Basic Course Director observe each GTA in the classroom at least once per year. After the observation, the GTA is asked to self-reflect on the lab and then schedule a meeting with the observing faculty member to discuss the teaching experience. During the meeting, strengths and weaknesses are identified and goals for the future are agreed upon. The observing faculty member and the GTA have subsequent ongoing discussions related to the GTA’s goals and future classroom experiences.

Open Door Policy. The Basic Course Director and Associate Basic Course Director have an open door policy for all GTAs. GTAs are welcome to meet with either faculty member as needed to discuss administrative and teaching challenges.

University Service

In addition to accommodating a large number of students each semester, the blended large lecture/lab version of the course is constantly being examined to determine ways in which the course can help meet university needs. The following two projects are currently underway:

1) FrogFolio. Given the FrogFolio initiative on campus, the Basic Course Director is working closely with Dr. Daniel Terry, Director of ePortfolio, to utilize the FrogFolio in COMM 10123. The FrogFolio was embedded in the course in fall 2014 and is being closely monitored by Dr Finn, Dr. Terry, and Dr. Catherine Wehlburg, Associate Provost Instructional Effectiveness. If the FrogFolio can effectively be embedded into the course, COMM 10123 will help approximately one thousand students a year obtain a FrogFolio account and receive training on how to effectively create and use a FrogFolio.

2) Honors College. The Associate Course Director is working closely with the John V. Roach Honor’s College to determine current and future needs for honors sections of COMM 10123. Based upon recent conversations, 1-2 sections of the course are needed each semester starting in fall 2015. Plans are underway to help meet this need.

Improvement Plans

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In an ongoing effort to improve the blended large lecture/lab version of COMM 10123, the following are in the works:

Labs. A proposal has been made to restructure the current lab offerings. Currently, labs are being offered twice a week for 50-minutes each. However, in order to resolve a number of structural and logistical issues in the course, the proposal outlines a model for labs to follow the natural sciences and meet once a week for 1 hour and fifty minutes.

Online Lectures. The Basic Course Director is working closely with the Koehler Center to incorporate current best practices for online and mobile teaching and learning into the online lectures.

Comprehensive Assessment Plan. Beginning spring 2015, a comprehensive assessment plan for the course will be implemented. The assessment plan will include macro and micro assessment of course learning outcomes.

Conclusion The basic speech course continues to be an integral part of the department.

Assessment

For a summary of assessment plans and findings for our OC courses (COMM 10123 and 10133), see the attached document, 10123 Assessment.

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Table 1: # of Students per OCO Course per Semester

Basic Speech Communication

Business & Professional

SpeakingInstructional

Communication Total OCO14 Fall 682 170 0 85214 Summer 77 19 0 9614 Spring 711 103 0 814

1470 292 0 176213 Fall 824 144 0 96813 Summer 81 15 0 9613 Spring 628 157 0 785








1269 477 146 189205 Fall 584 187 60 83105 Summer 19 17 0 3605 Spring 372 184 57 613` 975 388 117 1480

Table 2: # of Students per Basic Course Format per Semester

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# of Students in Blended

Large Lecture/Lab

Full-Time

Faculty GTAs

# of Students in Stand-

Alone# of

Sections

Full-Time

Faculty

Part-Time

FacultyTotal

Students14 Fall 388 1 9 294 12 2 6 68214 Summer 0 0 0 77 5 5 0 7714 Spring 347 1 9 364 16 3 6 711

735 735 147013 Fall 382 1 9 442 19 4 7 82413 Summer 0 0 0 81 5 3 0 8113 Spring 343 1 8 285 12 2 4 628









662 313 975

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III. Student Recruitment, Retention, and Placement

Please note that these issues are covered extensively for our M.S. Program in Appendix 2.

Our undergraduate programs are academic, rather than professional/vocational in nature. Since our majors find work in such diverse areas as human resources, teaching, management, sales, marketing, event coordination, corporate communication, and various clerical areas, providing specific information on placement is very difficult compared to professional programs. Consequently, we do not maintain the industry specific information available in other programs at TCU.

A. Graduation Placement Survey 2014

Employment placement for graduating seniors for the past academic year (Fall 2013, Spring 2014) has been collected on a small number of students who volunteered their information.

This information comes courtesy of Kim Satz (TCU Associate Director of Employer Development). Her comments regarding the available data are important to note as the department/college/university move forward in technology designed for easy capture of our graduates’ placement information:

“Since we only began conducting surveys on iPads in 2013, these are the only graduating classes we have this information for in this format at this time.”

“Note, this information is based on student survey responses immediately prior to graduation and only contain responses of students who participated. As you can see, we changed the questions up a bit from the fall 2013 to the spring 2014 survey, so there is some variation in the information provided.”

“We are exploring other ways to electronically capture this information as of the date of graduation and then at intervals thereafter so we have a better picture of where grads are employed. Until student reporting is required though, we are relying on self-reporting.”

Graduating Senior Survey Report

What degree will you be receiving at graduation?

Degree # RespondentsBS-Communication Studies Fall 2013 Spring 2014

14 35

What is your primary current career status?

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Status Fall 2013 Spring 2014Currently applying and/or interviewing for professional position

6 42.86% 12 34.29%

Employed in a full-time professional position related to my major field of study

5 35.71% 10 28.57%

Employed in a full-time professional position not related to my major field of study

2 14.29% 5 14.29%

Have not yet started search for professional position but intend to do so

2 5.71%

Been accepted to graduate program and intend to enroll 1 7.14% 3 8.57%Other (please specify)1, 2 3 8.57%

N= 14 351 Debating between a few job offers2 Moving to Italy because spouse is stationed near Venice

With what company is the job you accepted?

FALL 2013December 5thGateway Mortgage GroupH&H OilInternational RealtyKHM RentalsMedix Staffing SolutionsMira Vista Realtors(7 Respondents)

SPRING 2014Agility communication groupAxis AdvisorsCatapult HealthDISYSgolinharrisLennox Internationallogistics companyMercedes Benz of coral gablesSewell (2 respondents)

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Teach for AmericaTextronThe Fort Worth Star TelegramWeir Oil and GasXTO Energy

(15 Respondents)

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If you have accepted a position or are currently employed, what is your base salary?

Salary Fall 2013 Spring 2014Below $20,000 1 14.29%$20,000-$29,999

1 14.29% 4 28.57%

$30,000-$39,999

1 14.29% 6 42.86%

$40,000-$49,999

2 28.57% 2 14.29%

$50,000-$59,999

1 14.29% 1 7.14%

$60,000-$69,999

1 14.29% 1 7.14%

N= 7 14

In what industry is the professional position you accepted or are currently working?

FALL 20131 14.29% Communication2 28.57% Energy1 14.29% Management/Admin2 28.57% Real Estate1 14.29% Sales

(7 Respondents)

SPRING 20141 7.14% Advertising2 14.29% Communication1 7.14% Education - Elementary1 7.14% Financial Services1 7.14% Healthcare - Non-nursing1 7.14% Journalism1 7.14% Logistics1 7.14% Marketing - Non-Sales2 14.29% Oil and Gas1 7.14% Retail2 14.29% Sales

(14 Respondents)

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We mentor and advise students in formal and informal ways. Formally, faculty who completed the survey (nearly everyone) reported 224 advisees (about 18.67 per person). That number has declined as we’ve added new faculty (although the decrease may also be due to required courses to become majors). Due to the presence of matriculation requirements, faculty also report quite a bit of unofficial advising for those who have not yet been able to declare our major.

In terms of formal mentoring, one faculty member reported specifically advising at-risk students. Faculty reported directing eight honors theses in recent semesters. However, most of the mentoring that we give to undergraduates is informal. More than anything, our faculty provide mentoring in our classes (i.e., character class, conflict management, etc.). Along that line, Debi Iba and Carrie Moore provide up-close mentoring through their Study Abroad programs. We write numerous recommendation letters (both traditional format and on Linked In). We provide mentoring through Lambda Pi Eta. Faculty give students personal help in managing public speaking fear. Dr. Johny Garner provides a great deal of career mentoring to students through the Internship class. He also teaches a University Experience class for first-semester freshmen.

B. Quality Indicators

Lambda Pi Eta:Our department sponsors an active chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the national

honor society for communication majors and minors. At the national level, the society is governed by the National Communication Association and is an accredited member of the Association of College Honor Societies. The Lambda Pi Eta chapter at TCU was founded in February 2008 as the Omicron Chi chapter. Due to a clerical error on the part of the National Communication Association, it was renamed the Alpha Alpha Mu chapter in July 2011. To join Lambda Pi Eta, a student must hold a minimum university GPA of 3.0 and departmental GPA of 3.25, as well as a minimum of 60 credit hours earned total and 12 hours in communication studies courses.

At the end of the 2013-2014 academic year, the Alpha Alpha Mu chapter of Lambda Pi Eta had 51 members, including 16 newly inducted in the fall 2013 semester and 9 newly inducted in the spring 2014 semester. The fall induction ceremony featured a lecture by Dr. Mark Morman (Baylor University). During the spring, Lambda Pi Eta assisted the forensics program in hosting an awards event for the department. In addition to inducting new members into Lambda Pi Eta and the forensics honor society (Pi Kappa Delta), the event featured student performances and presentation of awards. Among the awards given was the new Lambda Pi Eta Award for Faculty Excellence, which recognizes a faculty member who is (a) intellectually demanding and rigorous, (b) deeply committed to teaching and students, (c) communicates effectively with students, and (d) has a positive and lasting impact on students. This award will be given yearly each spring.

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Class sizes are restricted by available room space. One classroom (Moudy South 320, seats 70) is frequently used for larger sections of interpersonal communication, communication theory, and organizational communication). These classes are more commonly taught with enrollment maximums of 30. All performance classes are limited to a maximum enrollment of 25. All writing emphasis courses are limited to a maximum of 20. Grade distributions in COMM are consistent with comparable units in the College and the University. For fall, 2014, combined distributions were:

COMM

% of Total Number of Records along Grade (group) 27.54% 37.92% 19.84% 2.41% 2.04% 1.11%

COMM N 594 818 428 52 44 24

Since several faculty members use +/- grading while others do not, it is difficult to characterize overall grading practices; however, data for spring, 2014 are displayed in Appendix 5, broken down by both systems of grading.

The most recent copy of the Department of Communication Studies Profile, provided by the TCU Office of Institutional Research, is displayed in Appendix 6. This appendix includes quality indicators such as SAT and ACT scores of entering students, along with the average GPA of Baccalaureate Recipients (which happens to be exactly 3.0 for 2011-2013). Retention and Graduation rates are also included.

IV. Faculty Teaching/Ressearch/Service Quality

A. Outstanding Achievements

Accomplishments in research and publication:

Within the communication discipline, our department is highly regarded for the quantity and quality of research our faculty produce. One of the more objective benchmarks is the ComAnalytics database, which ranks communication programs across the country based on the average number of publications per faculty member. For master’s-level programs, the average number of publications per faculty member is 2.65 (SD = 3.12); in our department, the average is 20.33 (z = +5.67). When compared to master’s programs with at least 5 faculty members, this places us as the #1 program in the nation for faculty productivity. Comparing this rate to doctoral programs reveals that we would be ranked as the #5 most productive doctoral department, surpassed only by Missouri, West Virginia, California at Santa Barbara, and Penn State. A similar analysis adjusting for prestige of publication outlet yields almost identical results, placing us as the #1 master’s program and #6 among the doctoral programs. Taken overall, this serves as clear evidence that our faculty is producing research distinctive by both its quantity and quality. Stated differently, the productivity of our faculty exceeds that of some of the

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most prestigious doctoral programs in our field, including Stanford, Cornell, Texas, Texas A&M, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Purdue, and Arizona, among many others.

The publication outlets chosen by our faculty also testify to the quality of research produced by our department. Within the last five years (i.e., since 2009), our faculty have published single- or first-authored manuscripts in Communication Research (2013 ISI impact factor = 2.44), New Media & Society (2.05), Human Communication Research (1.89), Personal Relationships (1.84), Communication Monographs (1.32), Health Communication (1.28), Management Communication Quarterly (1.05), and Communication Education (ranked 13 in CCA-Sponsored Journals in Google Scholar Metrics, 2013, placing it above journals such as Communication Theory and Public Relations Research), among other prestigious outlets. Our faculty also have received national recognition for their scholarly achievement, including the Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (Adam Richards, 2014), Interpersonal Communication Early Career Award (Andrew Ledbetter, 2014), and Bernard J. Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Family Communication (Paul Schrodt, 2012). Along with numerous top paper recognitions received by the faculty at national and regional conferences, these awards reveal not only the commitment of our faculty to research excellence, but also demonstrate broad recognition of the quality of that research by our peers at other institutions.

Our faculty are highly visible as presenters, respondents, and panel chairs in the annual conferences of the National Communication Association and International Communication Association, as well as the Central States Communication Association and the Southern States Communication Association. Our collective body of research is recognized in the areas of interpersonal, family, instructional, organizational, group, and communication apprehension, among others. We have received numerous awards for scholarship in these divisions, and several of our articles have received special honors and recognitions. Here is a summary of this professional activity over the past several years:

59 Top Paper Awards—31 National, 28 Regional

5 Individual Article Recognitions—4 National, 1 InternationalDistinguished Article Award, NCA Instructional Development DivisionJohn E. Hunter Award, ICA Information Systems DivisionArticle of the Year Award Journal of Family CommunicationFranklin Knower Article Award, NCA Interpersonal DivisionTop Article of the Year, NCA Communication Apprehension and Competence Division

5 National Recognitions for Individual Scholarly Achievement(2) Early Career Award, NCA Interpersonal DivisionBernard J. Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship, NCA Family Comm Division

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Sandra Petronio Dissertation Excellence Award, NCA Family Comm DivisionGerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, NCA Interpersonal Division

In addition to research achievement, our faculty are dedicated to excellence in teaching, as evidenced by the following honors and awards:

National and Regional Recognition for TeachingTeachers on Teaching Award, NCAOutstanding New Teacher Award, CSCACertificate of Merit, SSCA

TCU Recognition for Scholarship and TeachingDistinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar—College of

CommunicationDeans’ Research Award—College of CommunicationDeans’ Teaching Award—College of CommunicationPreferred Professor AwardOutstanding Mentor AwardExceptional Honors ProfessorMost Motivational Teacher Award

During the past several years, members of our faculty have provided leadership in several regional and national professional organizations. Here is a summary of that activity:

Leadership Positions in National OrganizationsNCA Publications BoardNCA Task Force on Policy Platform ReviewChair, NCA Resolutions CommitteeNCA Nominating CommitteeNCA Strategic Planning CommitteeSecretary, Vice Chair, and Chair, Communication Apprehension and Competence DivisionSecretary, Vice Chair, and Chair, Family Communication DivisionSecretary, Vice Chair, and Chair, Communication in the Future DivisionChair, Nominating Committee, NCA Instructional Development DivisionEditor, NCA journal Communication Education

Leadership Positions in Regional OrganizationsMember-at-large, CSCA Executive Committee of CSCAChair, CSCA Federation Prize CommitteeChair, CSCA Nominating CommitteeChair, Vice Chair, and Program Planner, SSCA Interpersonal Communication Division

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Chair, Vice Chair, and Program Planner, CSCA Interpersonal Communication Division

Member of Editorial Boards or Consulting Reviewer for the following journals:Communication EducationWestern Journal of CommunicationCommunication MonographsCommunication QuarterlyCommunication TheoryCommunication Research ReportsCommunication ReportsSocial Psychology of EducationJournal of Online Behavior

Collectively, these honors and achievements represent a highly professional, highly productive, and highly esteemed group of scholars who make up the faculty of the TCU Department of Communication Studies.

B. Summarize the process for determining faculty salary and the criteria used for awarding merit pay.

New positions are generally awarded with a budgeted salary attached. Our experience has been that TCU is open to adjustment of the final salary offer. The experience of the current Chair, Dr. King, has been that we were able to hire all of our first ranked candidates (8 total) during his time in office. At least two of those candidates also had offers from PhD granting programs.

Merit pay increases are awarded using the criteria indicated in the document: “Addendum to the College of Communication Criteria for Faculty Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, Tenure and Merit Increase, As Applied to the Department of Communication Studies” (revised April 14, 2010). This document is included as Appendix 7 of this self study.

Calculations are based on the workload estimation of 40% teaching, 40% research, 20% service/advising/professional development. For instructors, workload is estimated at 70% teaching, 30% service/advising/professional development. After annual reports are reviewed, individual ratings within each category are developed for faculty and then adjusted by the workload percentage figures to calculate adjusted mean ratings. These are then applied to distribute funds available for merit increase. Faculty salary increases are generally about 3% and there is a typical holdout to permit structural adjustments. Consequently, we award % increases averaging 2.8. Special explanations are required for salary increases above 4%. These issues have been thoroughly vetted at department faculty meetings and, in 2013-14, we engaged in a lengthy discussion of “dollars vs. percentages” in one of those meetings.

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C. Mean Salaries by Rank

Rank Mean 9 month salaryProfessor (includes endowment) $99, 310Associate Professor $77, 745Assistant Professor $66, 682Instructor $61, 368

D. Faculty Professional Statements (single page abstracts)

Dr. Kristen Carr, Assistant Professor

TeachingSince fall of 2012 I have taught 15 sections of three undergraduate courses at TCU: Interpersonal Communication, Family Communication, and Communication Theory. I have also taught one section of a graduate-level “Topics in Communication” course, Communication and Coping. To date, I have received an overall mean eSPOT evaluation of 4.86/5.00. In support of TCU’s mission of encouraging students to become ethical leaders and responsible citizens, I endeavor to create a classroom environment where students can critically engage with difficult aspects of communication. Accordingly, I feel I have succeeded when students provide comments such as, “Dr. Carr is truly amazing at what she does. She made class fun and interesting and it made me want to go to class every day” and, “I was still deciding if I wanted to be a communication studies major or not. Now I know I absolutely do. There is quite a bit of reading and I still wanted to read everyday because Dr. Carr’s passion for the class made me excited to learn.” Comments such as these reinforce my commitment to motivate and inspire students as they learn to be competent communicators.

ResearchMy program of research originated from my interest in challenging communication contexts, particularly during times of stress and adversity. Initially, my research focused on examining the communication processes that sustained ongoing, repetitive conflict (i.e., serial arguments). Overtime, my interests have expanded to include the communicative construction of forgiveness, the role of communication in family estrangement, and more recently, the importance of communicating support in developing resilience to adversity and posttraumatic growth. To date, I have eight articles published or in press in peer-reviewed journals as well as two book chapters, all within the discipline of communication. Specifically, my research has appeared in the Journal of Family Communication, Communication Education, Western Journal of Communication, Health Communication, and the International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication, among others. I have three manuscripts currently under peer review. Additionally, my work has earned top paper awards in the Interpersonal, Instructional, and Family Communication Divisions, all from the National Communication Association.

ServiceIn recent years, I have served our discipline’s professional organizations in several capacities. Specifically, I have been elected to serve as a paper reader in the Interpersonal and Small Group Interest Group for the Central States Communication Association, and in the Family Communication Division for the National Communication Association. I have also chaired several panels at multiple annual conventions. I am an active member of the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Family Communication, the Western Journal of Communication, and Communication Education, among others.

In addition to my service to the discipline, I have also served our department and the University in several capacities. I currently serve on our Departmental Curriculum Committee and review proposals for existing and new courses. I have served nearly two years on our Departmental Review Board by providing feedback on each research protocol submitted by members of our department. Currently, I am the advisor of record for 18 undergraduate students and I have served on the graduate thesis committee for four Masters students

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this year. Overall, I seek to build relationships with all of my advisees by meeting with them prior to enrolling for classes but also having several informal meetings as needed during the semester. As a result, my advisees frequently seek advice about potential jobs, internships, scholarships, and studying abroad, and I am happy to write letters of recommendation in support of their pursuits.

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Executive Summary: Amber N. Finn, Ph.D.Associate Professor & Director of Basic Communication Course

My program of research is in the area of instructional communication. Specifically, I focus on (a) teacher communication behaviors, (b) productive teacher-student relationships, (c) technology in the classroom, (d) instruction in the basic communication course, and (e) instructional practices which help mitigate public speaking anxiety. Within this program of research, I have produced 22 publications, including 16 journal articles, two book chapters, and four invited publications. I have also (co)presented 22 competitive papers at national and regional communication conferences. My research has won awards, such as the Top Paper award and Article of the Year award at both the national and regional levels.My primary teaching responsibility includes serving as the Director of our basic speech communication course. COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication is the primary course students take to fulfill their oral communication (OC) requirement at TCU. It is a hybrid course that focuses on interpersonal communication, group communication and public speaking. As the director of the course, I oversee the large lecture/lab sections, including training, managing, and mentoring the GTAs, and serve as lead teacher for the stand-alone sections of the course. The course accommodates over 1400 students a year. I have also developed and teach courses in instructional communication and communication and training. In terms of service, I am actively involved at TCU and with the National Communication Association (NCA). At the university level, I have chaired (2010-2012) and continue to serve on the Research and Creative Activities Committee (2007-current) and have actively participated in multiple pilot groups on campus (e.g., LOM and FrogFolio). At the college level, I have served as the college representative on both the Undergraduate Council (2008-2011) and Graduate Council (2012-current). Within the department, I have chaired and served on numerous committees, such as User of Human Subjects (2008-current), Advisory Committee (2009-2011), Undergraduate Curriculum Review (2008-2011), and Search Committee (2011-2014). I am currently the Immediate Past-Chair of the Communication Apprehension and Competence Division of NCA, having previously served as Chair (2012-2013), Vice Chair and Program Planner (2011-2012), and Secretary (2008-2010). I am also an active member of the Editorial Board for Communication Education and frequently serve as a reviewer for Communication Studies, Communication Quarterly and Communication Research Reports.

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Executive Summary: Katherine E. Forsythe, M.S.Instructor & Associate Basic Course Director

My primary teaching responsibility includes serving as the Associate Director of our basic speech communication course. COMM 10123: Basic Speech Communication is the primary course students take to fulfill their oral communication (OC) requirement at TCU. The course is a hybrid course that focuses on interpersonal communication, group communication and public speaking and accommodates over 1400 students a year. As the associate director of the course, my primary responsibilities include: developing an assessment plan for the course, aiding in the development of the curriculum and course materials, training, managing, and mentoring graduate teaching assistants, and serving as an instructor for several stand-alone sections of the course each semester. I have also taught business and professional speaking, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication.

In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I have sought opportunities to serve the department and university. At the department level, I have taken the lead in developing an assessment plan for the basic course. As an active member of the National Communication Association (NCA), I used the most recent convention as an opportunity to gain assessment knowledge and skills to share with the department. I also planned and coordinated the department reception for the annual convention. I serve as an academic advisor for 17 students. I also temporarily served as an advisor for an additional 16 students and as an instructor for an additional two classes while a faculty member was on medical leave. At the university level, I have continued to foster relationships with other departments and initiatives on campus. I am working with the Academy of Tomorrow to pilot FrogFolio as part of the basic course. I am also continuing to develop my long-standing relationship with the John V. Roach Honors College by finding ways to add more honors sections to the department and basic course offerings, with the hopes of strengthening the department’s representation in the honors program.

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Johny T. GarnerAssociate Professor

Research

The main line of my research focuses on the process of organizational dissent. Previous research has been variable analytic and atheoretical. I have developed a process theory of dissent, and I am testing and extending that theory. A second avenue of research examines organizational communication in nonprofit organizations and churches. Most of the “big” ideas in my field have been developed in businesses. I am working to understand the degree to which those ideas transfer to churches.

Teaching

The primary class that I teach is organizational communication. It is a junior-level course that focuses on fundamental processes in organizations such as decision-making, leadership, conflict management, and change. I also direct our internship program. In the class that students take concurrently with their internship, we talk about what it’s like to be new in an organization, how to navigate office politics and differing communication styles, and how to communicate professionally. I teach two classes at the graduate level—a survey of organizational communication, which looks at the main ideas in the field, and power and incivility, which examines the dark side of organizational communication with topics such as workplace bullying, harassment, and deception.

Service

At the college level, I am serving my second year on our college advisory board, evaluating candidates for promotion and tenure. Within our department, I have recently served on the department IRB and curriculum committee for several years (one year as chair of each). I advise a number of students. I take an active role in helping students with research ideas to develop those ideas into actionable projects.

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2014 Professional Work, Amorette Hinderaker, Ph.D. Assistant ProfessorTeachingCOMM 30103: Argumentation and Debate. This course includes instruction in argumentation theory, and practice of skills through in-class debates. I have developed this course to give students a background in argumentation theory, focusing on critical thinking and evaluation of real-world debates. Students practice their knowledge of argumentation theory through in-depth research into a current events topic, which they debate with a peer in class. COMM 20163: Organizational Communication. This class is part of the departmental core. In addition to use of a consistent textbook and curriculum, I have added an additional text of work narratives that help students see examples of organizational theory in practice. Students also engage in individual research and complete a case study using a theory of their choice.Evaluation of teaching: I engage in mid-term assessment in all courses I teach through anonymously submitted student evaluations. Students are asked to comment on what works well in the course and what they would like to see changed. I attempt to respond to these requests for change in the same semester when possible, and in subsequent semesters when necessary. I have, for example, changed textbooks based on student feedback. I have also included more work and practice days in all courses for research. ResearchPublications: During 2014, I have received two journal acceptances. Articles in press include a study of exit from totalistic organizations in Western Journal of Communication. This article (Severing Primary Ties: Exit from Totalistic Organizations) is currently available online, and is expected to be in the next print edition of the journal. The article compares the exit narratives of former members of totalistic organizations (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, police officers, and firefighters). Findings suggest that organizational memberships are defined not by pay status, but by the reach of the organization into the member’s life. A second article was recently accepted by Communication Studies, and will appear in an upcoming issue in 2015. This article (The Long Road Out: Exit Stories from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) examines the exit narratives of former members of the Mormon church. Findings suggest a more nuanced view of exit that accounts for organizational forms that repress, discourage, or forbid individualization attempts. Projects in progress: I am currently involved in several projects that will be ready for submission in the coming year. I am working with Dr. Garner on a study of religious exit. We are currently collecting data (personal interviews). This manuscript will be ready to submit to the National Communication Association Annual Convention in 2015. I am working with a TCU graduate student to refina a study I completed and presented at the 2014 NCA conference. This study of anonymous dissent against religious organizations will be submitted to a journal this summer. A study of media reports of faith healing is in the analysis phase and will be ready for journal submission in the summer 2015. I will be collecting data for a study of research questions in competitive rhetorical criticism at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament and Convention in March. A final project in progress is a study of the testimonial statements of the Ordain Women movement in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Data has been collected for this study, and analysis will take place over summer 2015 for a Fall 2015 completion and journal submission. ForensicsTCU Forensics has grown to 18 active members. The team has achieved many individual and team awards including several top-three team sweepstakes awards at very large and competitive tournaments. The team will host a public exhibition debate against the Great Debate Society of Wiley College on March 18 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the TCU vs. Wiley debate during Wiley’s famous 1935 season detailed in the movie The Great Debaters. For a more full listing of team goals, accomplishments, and assessments, please see the team strategic plans and assessments. Other ServiceQualitative Research Sessions: I will be holding several training sessions with TCU graduate students interested in learning qualitative research methods during the Spring 2015 semester. Several students have expressed interest in learning qualitative data collection and analysis methods. These sessions will offer instruction and practice in these methods.

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Reviewing: I have served as a reviewer for two journals in 2014 (National Forensic Journal and Journal of the Communication, Speech, and Theater Association of North Dakota). I also reviewed for the Religious Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Debate Judging: I served as a judge for the International Public Policy Forum Debates, an international case construction competition. I also served as a guest judge for junior debates at Chapel Hill Academy, a local charter school. Curriculum Committee: I am in my third year as a member of the departmental curriculum committee.

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Debra Iba, InstructorTeachingI am currently in my 10th academic year in the Communication Studies department at TCU. My primary teaching responsibilities in recent semesters have included Nonverbal Communication, Gender and Communication and Group Communication. I teach a 4/4 load each year, and on average, this is about 100 – 110 students per semester. Across the years, I have taught many courses to meet the needs of our students and expand the breadth of courses in the department. These have included Organizational Communication, Interviewing, and Business & Professional Speaking. I have also taught faculty-led study abroad courses and graduate courses. I have twice proposed and had approved new courses. One of these is Nonverbal Communication, mentioned above, which I have taught continuously since 2010. More recently, I developed Gender and Communication which was first offered in the 2013-14 year. In Fall 2012, I was also appointed affiliate faculty in the Women and Gender Studies (WGST) program, and the Gender and Communication course is cross-listed with WGST. The intersection of my content focus among these three upper-division COMM courses is on students learning to question, analyze, and critique. I provide students with complicated, real-world problems from which they can develop good deep-thinking and close-reading abilities. I endeavor for students to recognize that learning requires much more than a consumption of information, and student evaluations support that this method is valuable and meaningful to them. Beyond the traditional classroom, I also co-administer the department’s faculty-led study abroad program. Along with colleague Carrie Moore and nine students, the program was first offered in 2013 and was located in London and Scotland for our “Communication & Debate in the UK” program. In 2014, I organized the study abroad destination, which was rotated to a new location for the “Italy: Communication & Culture” program which attracted 19 students. Together, Moore and I are currently recruiting students for the 2015 UK summer program, and I will propose the 2016 Italy program in the coming months. Commitments for study abroad include proposing programs, securing travel arrangements and accommodations, and coordinating all academic and campus life issues for students. Each of these requires a high level of both teaching and service for the department throughout the academic year and are performed above and beyond the 4/4 load. Finally, in Spring 2014, I was honored to receive the Outstanding Faculty Achievement award from the TCU chapter of the Communication Studies discipline’s national honor society, Lambda Pi Eta. Service My service is evidenced by participation at the international, national, university, college, and department levels. Through our study abroad programs, I have developed ties with colleagues from San Francisco to Florence, Italy. At the national level, I serve as a reviewer for paper submissions for the National Communication Association (NCA) conference and was recently elected to the nominating committee for the NCA Group Communication division. At the university level, I serve on the Center for International Studies Advisory Board and University Library Committee. I also volunteer to mentor international students for TCU Beyond Borders. For the college, I am currently serving on the curriculum committee. Likewise, I am in my third year serving on the curriculum committee for Women and Gender Studies. Also for the college, I have co-chaired the Guild Scholarship awards luncheon and served as captain for the Annual Campaign. For the Communication Studies department, I have filled various service roles. I have chaired and been a member of the curriculum committee. During those years, the committee reviewed, revised, and revisited major curricular program changes which impacted students as they sought to declare the major. I have also chaired and been a member of search committees for instructor positions that resulted in the recent hiring of three colleagues. Additionally, for most of my time at TCU, I have been the liaison for the TCU Library, facilitating acquisition requests for the department, reviewing weekly new book releases, and monitoring our faculty’s needs for periodicals and database subscriptions given our research agendas. Lastly, in the past year I became webmaster for the department website. During this time, the site has undergone a major re-design and upgrade. I continue to maintain the image of the site as well as updating all news and features. Finally, my service commitments extend to the WGST interdisciplinary program where I support university-wide events, attend faculty meetings, and serve on committee.

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Paul KingProfessor and Department Chair

TeachingHistorically, I have taught Communication Research Methods and Communication Education in our graduate program and Listening, Communication Ethics, Argumentation & Debate, along with several other classes in our undergraduate program. I have initially proposed and taught many of the courses offered in our undergraduate program, including Mediation, Communication Inquiry (undergraduate research methods), Internship in Communication Studies, and Parliamentary Debate (initial proposal for study abroad program). Currently, I enjoy teaching an Honors section of our basic public speaking course and a recently developed graduate course, Communication and Social Cognition. I also enjoy teaching a large section of Listening each fall. The course is composed of three units: listening assessment and practical issues in listening, listening as information processing, and the humanistic aspects of listening. I plan to offer Mediation as an applied follow-up (to listening) course in the spring semesters. My approach to instruction emphasizes opportunities for community involvement and field trips and the integration of theory and application. As an example, students in my Mediation class meet the requirements for Texas state certification as mediators upon completion of the final, exit examination verifying that they have met the specific criteria. I have received Department and University awards for teaching and frequently examine teaching issues in my research and publication.

ResearchWhile my research has addressed a rather large number of topic areas (instructional communication, persuasion, listening, feedback), the underlying theoretical issue in all of these cases is social cognition/information processing. Beginning with my dissertation (HCR, 1989), I have been fascinated by attention theory, cognitive capacity, and the effortful vs. automatic processing distinctions in human communication. Much of my early work was informed by Daniel Kahneman’s Attention and Effort (1973). Today, I ask my students in listening to read Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and find that they, too, become excited about discovering how our minds and our memories shape the manner in which we communicate and the degree to which we are effective in our communication efforts and satisfied in our relationships. In recent years, I have developed a series of experimental studies focused on the use of feedback interventions in learning. This work has included development of a feedback orientation instrument (Communication Education, 2009) and a proposed Feedback Intervention Theory. The purpose of this research is to explore the conditions (specific to communication messages) under which learning (behavioral adaptation) is likely, or unlikely, to occur.

ServiceI have served as Chair of the Department of Communication Studies on two occasions: 1990-1996 and 2008-2015. I have also served as Chair of TCU’s Faculty Senate and Chair of the TCU Mediator’s Committee, along with leadership positions on a number of University, College, and Department committees. Currently, I am a member of the J. V. Roach Honors College Advisory Board and a member of the University Compensation Advisory Committee. I maintain membership in the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. I frequently serve as an expert mediator (trained in compliance with Title 7, Chapter 154, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and consistent with the Texas Mediation Trainer Roundtable Annotated Standards) both for TCU and the larger Fort Worth community.

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Andrew M. LedbetterAssociate Professor

Executive Summary

My research aims to understand how people use communication technology to maintain their interpersonal relationships. Within this focus, I have examined topics such as (a) the association between Facebook communication and relational closeness, (b) communicative attitudes that predict relational maintenance behavior across Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE gaming service, (c) local friends’ patterns of everyday talk across multiple media, and (d) ongoing closeness in long-distance friendships. One practical goal of my research is to identify communication patterns that are most likely to foster beneficial psychological and relational outcomes. A related area of interest is family communication, where I have examined how family communication environments shape cognitions and behaviors related to communication technology use, as well as how communication technology reshapes privacy boundaries between parents and young adult children. Methodologically, I am keenly interested in quantitative techniques, and I frequently bring advanced quantitative research methods to bear on my scholarly questions.

Building from my research interest in communication technology, I have developed both undergraduate and graduate courses on social networking sites and personal relationships. These seminars have taken an historical approach to the topic, such that students first learn the social, technological, and theoretical background of communication technology before applying that knowledge to understand technology today. I also anchor our department’s communication theory course, which serves as one of two required courses for transfer into the major. This course provides a broad overview of scholarly approaches to understanding human communication. I co-author the textbook for the course, A First Look at Communication Theory, which currently holds the largest market share among communication theory textbooks. In our graduate program, I teach advanced quantitative methods, and have received very positive student feedback when teaching this demanding course.

I have engaged in a broad range of service to the department, college, university, and discipline. I currently administer the Facebook and Twitter pages for our department, as well as serve on the advisory committee, and I recently completed a season of advising our department’s Lambda Pi Eta chapter for exemplary undergraduate students. For the college, I currently serve on the search committee for our next dean. I am in my third year of service on TCU’s Faculty Senate, where I am also a member of the Faculty Relations Committee and am chairing an investigation into the life of adjuncts at TCU. I am also a member of the LMS Search Committee, tasked with evaluating alternatives to our current learning management software package, and a member of the Student Conduct & Grievance Committee. I have been an active member of the National Communication Association (NCA) and Central States Communication Association (CSCA), and currently serve as a member-at-large on the Executive Committee of the latter. Next year, I will be serving as vice-chair and program planner for the family communication division of NCA. I serve on four editorial boards and regularly serve as an ad hoc reviewer (e.g., reviewing 19 manuscripts in 2014).

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CARRIE MOOREINSTRUCTOR, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

TEACHING:

My teaching focus is in the area of performance/public speaking. I am the lead teacher for the Advanced Public Speaking course. I also enjoy teaching the Basic Speech Communication course (regular and honors sections). During the regular semesters, I also teach Group Discussion and Interpretive Speaking. I am looking forward to adding Intercultural Communication to my teaching repertoire in the fall of 2015.

I also very much enjoy co-managing our departmental study abroad program. In 2012, I wrote the proposal for the departmental England study abroad program: Communication and Debate in the UK. The TCU Center for International Studies accepted the proposal, and in the summer of 2013, we travelled with our first departmental study abroad group. I developed COMM 30273: Great British Orators, sought and gained approval of the course through the University, and co-taught the course abroad. Additionally, I was the co-instructor for the Parliamentary Debate course.

The 2014 study abroad program travelled to Italy. I developed COMM 31213: Rhetoric from Ancient Rome to Modern Oratory, sought and gained approval of the course through the University, and co-taught the course abroad. Additionally, I was the co-instructor for the Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures course.

SERVICE:

I manage the following initiatives for our department: 1) Battle of the Flowers Oratorical Competition, 2) Wisdom Award for Public Speaking, 3) Gorvetzian Speaker Series, and 4) the Communication Lab. Through work with the Communication Lab, I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with various community groups such as Mayor Price’s young leaders initiative SteerFW and also the Junior League of Fort Worth.I am also a member of the following University committees: 1) Faculty Senate, 2) Faculty Senate Educational Evaluation Committee, and 3) University Academic Appeals Committee. I have also enjoyed assisting in various roles such as Common Reading Leader for the TCU First Year Experience, co-instructor for the UNPR FrogFolio course, Faculty Advisor for TedXTCU, and Faculty Co-Representative for the Friends of Communication.

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Michael D PutnamInstructor

Teaching: My primary teaching responsibilities center on the business-related communication courses.

Specially, I am the lead instructor for the Principles of Interviewing and the Business and Professional Speaking courses. Moreover, I teach one or two sections each semester of Organizational Communication.

I find this arrangement to be particular effective not just for my own preferences, but for the students and department as well. We all benefit with coordinated approaches that feature each class complementing the others rather than overlapping or competing with one another.

I view the Business and Professional Speaking course as an ideal introductory class that provides a solid foundation for basic business communication principles that are later expanded upon with both Interviewing and Organizational Communication. Additionally, it can serve as an effective way to recruit sharp freshman non-majors who would likely strengthen our department’s pool.

Interviewing and Organizational Communication are a logical link though distinctively different from one another. In each case I make an effort to show through assignments and papers how “real world” case studies of people and companies can be applied to the theories and principles of the courses. These are both good courses that show students how classroom education can and does have real implications to careers they will hold.

Service: My internal service features present work on the Curriculum Committee; the lead for Monday

at TCU; and previously a member of an Instructor Search Committee. Additionally, I advise our majors during the regular advising period along with individual counseling on an as-needed basis.

My external service has featured work with the College 101 Mentor Program during the spring semester of 2014; continuing work with the TCU McNair Scholars Program; and initial work just begun with the TCUxTEd on-campus chapter.

The McNair Scholars Program involves interacting with Robin Melton, the Director of the program, and with students who are completing their mentor-director projects. I initially spend time in small groups or in one-on-one settings helping them organize and then orally present their research at the project’s completion. Normally this involves two or three sessions during the fall and spring semesters. This concludes by attending their research presentations at the close of the spring and fall semesters.

My mentor work was only in the spring and with only one student. I have no plans to continue that for this coming semester but will reevaluate again by summer. The TedxTCU undertaking is ad hoc work that involves critiquing student presentations for this organization.

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Adam S. RichardsAssistant Professor

January 12, 2015The purpose of this letter is to summarize my professional work since beginning my

appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University in the Fall of 2013. Included among these activities are research, teaching, and service, which are detailed below.

I have had a strong record of peer reviewed publication while at TCU. Since my start at TCU, I have had five articles come out in print, two made available in advanced online format, and four others accepted for publication. I believe these publications to be of high quality: Outlets for these articles include Communication Research (2), Communication Monographs (2), Health Communication (4), Journal of Family Communication (1), and Journal of Argumentation in Context (2). A sole-authored publication in Health Communication was recognized as an article of interest by the Centers of Disease Control in their monthly health communication newsletter. In addition to published material, I have a number of articles under review and am in the process of data collection and analysis on several other projects.

My teaching responsibilities have included two undergraduate and two graduate courses. COMM20113: Interpersonal Communication (Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring, 2014) is a lower division prerequisite offering for students who major and minor in Communication Studies. This course serves as a topical survey course of interpersonal communication research. COMM30283: Communication Inquiry (Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014) is an upper division undergraduate elective that focuses on the philosophy and practice of social scientific research in communication and requires students to design, conduct, and analyze data generated from a field experiment about human communication. My teaching also includes two graduate classes. First, COMM60143: Communication and Social Influence (Fall 2013) focused on explicating social influence processes, persuasive theories, and message effects. Second, COMM60173: Communication Research Methods (Fall 2014) focused on the philosophy and practice of social scientific research in communication with introductory material on statistical analysis. My student evaluations have been consistently positive, with typical mean scores greater than averages within the department, college, and university.

My service includes contributions to the department, university, and discipline. Within the department, I currently serve as advisor to Lambda Pi Eta, the national honor’s society for undergraduate Communication students. In this role, I recruit new members, plan the induction and award ceremonies, and oversee the cabinet’s planning of service activities. I am currently chair of the Departmental Institutional Review Board Committee for Communication Studies. This is my second year to serve on this committee, which reviews student IRB protocols prior to submission to the university level. I served on the 2014 ad hoc Graduate Admissions Committee, which reviewed graduate student departmental applications and made recommendations for admittance. I also advise around 20 undergraduate students at any given time. At the university level, I have served as a faculty facilitator for freshman orientation (aka Frog Camp) during Summer 2014. In December 2014, I participated on a round-table panel sponsored by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Career Services aimed to help graduate students prepare for the process of being on the job market. At the discipline level, I have served as an elected paper reader for the Health Communication Division for the 2014 National Communication Association convention. For the 2013 NCA convention, I chaired a panel jointly sponsored by the Interpersonal Communication Division and Communication and Social Cognition Division. I have also served as a reviewer for journal articles in Communication Education and Communication Quarterly.

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Faculty Professional StatementChris R. Sawyer, Professor

ResearchAlthough the majority of my published research has focused on public speaking anxiety, a program of research I shared for many years with the late Dr. Ralph R. Behnke, I have augmented this earlier work with studies on the emotional responses of basic course students, particularly their competence motivation. I have continued to pursue research interests in the biological aspects of communication, including human temperament and physiology. Reflecting both of these directions, earlier last year James Honeycutt, Shaughan Keaton, and I published a volume in the Peter Lang Health Communication Series entitled, The Influence of Communication on Physiology and Health . Further, my co-authored chapter with Virginia Richmond is now awaiting publication in an upcoming volume of the Handbooks of Communication Science. The chapter title is, “Motivational Factors and Communication Competence”. TeachingI assumed the duties of Basic Course Director when I joined the TCU faculty in 1999 and relinquished those responsibilities to Dr. Amber Finn in AY 2005 - 2006. I’ve taught a variety of courses as needed by the Department including, COMM 20113 Interpersonal Communication, COMM 30173 Advanced Public Speaking, COMM 40123 Internship, COMM 30123 Special Issues in Interpersonal Communication and COMM 60173 Communication Research Methods. Currently, I am the lead teacher for COMM 40233 Communication in Group Leadership, which is a writing emphasis course (WEM).ServiceIn addition to serving as Basic Course Director for six years, I have also served the Department as its Chair from AY 2002 – 2003 through AY 2008 – 2009. Following my term as Department Chair, I worked on assessment issues for the College of Communication, including the Schieffer School of Journalism, Departments of Strategic Communication, and Film, Television, and Digital Media, as well as the Department of Communication Studies. In 2010, I was elected to the TCU Faculty Senate and served as Senate Chair during the 2012 – 2013 academic year. I am currently, Immediate Past Chair of the Senate. On January 1st of this year I became co-chair of the University Compensation Advisory Committee (UCAC).

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Executive Summary for Dr. Paul SchrodtPhilip J. & Cheryl C. Burguières Professor

Director of Graduate Studies

In general, my scholarship activities include two distinct, yet related programs of research in the areas of interpersonal and family communication, and instructional communication. My primary program of research focuses on the communicative cognitions and behaviors that facilitate family functioning. Specifically, I examine the message strategies and behaviors that (a) facilitate stepfamily relationships, (b) enhance conflict resolution skills and processes among family members, and (c) further family member adjustment and well-being. Within this program of research, I have produced 60 publications including 44 journal articles (two of which are in press), one co-edited anthology, 13 (co)authored book chapters, one co-authored encyclopedia entry, and one book review. This body of work encompasses a variety of theoretical perspectives, research designs, and statistical procedures. I have also established a secondary program of research in instructional communication. Specifically, I have focused this part of my research on the interpersonal behaviors that facilitate healthy and productive teacher-student relationships, with a particular interest in the use of instructional technology and the communication of credibility and power in the classroom. Within this secondary interest, I have produced an additional 24 journal articles and two book chapters, for a grand total of 84 publications across both programs of research.

My primary teaching responsibility at TCU includes two of the department’s prerequisite courses in communication theory and interpersonal communication. In both of these courses, I incorporate theoretical principles with the use of case studies to provide students with an opportunity to apply communication theories and interpersonal communication principles in ways that are meaningful to them. I have also developed and taught five new courses in our department, namely undergraduate and graduate courses in family communication, graduate and undergraduate courses in interpersonal conflict, and a 5000-level course in the “dark side” of interpersonal communication. These courses introduce students to various message behaviors that create, sustain, and alter family and personal relationships, and they provide an extension to some of the principles taught in interpersonal communication. In all of my courses, I find opportunities to incorporate the findings from some of my own research so that students can more fully understand some of the ways in which our knowledge of interpersonal and family communication is produced from scientific research.In terms of service, I am currently the Director of Graduate Studies for our department, a role I have fulfilled since 2009. I am also serving NCA as a member of the Publications Board (since 2011), having previously served as a member and Chair of the Resolutions Committee (2009 – 2010) and as a member of the Task Force on Policy Platform Review (2011). I am an active member of the Editorial Boards for Communication Monographs (since 2007) and Communication Education (since 2006), as well as for the Journal of Family Communication (since 2005). At the regional level, I am serving as Member-at-Large on the Executive Committee (2013 – 2014) of the Central States Communication Association. Some of my other service responsibilities at TCU include serving as a member of the University Advisory Committee (2012 – 2015), the Faculty Senate (since 2007), and the Faculty Governance Committee (since 2007).

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Melissa Young SchroederAssociate Professor

Teaching : Over the past 20 years, my teaching role has reflected my research interests. These rest primarily in the realm strategic interpersonal communication from a post-positivist social scientific perspective. Although I started my career at TCU as the Director of the Business and Professional course, I was able to develop courses that allowed me to more closely mirror my research interests. For example, I developed courses such as Power and Influence in Interpersonal Communication (COMM 30223), Mediation (COMM 30143), and Deception (30213). Each of these courses were developed as upper-level seminars or lectures and require students to read original research, pose original research questions and in some cases gather data. Before becoming Associate Dean of the College of Communication (2008-2013), I also taught courses in our graduate program including Social Influence, Nonverbal Communication, and Organizational Communication and was active in several graduate student committees. During the 2013-2014 academic year, I was on sabbatical from teaching and lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand where I was able to gain insights into cultural differences that impact how communicators pursue persuasive goals, including conflict management and deception. These experiences have allowed me to incorporate relevant examples into my teaching and I am excited to continue incorporating my research and consulting experiences into my undergraduate classes.

Research: My current research activity is in mediator training and mediation in organizational settings. While this inquiry is taking me out of my experimental research paradigm, I am excited to be learning more about qualitative methodology. My experiences as a trained mediator position me in a unique way to provide data based feedback for mediator training programs and uses in organizations. Additionally, recent experiences in Southeast Asian culture have given me first-hand knowledge of the importance of cultural knowledge in communication activity. Although my research productivity has dropped off during my administrative term as Associate Dean, my recent sabbatical and return to the regular faculty is allowing me more time to focus on increasing my submission and publication record. While I have remained involved in our field as an educator and translator of academic research for less academic audiences, I look forward to increasing my own primary research in the area of strategic interpersonal communication in the coming years.

Service: Currently, I serve the department as member of the Comm Studies Advisory committee, and curriculum committee. I also provided an analysis of our assessment activities for this self-study. I also am on the College of Communication Dean search committee, the TCU Honor’s Program self-study, and the University Mediator Committee. I also formally advise undergraduate COMM majors and serve as a College 101 mentor.

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Paul L. WittProfessor

RESEARCH

I am engaged in an ongoing program of social science research in the area of instructional communication. I investigate the things that teachers say and do in the classroom, and the effects of their communication on various student outcomes such as learning and motivation. My most widely disseminated works have emerged from the programmatic investigation of the construct teacher immediacy, which involves verbal and nonverbal communication cues that elicit perceptions of interpersonal closeness. I employ a variety of research designs including experiments, quasi-experiments, and surveys, as well as a variety of analytical procedures including correlation, regression, differential statistics, and meta-analysis. To date I have published 27 peer-reviewed articles, including several in the top journals of our discipline. My research has received awards from NCA and ICA, and three times I have received the TCU College of Communication Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar. I also have helped other scholars get their work into print as the editor of NCA’s journal Communication Education and the editor of the Handbook of Communication and Learning.

TEACHINGOne of my first teaching assignments at TCU was the development and redesign of the Intercultural Communication course, which includes communicating across nationalities as well as multiple ethnic groups in our own community. One of the features I introduced in the course was a series of guest speakers representing the African-American, Hispanic-American, and Jewish-American sectors of the Fort Worth business community. I also worked with the TCU Core Curriculum Committee and secured approved for both Cultural Awareness and Writing Emphasis credit. As lead teacher for the course, I am responsible for mentoring other instructors who help cover the teaching load. I also teach communication theory at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and I created a senior-level course entitled Communication and Character by assembling a variety of readings and videos that deal with interpersonal communication from a character perspective. These resources allow the students to hear many voices speak from a variety of viewpoints--national leaders, media personalities, sports figures, celebrated authors, religious leaders, and communication scholars. When the students discuss traits like honesty, loyalty, courage, humility, compassion, and trustworthiness, they demonstrate an extraordinary level of introspection, self-disclosure, and critical thinking.

SERVICEIt is my privilege to serve TCU and the College of Communication currently as a member of several committees, including the Chancellor’s Center for Connection Committee. In the Department of Communication Studies, I have served as Interim Department Chair, Chair of the Curriculum Committee, Chair of the Faculty Search Committee, Director of Graduate Studies, and a member of the Advisory Committee. I have chaired 5 master’s comprehensive committees and served on 14 master’s thesis committees, as well as a number of Honors College theses.

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V. Resources

A. Physical Space

The Department is physically located in one intact location: the third floor of the south JM Moudy Building. The faculty considers the physical coherence of the unit to be a significant strength. The building was originally designed with significant faculty input in order that the instructional and laboratory spaces be tailored for the uses to which they would serve. The floor contains sufficient office space to serve the faculty, though several offices are also used by faculty from other units of the College and no excess space exists. Consequently, we have no space for adjunct faculty or expandable areas for research. The floor contains six classrooms:

Classroom Capacity Common Use320 72 lecture300 30 basic speech lab, seminars325 30 lecture/discussion312 28 lecture/discussion342 30 lecture/discussion345 25 basic speech lab, group discussion

Room 314 serves as a computer laboratory, primarily used for testing in our basic speech course. Room 341 serves as a faculty conference room and a seminar room for graduate classes and small undergraduate classes (e.g., internship). The graduate teaching assistant space is functional and well appointed, with electrical outlets and Ethernet outlets for all stations. Our faculty size and curriculum has grown to the extent that we must often teach in other TCU locations and the first and second floors of the building have few available classrooms. Laboratory space was completely lost due to rapid growth in the early to mid-2000’s. Fortunately, during a building renovation about 7 years back, we developed two small rooms that are available and equipped for observational research, recording, focus groups, etc.

So, while our space is a current strength, our future expansion is severely limited. For example, we need a space specifically appointed for our forensics team. We need flexible space for group meetings, examinations (such as graduate comprehensive exams) and research needs requiring a large room. We need to recapture the office space currently occupied by faculty from other units so that we can provide space for current and future (e.g., Director of Business and Professional Speaking, to begin fall, 2015) faculty, along with a space for adjuncts.

B. Department Budget

Our general budget provides over $100,000 per year for expenses ranging from travel to supplies to student salaries. This A copy of the approved fy 2016 (for academic year 2015-2016) budget is included with this report. As recently as 2008,

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the operating budget was approximately $39,000, so we have had significant budgetary support in recent years.

Student Salaries $2,500.00Additional Pay-Single Payment $0.00Temporary Personnel $1,500.00Student Travel $1,000.00Travel $53,750.00Meals $5,750.00Entertainment $1,500.00Training / Workshops $1,000.00Computer Charges $100.00Dues & Subscriptions $1,150.00Furniture $2,000.00Equipment $1,000.00Computer Equipment/Software $5,427.00Long Distance Charges $300.00Telecommunication Services $2,500.00Mail Services $250.00Printing Services $2,500.00Access Code Copies $10,500.00Printing & Copying-Off Campus $900.00Publications $300.00Services $0.00Services--Students $0.00Supplies $8,000.00University Store Charge $900.00Other Expense $2,500.00Repairs $900.00Outside Honorm./Consultant Fee $0.00Stipends $0.00

Department Expenses $106,227.00

Net Source / (Use) $106,227.00

The budget provides limited funding for special software, equipment, furnishings, and other ordinary expenses. Other sources provide for major capital, most computer purchases, and refurbishment. The faculty salary budget for next year should approach 1.25 million dollars.

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For the past four years, the department has also maintained a budget for the forensics team. Initially, the budget was approximately $20,000 for travel, supplies, and additional expenses. Next year, we expect the budget to be approximately $57,000, allowing for travel to national contests, sponsoring of local tournaments, expansion of team size, etc. See the forensics report in Appendix 3.

VI. Summary and Future Plans

Faculty in the Department of Communication Studies developed a five-year master plan in March of 2012 (see Appendix 8). After concluding our program review in spring, 2015, we expect 2015-2016 to be a propitious time to review our long-term goals.

In brief, our vision of the department over the next five years is that:

We will expand the size of our graduate program by 20% (sufficient to offer an additional graduate course per semester) and we reconsider the addition of a doctoral program at that time. At this point, we are concerned that the draw of faculty resources by such a program would endanger currently excellent undergraduate and M.S. programs.

We will gain a national reputation in forensics competition. We have already made tremendous strides in this area and expect to fully integrate those achievements.

We will continue to integrate our undergraduate work with the J.V. Roach Honor’s College, seeking to expand the number of undergraduate honors theses.

We will further expand our offerings in study abroad to include spring semester offerings.

We will find a means of better developing the cohesiveness of our cadre of undergraduate majors (expansion of Pi Lambda Eta, service opportunities, a senior experience or senior capstone course, a coordinator of undergraduate studies, reinvestment in community learning, a required academic meeting for COMM majors, expanded social events).

We will improve department public relations by coordinating the writing and promoting of student and faculty achievements and through more frequent updating of our online presence.

We will expand curriculum in applied communication areas such as health communication, conflict, mediation, and expanded follow-up courses to COMM 30163, organizational communication.

We will improve our capacity for, and use of, laboratory research.

A. Current issues that must be addressed prior to the next program review

The Department of Communication Studies must routinize program assessment as a regular, annual activity. Like many programs at TCU, we are not

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accustomed to imbedding this activity into our department habits. We have made significant progress in this area by developing a master syllabus for each undergraduate course and mapping those documents to department goals and outcomes. We have collected data on those outcomes and need to further refine and routinize our system of ongoing review. Recent assignment of these responsibilities to the Department Curriculum Committee and the naming of an individual responsible for directing our assessment activities should prove helpful.

Other than that lone issue, we cannot honestly say that there is a significant shortcoming to which we can point. The past few years have been a time of very rapid growth and the rapid development of several ambitious new department programs. Full integration and development of new faculty and new programs does not happen overnight, but we must honestly say that these new initiatives are already of high quality. We need to be better at marketing and promoting the work that we do. Frankly, we consider the Communication Studies program at TCU to be among the best of it’s kind in the U.S. in terms of teaching. In terms of scholarship, among programs granting the master’s degree, we believe that we are without peer. In terms of collegiality and work environment, we are quite certain that we are without peer.

B. Additional issues not otherwise included

Given the expanded use of the instructor rank within the department, we have developed a policy outlining the procedures for hiring, reviewing, and promoting instructors, along with information concerning the responsibilities and privileges of the rank. This document can be found in Appendix 9.

Because we believe that regular review and planning is essential for all Department members, including tenured faculty, we have developed a document that addresses the procedures for such review. It is included in Appendix 10.

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