Communication Department
Minutes – 1/21/16
Attendance: Brady, Davis, Disrude, Frederick, French, Hixson, Hwang, Ibrahim, Jones, Kates,
Kranenburg, Ksobiech, Leighton, Lowell, Lucas, Mancl, Mead, Miyawaki, Ridgeman, Robinson,
Spiegelhoff, Terracina-Hartman, Vichot, Wachanga, Weber, Welch, Wickert.
Guest: Dr. Ozalle Toms.
Meeting was called to order at 3:35 pm.
A motion was made to approve the December 10, 2015 minutes by Robinson; seconded by Spiegelhoff.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Ozalle Toms presentation on the status of tenure and shared governance. There is a
scheduled listening session for January 26, 2016.
Second readings on course proposals:
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Davis gave the second reading on the Special Studies – Crisis Communication. No changes were
made from the first reading. Motion to approve the curriculum proposal was made by
Frederick; seconded by Robinson.
Davis gave the second reading on the Special Studies – Social Movement & Persuasion. No
changes were made from the first reading. Question was raised as to coverage for the PR
courses in the department. With the hiring of the new PR position beginning in Fall there will be
no concern with the coverage. Motion to approve the curriculum proposal was made by Lucas;
seconded by Robinson.
Lowell gave the second reading on the Applied Communication for the Disney program. No
changes since the first read. Motion to approve the curriculum proposal was made by Robinson;
seconded by Terracina-Hartman.
Robinson gave an update on the proposed Media Criticism course. This course was voted on
and approved last fall but under advisement it was held off sending forward until this spring.
This course will be used as an elective for our B/P/W majors and possible our Electronic Media
majors, as well as for the Film Studies minor. It originally was set up with a 300 level number
and that has been changed to a 200 level along with the GH designation. A motion to approve
the curriculum proposal as amended was made by Lowell; seconded by Vichot.
Textbook Selection Policy: Brady discussed a concern that has been brought up with Textbook Rental.
Currently a textbook lives for 3 years before it can be updated and unless you have an annual contract
an instructor does not have the right to update the book. If this is a situation you have run into please
express your concern and textbook recommendation to the department and the chair will consult those
that teach in that area.
Congratulations to the department award winners;
Teaching: Dr. Jonathan Wickert
Research: Dr. Kate Ksobiech
Service: Dr. S-A Welch
Advising: Jim Mead
Reminder that advising is scheduled for March 29th from 2-6pm and March 30th from 12:30-5:30. Be
sure to put this on your syllabi.
January 28th at 3:30 in Heide 113 there will be a training session on the new TER online reimbursement.
Announcements:
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Robinson will be on sabbatical Fall 2016.
Kranenburg reminded faculty of the visiting artist public presentation – January 25th in McGraw
101 at 5:00 pm.
Commvergence Conference is scheduled for Friday, April 8th. Industry speakers geared towards
sports marketing plus networking opportunities and panel sessions.
Corporate sponsorships plea letter to our advisory board to help with symposiums, etc.
Brief discussion on going back to paper evals in Fall 2016 due to low percentage in student
input.
The UWW Scholarship website is open. Notice went out to students this week.
Lucas made the motion to adjourn at 4:10 pm; seconded by Lowell.