Communication Department Minutes
4/17/14
Attendance: AMR, Baus, Brady, Casey, Davis, Fishburn, Frederick, Hixson, Ibrahim, Jones, Kates, Knabe,
Kranenburg, Ksobiech, Lowell, Lucas, Mead, Rashkin Ridgeman, Robinson, Spiegelhoff, TerKeurst,
Terracina-Hartman, Um, Vogl-Bauer, Weber, Welch.
Meeting was called to order at 3:43 pm in Heide 113.
April 17, 2014 agenda approved unanimously on a Vogl-Bauer/Lucas motion.
March 20, 2014 minutes approved on a Lucas/Fishburn motion.
New Business:
Hixson discussed the advisory board’s suggestions regarding Goal #4 – Raise Awareness of the
Department within the University and the Community. Following are their suggestions:
 Have success stories of alumni
 Increase mentor participation
 Complete a SWOT analysis of the department in the University
 Partner with community involvement projects – have students mentor with those involved
 Start a “take a comm student to work day” program
 Have panels of alumni in careers
 Start a “cluster of alums” to have a viral video “Six Degrees of Separation from Whitewater”
Health Communication Symposium and Potluck – April 24 – UC 275. Reminder that after the speaker
panels there will be a potluck in Heide 116 and in Heide 113 there will be the opportunity to network
with speakers; judge the logos for Corporate Health and view Undergraduate Research projects.
Davis gave a GIA update in which he stated that the department is ready to make two offers and still
have two additional vacancies.
Hixson handed out the class preference sheets for Spring 2015 and are due to the department office by
April 25. Hixson will also send out the classroom grid.
Old Business:
Search & Screen Updates: Accepted offer for the Communication Generalist position and we are in
negotiations for the Social Media position.
Ridgeman announced the Communication Ambassadors for 2014-2015 and talked about the upcoming
May 4th event with past, current and future Ambassadors.
Assessment Report for Electronic Media has been postponed to May.
Assessment Updates/Meetings:
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Advertising – rubric is done and testing begun
Broadcast/Print/Web – nothing to report at this time
Corporate and Health Communication – will be collecting data from the upcoming symposium
Electronic Media – meeting to discuss year one objectives
MAGD – preparing to assess final projects that are due at the end of the semester
Public Relations – completed a writing assessment of papers from Comm 302 and preparing a
report on an embedded assessment from the Ad and PR Research Literacy course.
Vogl-Bauer said that forms to report assessment updates will be out soon along with proposal for
summer mini-grants tied to assessment work.
Committee Reports:
Audit & Review – Vogl-Bauer said that there is an open meeting on Thursday, April 24th
Goal Updates:
Strategic Plan for Undergraduate Research: Robinson, Wildermuth, Fishburn and Ksobiech are in
line for SURF grants
Connect w/alumni and community organizations – Knabe reported that they had another successful
PR Pro Day in Milwaukee. The event was coordinated by a past Communication Department Public
Relations alumni. 49 students were in attendance in which they had opportunity for resume reviews
and workshops.
Fishburn presented his curriculum proposal for his Special Studies 496 course for Spring 2015.
Second reading and vote will be done at the May meeting.
Announcements:
Congratulations to….
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Bolton, Davis, Frederick & Wildermuth have an accepted paper for the American
Communication Jnrl
Kranenburg on the Academic Staff Award
Vogl-Bauer on the College Service Award
Robinson and Wildermuth on their Cinderella publication in the Journal of Visual
Communication
Wildermuth on a book chapter entitled Representation of Trans-Gender People in the media
Wildermuth & AMR on a book chapter on Gamification
Ksobiech received publication acceptance at BMC Public Health
Advisory Board Update: Two new members who are past alums, Luke Rollins and Brianna Purvis.
This past meeting a tour of the tv and radio stations were done and members were able to see our
students in action.
Robinson announced that one of our majors, Kelsey Welke, is doing an internship for the
Whitewater Historical Society and has done a tremendous job on their website.
Lucas announced that the new department website is live. Lucas and Ridgeman will continue to
address changes as time permits.
TerKeurst announced that the MAGD Expo is scheduled for May 8th and the guest speaker is Lindsay
Grace. There will also be a panel of speakers and the topic is the game industry.
Fishburn announced that Travis Garski, MAGD major, won a business competition.
Ridgeman reminded faculty to turn in the driver authorization form and report of outside activities.
Meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm on a Lowell/Lucas motion.