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Graduate Students Receive Awards

At the School of Communication's annual Graduate Student Awards and Research Symposium, held on May 6, 2013, three students were presented with awards. Carmen Hernandez-Ojeda received the Outstanding Teaching Intern Award. Two students were presented with the Outstanding Part-time Graduate Student Award: Margaret Arico and Laura Brubaker Crisco. Laura Brubaker Crisco was also the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Research Award, based, in part, on her case study being awarded First Place in Communications for the 2013 Arthur W. Page Society and Institute for Public Relations Case Study Competition. Her case study, Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood: Pink Politics: How Komen’s Planned Parenthood Communications Response Unraveled the Pink Ribbon, was selected from a competitive field of 46 entries from around the world. 

The event also included a research symposium at which 18 students in the Communication Master's program presented their research in a poster format.

Pratt & Whitney Funds New Scholarship for Communication Students

A new scholarship has been created, the Pratt & Whitney Communication Scholarship, thanks to a donation from the East Hartford based company, a division of United Technologies Corporation.  At a ceremony on April 18, 2013, two Communication majors were awarded the scholarship for the 2013-14 Academic Year: Shannon DePaul (’14) and Eboni Rhodes (’15). Ms. Julie Busque (M ’12), an alumnus of the Master’s program in Communication and Communications Manager, Engineering, at Pratt & Whitney, was in attendance at the inaugural awarding of the scholarship.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be majoring in Communication, have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, be rising juniors or seniors, and show an active interest in their chosen field through participation in one or more student organizations, or through internships and volunteer work.

Shannon DePaul is majoring in Communication, with an emphasis in Media and Journalism, and a minor in Dance. She is treasurer and captain of the Dance Team, a Red Cap, a staff writer for The Informer, a member of the new volunteer organization, Circle K, and participates in community service activities such as Hawks Helping Hartford.

Eboni Rhodes has an emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations and a minor in Business Management. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Honor Society, is publicist for the Mock Trial Team and for the University of Hartford Gospel Choir, and is cultural arts chair for Brothers and Sisters United. She is involved with Hartbeat Magazine and philanthropic activities such as Relay for Life.

Dr. Susan Grantham of the School of Communication was instrumental in the creation of the scholarship along with Ms. Busque; Mr. James Jannette, Manager, Communications Operations; and Ms. Heather Summerer, Manager, Public Relations and Communications, all from Pratt & Whitney. Faculty, staff and students of the School of Communication are grateful to all of them for their efforts and generosity.

Communication Students Awarded the Abrams and Gauvreau Scholarships

At a luncheon ceremony on April 18, 2013, junior Nicole Callender, was awarded the Ellen Abrams Memorial Scholarship for 2013-14. This is the second year in a row that she was named the recipient of this scholarship, which was started by the family of Ellen Abrams, a young, talented reporter at Channel 8 in New Haven who was killed by a motorist while jogging near her home. Selected by the School of Communication faculty to receive the scholarship, Callender has an emphasis in media and journalism and a minor in English. She has written for The Informer student newspaper, and returned this semester from studying abroad in Cannes, France.

Two students were awarded Emile Gauvreau Scholarships for 2013-14. The Gauvreau Scholarship is awarded to Connecticut students majoring in Communication and who have achieved academic excellence. This year the faculty chose Anthony Branciforte, who will be a junior in the Fall with a double major in Communication and Politics and Government; and Nicholas Doherty, a junior with an emphasis in Human Communication Studies.

Communication Students Receive Senior Awards and Recognition

At our annual Scholarship and Senior Awards ceremony on April 18, 2013, seven seniors received awards for academic excellence: Andrea Wojcik, Award for Excellence in the Undergraduate Study of Communication; Kaitlyn Schroyer, The Hartford Courant John J. Massaro Award for Excellence in Newspaper Journalism; Troy Hollihan, Award for Excellence in the Study of Advertising; Kevin Cifone, Award for Excellence in the Study of Human Communication; and Emily Burns, Award for Excellence in the Study of Public Relations. Quoron Walkerand Benjamin Wilcox each received an award for Excellence in the Study of Media.

At the event the faculty also recognized seniors for their leadership of communication and media student organizations: Charles Paullin, Editor-in-Chief of the Informer; Eugenia Martinez and Kaitlyn Schroyer, Co-Presidents, and Reyna Bouchaud, Vice-President and Secretary, of Lambda Pi Eta/Communication Honor Society; Sarah Morin, President, and Andrew Gregor, Vice-President, of Public Relations Student Society of America; and Benjamin Wilcox, General Manager, and Ja'Shell Smith, Senior Producer, of STN-2. The students on the School of Communication’s team for the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Competition, were also recognized for their work: Benjamin Aronowitz, Perry Calhoun, Russell Graf, Rondasia Headley, Karlie Henton, Troy Hollihan, Joseph Ianniello, Thomas Kieley, John Santos, Matthew Singer, Brad Stoll, Thomas White, and Natalie Yubas.

Students Inducted into Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society

Nine Communication students were inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the Communication Honor Society, on Friday, April 5, 2013. To be inducted, students must have high academic achievement and be active members in the organization. This year's inductees were: Shannon DePaul, Daniel Geiger, Marissa McDougal, Demar Morgan, Jocelyn Rodriguez, Nicole Roland, Quoron Walker, Thomas White, and Natalie Yubas. Congratulations to these students!

Muppidi Receives Award for Book

The Asian Communication Handbook (6th Edition), edited by the School of Communication’s Dr. Sundeep Muppidi, former Secretary-General of the Asian Media Communication and Information Centre (AMIC), won the BEST BOOK AWARD in the Asian Media Industry category of the 2012 Asian Publishing Awards. The award ceremony was held at the Crowne Plaza, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 30. According to the organizers, there were 134 entries competing for 17 awards. The Asian Communication Handbook is the flagship publication of AMIC and is considered a mandatory read by those in development communications in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Muppidi said, "I am very happy and excited that the Asian Communication Handbook has won the Best Book in the Asian Media Industry category.  The book has involved a lot of work and this recognition is a testimony to the significant theoretical contributions of all the authors.  I wish to thank them and UNESCO while acknowledging the hard work of the research team at AMIC that helped in the completion of this project.”

Kelly Publishes Article on Texting

With colleagues at the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Lynne Kellypublished an article reporting a focus group study about college students' use of texting. The article, "It's the American Lifestyle!": An Invesitgation of Text Messaging by College Students, appeared in the journal Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, Vol. 13, 2012, pp. 1-9. Study participants offered some unique insights about texting, identifying positive and negative aspects of the highly popular medium of communication.

Dr. Sundeep Muppidi Publishes Two Books

In both of these new books, Dr. Muppidi served as the editor and chapter contributor. The Asian Communication Handbook (6th ed.), was published by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre as part of AMIC's Asian Communication series. Also part of that series, Public Service Broadcasting and Its Role in Raising Civic Consciousness: Case Studies from Asia was co-edited by Muppidi and a School of Communication alumna, Premila Manvi (M '09).

 

 

 

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