News & Events
David Foster, associate professor, was selected to join the editorial board of the American Communication Journal, an international publication of the American Communication Association.
Public relations major Evan Rowland and Associate Professor David Foster were elected to the board of directors of the Ohio Communication Association Oct. 2 in Springfield at its annual conference.
In a private ceremony Dec. 2 Hannah Wurm and Stephanie Shoffner were inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, UF's chapter of the national communication honor society.
Digital Media program popular with students, employers New minor in Digital Media equips students in any major with 21st century skills
A new Digital Media major at The University of Findlay has proven popular with students and employers alike, according to program pioneer Jens Hatch. It debuted in 2006 and has quickly grown to one of the largest areas of study in Communication.
“This program merges communication and technology to meet new media demands,” Hatch said. “It teaches students not only how to be knowledgeable digital consumers but also how to be effective digital creators.” Classes include multimedia authoring, audio and video production, digital photography, web design and special topics regarding particular online platforms and software.
“Digital media savvy is in high demand in public relations and sets graduates apart from their peers,” said Jeanette Drake, chair and associate professor of communication.
“With a new minor in Digital Media starting Fall 2010, students in every discipline will be able to boost their marketability by adding e-literacy to their toolkit,” she said. “This will be especially helpful to students of business, education or other fields that are increasingly reliant on online and mobile technologies.”
In May, Rechelle Bischoff was one of the first two UF students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in digital media, and she has already put her online abilities to good use. Bischoff recently used her knowledge to help a nonprofit organization in her hometown of Napoleon, Ohio. As part of a capstone project, Bischoff completed a Web site for Napoleon Alive, which formed to help revitalize downtown business. Bischoff also developed a video tutorial to train Napoleon Alive members how to update and maintain the Web site. “[Digital media] has helped me with public relations, design, video and audio production, and news writing,” said Bischoff. “I’m excited to be one of the first to graduate. It’s a real accomplishment. Digital media is so heavily involved with everything.”
PR students attend conferences in Chicago, Austin Congratulations to Hannah Wurm, who represented Findlay at the National Communication Association Conference in Chicago in 2009, and Adrian Poston, who represented UF at PRSSA's National Assembly in Austin, Tx. in 2010.
Communication joins service-learning consortium Dr. Diana Montague and Dr. Cheri Hampton-Farmer are having students take the power of speech to the streets by selecting a community partner with whom to serve and then reflecting publicly on that service.
More than 100 UF students took part in academic service learning this year at various agencies in the community.
Students enrolled in special sections of speech volunteered five hours of their time outside of class in order to give informative speeches.
"When service to the community meets course goals, it is mutually beneficial," Montague said. "Projects like this teach students to become more engaged in helping both the community and in helping themselves to develop more meaningful lives."
As faculty liaison for Campus Compact at Findlay, Professor Montague has worked with faculty throughout the university to help them learn how to integrate service into the curriculum.
Beginning in 2010, the Department of Communication will become part of a Service Learning Consortium on campus--one of a handful of departments focusing on outreach and engagement via service learning opportunities that link students and community partners.
Two members of the Pulse staff featured in the Ohio Newspaper Association's statewide newsletter, the "Bulletin"
Elizabeth Lewis-House, the editor for the Pulse, and Kevin Lanning, a staff writer, have been featured in the "Meet Our Members" section of the Ohio Newspaper Association's newsletter.
The piece, which was issued April 18, follows, and gives an idea of UF's program and how it's award-winning newspaper operates.
Meet Our Members
The Pulse, University of Findlay
Lewis-House
Lanning
The Pulse, the student newspaper of the University of Findlay, became a member of ONA when the association opened its membership to university and college newspapers last year.
The weekly newspaper, which publishes approximately 2,000 print and 200 online editions, was the first school newspaper to enter ONA's Osman C. Hooper Newspaper Show and in February was cited for honorable mentions in news coverage, in-depth reporting, original columns and community service.
The Pulse's student advisor, Chris Underation, said he got the idea to enter the Hooper Show while working for the Amherst and Oberlin News-Tribune in the early 1990s.
"Kathleen Willbond and I wrote a series about Amherst building a new jail that won (an award), and the feedback from the readers was great," he said. "I liked the networking and the feedback that came from Hooper. Though I didn't always agree with the criticism, it was good to get that other perspective and in retrospect it made me a better reporter and writer."
Underation said entering the Pulse in the competition was a "no-brainer."
"I admit I didn't think we'd win anything, all I was hoping for was some good feedback from pros that I could pass along to the students -- I have my hobby horses that I ride herd over the students about, and I know they get tired of hearing it from me. My evil plan was that maybe they could hear it from someone else and it would sink in."
Underation said winning the honorable mentions was surprising to him and the students.
"At first I think some of the students thought I was joking. Semesters have an up-and-down flow to them, and the news came at a good time. We are not a large program, but we are ambitious, and this puts a lot of stress on the staff. Hard on the heels of the news and the awards ceremony, former President Clinton came to campus and we were all over that. We had a special online issue that came out with coverage of the speech, reaction, columns, a phoner with the Obama campaign -- the whole nine yards. It has provided a nice shot of motivation just when it was needed."
Underation said the awards have gotten the attention of the university and have built a nice buzz for the newspaper.
"If you look on the Findlay Web site (http://www.findlay.edu/), you'll see one of the award-winning columnists featured there, with an invite to link to his columns. Dave Springer is graduating and heading off to OU for grad school."
Underation identified two other shining stars of the Pulse: junior Elizabeth Lewis-House and sophomore Kevin Lanning.
Lewis-House, editor of the Pulse, said her experience at the newspaper has been great.
"There has been a lot of hard-work involved, but in the end all of the work is worth it," she said. "I enjoy working with the staff of the Pulse and researching new stories each week. When I took on the role as editor at the beginning of the semester I was unsure of what it might bring, but as soon as I started the role I began learning a lot and the learning process is still going."
The Public Relations and Equine Business Management double major from Upper Sandusky expects to graduate in 2009 and hopes to go into communications.
"I am unsure of whether I want to go in to journalism or public relations as of now, but either way the lessons learned from editor will carry through in my future career," she said. "I have gained a chance this semester to not only sharpen up on leadership and writing skills but also to strengthen my people skills and to learn about laying out the newspaper -- which is something I had no experience with. I feel that the communication skills will come in handy in my future career, but also will the time management skills and responsibility learned from this role."
Lanning, a Pulse staff writer, said writing for the newspaper has been quite different than he thought it would be.
"I did not think I would get the opportunity to write so quickly, but I was pretty fortunate. Chris has trusted me and given me a couple important assignments throughout the semester and I think those have paid dividends in making me a better journalist."
Lanning said he has learned to work fast, but accurately, under deadlines.
"Given a couple stories that needed to be in the same day or the next day has helped me become comfortable working under pressure." he said. "Knowing that I will have to turn out stories that quickly when I have a job, makes me feel confident that I can do that.
"I have also learned to become more diversified in my writing topics. I came in wanting to be a sportswriter, but I have covered topics along a broad spectrum. The more I can write about, I feel the more marketable I will be able to be."
Lanning plans to work for a newspaper upon graduation, preferable in his hometown of Toledo.
"I am doing an internship this summer at WTOL News 11 in Toledo to see the broadcast side of things. That door is still not closed, so I want to check out every aspect of journalistic reporting before I make a decision on my actual career. The dream has been though, to be a newspaper writer. I plan on graduating in 2010."
A glance at some of the scholarship done by members of the Communication faculty
David Foster, who teaches interpersonal communication, has completed several publications and presentations recently.PUBLICATIONS Foster, D.E. (2006). Bush’s Use of the Terrorism and “Moral Values” Issues in his 2004 Presidential Campaign Rhetoric: An Instance of the Rhetorical Strategy of Polarization. Ohio Communication Journal, 44, October 2006, pp. 33-60. CONVENTION/CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS Foster, D.E. (2008). Presented “Setting the Stage for Failure: How Lincoln’s Earlier Public Discourse on Slavery Nullified the Effectiveness of his First Inaugural Address” at the 78th annual conference of the Southern States Communication Association in Savannah, Georgia in April 2008. Foster, D.E. (2007). Presented “Setting the Stage for Failure: How Lincoln’s Earlier Public Discourse on Slavery Nullified the Effectiveness of his First Inaugural Address” at the 71st annual conference of the Ohio Communication Association in Youngstown, Ohio in October 2007. Foster, D.E. (2006). Served as Chair of a Panel presenting, “Is Bigger Really Better? Strengths and Shortcomings Among Various Types of Communication Programs (and Secrets for Success)” at the 70th annual conference of the Ohio Communication Association in Perrysburg, Ohio in October 2006. Foster, D.E. (2006). Presented “Bush’s Use of the Terrorism and ‘Moral Values’ Issues in his 2004 Presidential Campaign Rhetoric: An Instance of the Rhetorical Strategy of Polarization” at the 70th annual conference of the Ohio Communication Association in Perrysburg, Ohio in October 2006. Foster, D.E. (2005). Served as Chair of a Panel presenting “An In-Depth Look at an Acclaimed Senior Capstone Course in Communication Studies: Some Perceptions, Observations and Suggestions from Current Students, Former Students, Faculty and Administrators” at the 69th annual conference of the Ohio Communication Association in Dayton, Ohio in October 2005. WLFC-FM begins to stream its signal in cyberspace
The University's radio station, WLFC-FM (88.3) is streaming its signal in cyberpsace. Since the summer WLFC has had an active page on myspace (www.myspace.com/wlfc88_3) that contains clips of music, connections to the bands we play, and, of course, invites you to become a friend.
