Division & Interest Group News

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Instructional and Developmental Communication Division

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

Purpose: To honor outstanding teaching of a graduate student, particularly when that teaching demonstrates innovative (e.g., cutting-edge) and learner-centered pedagogical practices.

Rationale: Such an award honors outstanding teaching in a form that can be documented on a CV and set the graduate apart from others when applying for positions in the academy. 

Award Recognition: The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award recipient will be honored at the annual conference of the International Communication Association.  The recipient will be recognized during the Instructional Communication and Development Division Business meeting. 

Nomination Eligibility and Process:

1. Students who were graduate teaching assistants during the past academic year (2010-2011), as well as current M.A. and Ph.D. students (2011-2012) are eligible.
2. Nominations can be made by any faculty member who is familiar with the individual's teaching (e.g., advisors, faculty mentors, department chairs, teaching supervisors).  (The nominator should spell out what role she or he played in the letter.)
3. The nomination packet should include the following items:
    a. A letter of nomination
    b. A copy of the nominee's CV.
    c. A 1-2 page typed Statement of Teaching Philosophy
    d. A description of the nominee's teaching experiences including  courses taught and    course responsibilities
    e. Sample teaching materials (e.g., syllabi, lesson and/or activity plans; assignment    descriptions, grading rubrics, and example student products; websites)  
    f. Evidence of the nominee's teaching effectiveness (e.g., summaries of student teaching   evaluations, peer evaluations, supervisor evaluations)
4. The letter of nomination and packet of supporting material described in #3 should be saved as PDF files and emailed to the Award Committee chair by January 1st.    For the 2012 award, email the two PDF files to: Deanna.Sellnow@uky.edu by January 1, 2012

Selection Process:
The Awards Selection Committee is comprised of the Award Committee chair, Deanna Sellnow, and members: Ellen Taricani, Tim Sellnow, Georgeta Hodis, and Michelle Violanti. The Instructional Communication and Development Division Awards Committee will review the documents and make a selection based on independent evaluations using a consistent rank and rating rubric.  They will announce the winner by February 1, 2012.

Instructional and Developmental Communication Division

Outstanding Dissertation Award

Purpose:  To honor outstanding graduate student dissertation research focused on instructional and/or developmental communication.

Rationale:  Such an award honors student work in the area in a form that can be documented on a CV and set the graduate apart from others when applying for positions in the academy.  Such an award by our division highlights the kind and quality of work we do and our successful efforts in mentoring newer scholars pursuing research in instructional and/or developmental communication.

Award Recognition:  The Outstanding Dissertation Award recipient will be honored at the annual conference of the International Communication Association.  The recipient will be recognized during the Instructional Communication and Development Division Business meeting. 

Nomination Eligibility and Process:

1. All dissertations completed during the three previous calendar years (2011, 2010, 2009) are eligible.  (MA theses are not eligible.)
2. The dissertation must pertain clearly to instructional and/or developmental communication.  (The nominator should spell this out clearly in his her letter.)
3. Nominations can be made by advisors or members of the student's dissertation committee.  (The nominator should spell out what role she or he played in the letter.)
4. The letter of recommendation by the advisor or dissertation committee member and dissertation should be saved as PDF files and emailed to the Award Committee chair by January 1st.  For the 2012 award, email the two PDF files to: Deanna.Sellnow@uky.edu by January 1, 2012

Selection Process:
The Awards Selection Committee is comprised of the Award Committee chair, Deanna Sellnow, and members: Ellen Taricani, Tim Sellnow, Georgeta Hodis, and Michelle Violanti. The Instructional Communication and Development Division Awards Committee will review the documents and make a selection based on independent evaluations using a consistent rank and rating rubric.  They will announce the winner by February 1, 2012.

Organizational Communication Division:

THE W. CHARLES REDDING DISSERTATION AWARD

The Organizational Communication Division of the International Communication Association (ICA) is pleased to announce the competition for the 2012 W. Charles Redding Dissertation Award in Organizational Communication. This annual competition includes a cash award for the winner and a certificate for the winner and his/her advisor. The award will be presented at the annual ICA convention in Phoenix, Arizona (May 2012). Any dissertation project related to organizational communication is eligible for submission. The winning dissertation will be theoretically driven, methodologically rigorous, and make a significant contribution to our field. In the spirit of W. Charles Redding, the dissertation should present ideas that advance our understanding of organizing and communicating, and that make a difference in the lives of organizational members.

Rules of the competition are as follows:

1. The advisor or chief supervisor of the dissertation should submit the dissertation to the Organizational Communication Division Secretary. Documents to be submitted must include: (a) one copy of the complete dissertation and (b) one copy of the student summary document, which is a 25-30 page paper (text) plus references, tables, graphs, etc. Summary documents with more than 30 pages of text (12 pt. Times New Roman or equivalent font with 1-inch margins) will not be considered.

The shorter document, written by the student, should summarize the dissertation by discussing the (a) research issue/problem, (b) relevant literature, (c) key hypotheses and/or research questions, (d) research methods, (e) primary results, and (f) conclusions drawn from the investigation. There is no need for a letter of nomination from the advisor, and letters will not be forwarded to the awards committee.

2. Because all dissertations will receive blind review by a panel of judges, the name of the author, advisor, and university should appear only in the e-mail and title page of the full dissertation. The awards committee will not be able to consider inappropriately anonymized summaries.

3. Dissertations must have been successfully defended in the 2011 calendar year.

4. Candidates for the award must be ICA Organizational Communication Division members, but membership may be in process at the time of submission.

5. If an insufficient number of dissertations are received, the award panel reserves the right to carry over dissertations into the next annual competition. In case of a large numbers of submissions or strong competition, Honorable Mention Awards may also be made.

6. Deadline for submission: Monday, February 13, 2012. All materials must be received by midnight U.S. Eastern Standard Time on that date.

E-mail entries to the Organizational Communication Division Secretary, Boris H. J. M. Brummans, at boris.brummans@umontreal.ca with the following in the subject heading: CHARLES REDDING AWARD SUBMISSION. Please submit all materials electronically in either Word or PDF format. Please e-mail Boris if you have any additional questions.
 

Political Communication Division:

Dear colleagues,

Two hundred and ten papers and eight panel proposals were submitted to our division for the Phoenix 2012 conference. This figure is somewhere in between Boston 2011 and Singapore 2010. I'd like to thank all reviewers for the time and effort they volunteered to the division.  This is to remind reviewers that the deadline for completed reviews is 9 DECEMBER. I would also like to thank our program planner, Claes de Vreese, for his hard work on managing the review process and to wish him the best of luck in the difficult challenge of processing the reviews and building the program. I am sure he will create a fantastic program.

Let me take the opportunity to congratulate our newly elected vice chair Jesper Stromback (Mid Sweden U) and our newly elected secretary Sophie Lecheler (U of Amsterdam), both will assume office at the phoenix conference. This is also an opportunity to thank Andrea Pitasi (Gabriele D'Annunzio U), Nojin Kwak (U of Michigan), Young Mie Kim (U of Wisconsin-Madison) for their commitment to the division and willingness to serve and be part of the election process.

Submissions deadline for our division's graduate students' preconference is 31 December 2011. This preconference will take place at the University of Arizona in Tucson, just prior to the Annual ICA Conference.  The full details and call for abstracts could be found on our blog:
http://politicalcommunicationdivisions.blogspot.com/2011/10/ica-political-communication-graduate.html 

Best wishes for a happy holiday season,

Yariv Tsfati, Division Chair
University of Haifa, ISRAEL