I am honored to be nominated for President of ICA. In this statement I will try to give you some sense of who I am and articulate what I would like to achieve if elected. My goals center upon enhancing both our global connectivity and sense of scholarly community that together form the core of ICA.

I became a candidate for President because I value the centrality of ICA to the advancement of our discipline and our own development as scholars. I believe my research focus on globalization and new forms of organizing, my administrative experience, and my commitment to participatory processes can contribute to making ICA an even stronger, more influential organization. My involvement in ICA began as a Student Board Member in 1981; subsequently I served as secretary and chair of the Organizational Communication Division, was chair and member of awards and nominating committees, and participated in several internationalization and restructuring task forces. As a result of our excellent leadership and strong financial and governance systems, ICA has become a truly international organization and is well-positioned to address our future challenges.

Today, we are experiencing deep-rooted transformations in the texture and experience of our professional lives.  Technologies enable new forms of engagement and we study and teach in multicultural and digital media environments. We face ever greater expectations for productivity, pressures to garner external research support, and more responsibility to make our research and expertise accessible to diverse audiences. The communication discipline is expanding globally while job opportunities are shrinking in traditional arenas and opening up in others.

The capacities and opportunities collectively embedded in ICA are critical resources for meeting these global demands. At a time when there are pressures on our institutions and scholars to do more with less, we need ICA to continue to broaden and deepen our influence and the resources available to our members. As President, I would seek ways to retain and expand ICA’s international membership and partnerships, promote participation, and facilitate scholarly and professional development.  Below, I provide a few examples to elaborate these goals.

Enhancing ICA’s global connectivity 
Retaining and expanding our membership base.  ICA has been successful in attracting international scholars from more than 80 countries.  But membership trends indicate that peaks associated with specific conference sites are often transitory and retention patterns differ across areas. As President I would work closely with our regional Board Members-at-Large and national association leaders to develop mechanisms to engage and retain scholars and students from each region more fully, especially those from traditionally underrepresented areas. Establishing smaller regional networks within ICA by spotlighting regional research and linguistic expertise to augment our web directory of scholars and developing ICA sponsored workshops to address significant regional issues are beginning steps in building an inclusive community.

Expanding international partnerships. Developing greater linkages with national communication associations will further our discipline’s influence, bring new resources to ICA, and develop global leadership for ICA’s future. New initiatives would include using our graded membership fee structure as a model for extending our support of travel scholarships to both international and regional conferences, journal fee adjustments, and scholarly exchanges.  I would also seek to develop joint projects of mutual interest and promote use of underutilized program, such as ICA’s “complimentary Institutional Membership.” Established in 2004 to promote relationships between ICA and universities around the world, only four institutions have thus far applied.

ICA’s association with the UN Department of Public Information highlights the value of partnerships that go beyond our discipline. Such linkages may provide opportunities for ICA members to share their expertise, develop research programs, influence public policy, and participate in graduate internships or postdoctoral fellowships. There are many avenues for increased engagement such as formalizing our association with UNESCO that I would advocate as President. However, there has been little strategic discussion regarding the types of partnerships we should pursue. We need to bring together our newly appointed Communication Director, interested ICA fellows and other prominent members of the international scientific community to develop a long term strategic initiative that identifies the goals and strategies for international partnerships with NGOs, IGOs, research foundations and others.

Fostering our sense of community
Encouraging participation.  The strength of ICA is grounded in the commitment of its members and our ability to make decisions (some inevitably controversial) that take into account the multiple perspectives embedded within our membership.  I would work to maximize organizational transparency, open and respectful debate, and widespread participation in governance and organizational service.

Enhancing our scholarly community.  Our annual conferences are primary sites for community building. ICA has begun to experiment with new formats and our Boston conference will showcase digital possibilities. I would build upon these innovations, working with Division chairs to develop new ways of supporting, organizing, and scheduling conference sessions, promoting events such as featured debates that span divisional interests, as well as other conferences activities outside traditional time and presentational frameworks.

Contributing to professional development.  There is more ICA can do to address the professional development of our members. A few years ago, responding to graduate students’ concerns, the organizational communication division sponsored a doctoral consortium “Research and Teaching in the Global University.”  We focused on the global job market, cultural and institutional differences in teaching and professional expectations, and approaches to multinational research and funding. Other divisions have also developed mentoring sessions, panels related to professional socialization, job placement, and publishing that have been well received but these activities remain inconsistent and fragmented. As the first step in a long range ICA initiative to address professional development I would highlight these previous best practices and initiate a series of related “Working Partnership” sessions at our annual conference. Working with our student board members and interested faculty we would develop a coherent structure for on-going ICA activities related to job seeking, career advancement, research colaborations, and other professional concerns.

Professional Profile
I am a Professor of Communication and faculty affiliate of the Center for Information Technology & Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Previously, I was the Margaret Church Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Purdue. My research focuses on globalization, organizations, networks, and collective action in the new media environment. I have had the good fortune to live, teach, conduct research, and give keynote addresses in several countries in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.  My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and The New Zealand Marsden Foundation. I have published over 80 articles and book chapters, an award winning book, Organizational Communication: Connectedness in Action and a forthcoming book on collective action to be published by Cambridge University Press book (coauthors B. Bimber and A. Flanagin). In 2007 and 2008 my collaborative work on collective action and terrorism networks were awarded ICA's Outstanding Article award.

My teaching also reflects my commitment to global issues. As the chair of the Purdue Teaching Academy I worked closely with faculty to internationalize the curriculum. I have received distinguished teaching awards both at UCSB and Purdue.  Over the course of my career, I have served as advisor for 11 Ph.D. students and chaired more than 60 masters' committees.

Service and involvement in faculty governance have been central to my academic career.  I have served on several editorial boards and was an Associate Editor of Human Communication Research.  I have participated in a wide range of departmental and university committees, was a founding member and chair of the Sexual Harassment Network at Purdue, and President of the Purdue chapter of the American Association of University Professors. I have chaired or served on external review committees for communication departments in the U.S. and Europe.

Global connectivity, community participation, and joyful engagement have always been the foundation of my research agenda, professional activity, and personal life. To devote my energies to pursing these goals as ICA President and working with our members, the Board of Directors, and our terrific staff would be a privilege and an opportunity I would very much welcome.