End of Semester Dept Head Letter
From Dr. Scott Eldredge, Communication Department Head
Greetings and Happy Holidays from the Western Carolina University Department of Communication!!!
It has been a busy, and I’ll admit, a bit hectic and crazy Fall semester here at the university, what with Hurricane Helene and missing nearly three full weeks of classes. However, as we have come to expect from our outstanding faculty and students, they proved their resilience, determination, and ability to succeed in the face of challenge. So, as you listen to your Spotify 2024 Wrapped playlist, check out everything the Department of Communication accomplished this Fall semester!
For those of us in Western North Carolina, the big story of our Fall was Hurricane Helene, the impact the storm had on the communities in the Western North Carolina mountains, and the ongoing relief and recovery efforts. At the university, we were closed for over three weeks in October as we dealt with the storm. I cannot begin to express how immensely proud I am of our students, faculty, and alumni as they jumped in to help in the storm’s aftermath. With power outages, cell phone outages, and a loss of internet access, WWCU-FM 95.3 was on the air with our Professor Don Connelly, Professor Deb Connelly, and Dr. Kata Spasovska working with students to help provide the public with much needed information regarding road access, recovery information, FEMA assistance, supply availability, and other vital information regarding relief efforts to residents of Jackson County.
It was also a big election year with a close and competitive presidential election dominating the news cycle this Fall. With leadership from Dr. Kata Spasovska, Dr. Matt Binford, and Professor Mark Poff, Journalism and Broadcasting students developed and delivered an Election Night News Special covering local elections in Jackson, Haywood, and Swain Counties. Live coverage, centrally managed from the Department’s Television Studio, was streamed to the web and simulcast on WWCU-FM 95.3. The hour-and-a-half Election Night Special delivered news packages on elections of local offices, public opinion polls developed and gathered by students, live election returns from polling stations across Western North Carolina, and ongoing results of elections for state offices including the North Carolina Governor’s race.
The Department also added a new curriculum option for students majoring in Communication. Adding to our concentrations in Broadcasting, Health Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations, we’ve added a concentration in Interpersonal and Cultural Communication. This new concentration focuses on how people communicate in interpersonal, small group, intercultural, professional, and public contexts. It includes instruction about cultural ideologies; theories and practices for managing interpersonal and group connections; and theories and strategies for social action. Emphasis is placed on face-to-face interaction in various contexts related to individual and collective identities, conflict management, and cultural differences. We’ve added this concentration in response to student interest and requests seeking to learn more about these important aspects of communication.
In addition to these bigger initiatives, we’ve also continued the day-to-day activities that go beyond the classroom and help enhance the student experience. Some of those activities include:
– Sending Public Relations and Health Communication students to national conferences in New Orleans and Anaheim, California
– Having faculty apply for grants that help support research to advance the field of communication
– Providing students with opportunities to participate in faculty research projects
– Working with Community Partners to provide students with engagement projects that help support community needs and give students the ability to practice and refine the skills they will take with them when they graduate into the working world
As I relate all this work undertaken by the Department in just one Fall semester, I am again reminded of the importance of the work we are doing to develop our future practitioners and leaders in Communication. Helping with disaster relief, promoting our shared values and participating in our democracy, and impacting our interpersonal relationships to make our world a more inclusive, connected place. This is the vital work we are preparing our students to do once they leave Western Carolina University. I am incredibly proud and grateful to be part of a department that has students and faculty doing such great work.
I will end my note with one very direct request: Please support this work by donating to our department. I often tell folks who want to support our students to “buy us a pizza.” Even a small donation, about the cost of a pizza, $25 or so, can help us provide so many enhancements to our students’ educations and experiences. Scholarships, conference trips, and even providing some food at a student organization meeting. Those small donations help us get students involved outside of the classroom and allow them to further develop as professionals. It also connects them to one another. If you’re an alumnus of our department, you already know how important those friendships were when you were working on group projects, creating programming at the radio station or TV studio, or trying to meet that deadline to file a story. Small donations help us create and support those moments where students connect with one another, find support, develop their professional skills, and build relationships that they will take with them beyond WCU and into their personal and professional lives.
Thank you so much for your support!
Scott
P.S. This may come back to haunt me, but since I mentioned Spotify Wrapped to start this note, here’s my 2024 Spotify Wrapped info:
- Top Song – Leave Before You Love Me (yes…it’s the Jonas Brothers, don’t judge!)
- My three phases were: Coastal Grandmother Rhythm Games Classic Rock Phase, Surf Crush Hollywood Pop Season, and the Serotonin Metropolis Indie Pop Moment
- Top Artist of the Year – The Strike (you’ve probably not heard of them)
Let’s all look forward to a fantastic Spring semester and start to 2025!