Uncovering - West Virginia University

Dr. Kelley Crowley
Advertising and
public relations
Visiting Assistant Professor
Kelley Crowley knew her first
night as a graduate student at
Duquesne University that she
was destined for an academic
career. Looking for her
classroom, she asked a group
of students for help, and they
responded, “What class are you
WVU Photo Services
teaching?”
“It was the coolest thing,” Crowley said. “I realized that’s where I
was supposed to be. I cried all the way home.”
Her return to school came after many years of working as a
communications professional.
After stints as a radio DJ and news director and as the
entertainment editor at the Pittsburgh City Paper, she got her start
in public relations as senior publicist for INPEX, the world’s largest
invention convention. Among her many achievements in that role,
she helped place inventors on the Tonight Show and in People
magazine and Time.
Crowley also worked as an account executive for Jack Horner
Communications and Dymun+Company, both in Pittsburgh,
Pa. In both positions, she served as a liaison between clients and
the creative departments, handled media relations and developed
creative ideas for clients.
With a desire for advancing her education, Crowley earned a
master’s degree in corporate communications in 2002 and a Ph.D.
in rhetoric and philosophy in 2008 from Duquesne University.
Her academic background and work experience serves her well at
WVU, where she teaches advertising and public relations.
“I talk about life after college,” said Crowley. “The time in college
is so short, and many students have not considered what life will be
like in the working world and how it differs from school.”
Dr. Sara Magee
Broadcast news
By RaChEl flUhaRty By nEil Saft
Assistant Professor Sara Magee
declares herself “very much a
TV person,” and the Emmy
Award she won is a testament
to her talent as a broadcast
professional.
Before becoming an academic,
Magee began her career in
Erie, Pa., as a television news
producer for the NBC affiliate
WICU-12. She quickly fell in
love with producing the news, enamored with the creativity and the
adrenaline rush of live, unedited television.
After three years in Erie, Magee moved across the country to CBS
affiliate KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, Nev., where she produced the
WVU Photo Services
11 p.m. newscast. There, Magee worked on a New Year’s Eve live
broadcast that won her an Emmy in 2001.
Magee produced a three-hour program from the streets of Las
Vegas, where 70,000 people were gathered. She coordinated
multiple live remotes and stories from seven to eight journalists.
Magee earned her master’s degree in English literature from
Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005. She completed her
Ph.D. in mass communications at Ohio University in 2008.
Magee joined the SOJ faculty last fall and is teaching courses in
broadcast news writing and reporting, media ethics and introduction
to mass communications.
In her broadcast classes, Magee emphasizes the importance of
being able to cover breaking news, as well as strong writing and
storytelling skills.
“How the information in a story is put together is the key,” said
Magee.
Magee plans to use her newsroom contacts to bring more industry
professionals into her classroom, giving students a perspective on
real-world issues in broadcast journalism.
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