School News - College of Communication and Information

College of Communications 

and Information Studies 

106 Grehan Building 

Lexington, KY 40506-0042 

859-257-7805 

www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/ 

An Equal Opportunity University

Table of Contents 

08 Annual 

Review 

Office of the Dean..................................................................................2 

College Recognition & Awards Ceremony 

Student Awards and Recognition 2007-08 

Development News 

Research News 

School of Journalism and Telecommunications...................................10 

Meet the Director 

School News 

School Events 

School of Library and Information Science .........................................16 




Graduate Program in Communication .................................................18 

Meet the Associate Dean 

Program News 

Program Events 

We Need to Hear from YOU! 

Department of Communication............................................................22 

Meet the Chair 

Department News 

Department Events 

College History 

Cover photo: Clare Bilas is a 2008 graduate and ISC major. 

Clare and her photo were part of an award-winning 

ISC Competition Team presentation.

Message from 

J. David Johnson, Dean 

This 2007-2008 academic 

year overview celebrates many 

of the accomplishments of our students, 

faculty and staff. It has been an exciting 

year for the College. Our undergraduate 

students continue to receive acknowledgment 

for their leadership roles on 

campus, their classroom and research 

achievements, and their creative endeavors. 

Our faculty continues to be recognized 

regionally, nationally and internationally 

for their publications, scholarly 

research and community service. Our 

staff is actively involved in being the link 

between our students, faculty and the 

university through advising and service 

on university committees. Our college 

endowments continue to grow both in 

number and size providing much needed 

scholarships for our students. 

We have 1,297 undergraduate pre-majors 

and majors. The Graduate Program in 

the School of Library and Information 

Science now totals 187 students. Our 

master’s and Ph.D. programs in 

Communication have 62 students. This 

year, the college will graduate ten percent 

of all University of Kentucky undergraduates. 

Our undergraduate student body has 

nearly doubled in the last decade. 

Undergraduate students in our fourdegree 

programs (Communication, 

Integrated Strategic Communication 

(formerly Advertising), Journalism, 

and Telecommunications) acquire a 

liberal arts education that extends 

beyond preparing students for an 

information-centered, service-oriented 

society. Students take the opportunity to 

conduct research; to publish; to serve in 

internship programs locally, regionally 

and nationally; and to develop skills in 

digital photography, broadcasting, 

podcasting and Web design. 

CCIS is proud of our award-winning 

advising staff led by our Director of 

Undergraduate Services, Cathy Hunt. 

Hunt, along with Ashley Clark and our 

College Ambassadors, work with over 600 

students each year. Our unit advisors also 

play a major advising role with students. 

We are widely perceived to be one of the 

most student-centered colleges at UK. 

Our student ambassador program is 

another point of pride for the college. 

Each year, through a very competitive 

process, we select three undergraduate 

students who serve as college ambassadors. 

This past year the ambassadors were 

Julie Earnest, (JAT/ISC), Lexington; Sara 

Henderson, (JAT/JOU), West Liberty and 

Sarah Roark, (COM), Franklin, Wis. The 

ambassadors participate in student advising 

and represent the college at preview 

nights across the Commonwealth. 

The ambassadors also lead COMMunity, 

a service group that gives back to 

Lexington. The group’s goal is to unite 

people from all of the majors within the 

college and organize service activities. 

At the graduate level we offer our master’s 

and doctoral student’s opportunities to 

undertake important research programs 

that contribute to the advancement of 

the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the 

United States and countries throughout 

the world. The Graduate Program in 

Communication offers emphases in 

interpersonal, health, and mass 

communication and our graduate 

library program provides the only 

accredited graduate program in 

library and information science in 

the Commonwealth. The Library 

School graduates more than 80 

percent of all school, public, 

academic and special librarians 

employed in the Commonwealth. 

We continually seek new approaches for 

involving alumni with our students as 

lecturers in the classroom and through 

their participation in special programs. 

Alumni provide our students with internships 

and participate in the review of 

student portfolios. Alumni are encouraged 

to attend and participate in any college 

events. Each fall we also hold our 

annual college awards and recognition 

dinner to honor our students, 

faculty, alumni and friends. 

Information on recent award recipients 

is included in this publication. 

Much of what we have accomplished 

would not be possible without the 

continued support of our alumni and 

friends. I am pleased to announce 

that the college has reached our $1.6 

million dollar goal for the University’s 

Capital Campaign. But we continue to 

work hard to increase the number 

and amount of scholarships available 

to our students. Your gifts are vital to 

our success and we always want you 

to know how much your continued 

support means to all of us. 

I hope that through this publication 

you will learn more about the college 

and its programs and share in the 

pride I feel for the college and what 

we have accomplished. It was impossible 

for us to list all of our accomplishments 

in this publication, so I 

invite you to visit our Web page. 

When I travel, I enjoy meeting with 

alumni and would love to expand 

these opportunities. If you can meet 

with me or host a function in your 

area, please contact my office at 

859-257-7805 or by e-mail at 

jdavid.johnson@uky.edu. 

Again, we appreciate your support 

and involvement in the College 

of Communications and 

Information Studies. 

Best wishes, 

Dr. J. David Johnson 

Dean 

1

Office of 

The Dean 

College 

Recognition 

and Awards 

Ceremony 

The College held its first 

Recognition Ceremony and 

Awards Dinner in September 

2000. The awards program 

was designed to publicly recognize 

and honor the accomplishments 

of our faculty, 

staff, students, distinguished 

alumni and friends. The 

2007 award recipients were: 

— Outstanding Staff 

Award – This award recognizes 

outstanding service to 

the college by a staff member 

and has been presented 

each year since 1995. 

Mageleen “Maggie” 

Chapman is a staff associate 

in the Department of 

Communication and has 

been employed at UK for 17 

years. Chapman grew up in 

Pike County, Ky. and is an 

alumnus of Morehead State 

University. She joined the 

department in 2006. 

o 

— Excellence in Teaching 

Award – Excellence in 

Teaching is a multi-faceted 

achievement. It requires not 

only mastery of the subject 

matter, but also awareness 

of current developments, 

and a vision of what’s to 

come. It requires the ability 

to communicate that 

knowledge to students in 

ways which foster understanding, 

intellectual 

growth, and a broadening 

of perspectives. It requires a 

never-ending quest to stay 

attuned to student needs, 

concerns and interests. 

Dr. Kevin Real is a professor 

in the Department of 

Communication. He received 

his B.A. in communication 

from the 

University of 

Akron, Ohio in 

1996. He 

received his M.A. 

(’98) and Ph.D. 

(’02) from Texas 

A & M University 

in College 

Station, Texas. 

He has been at 

UK since 2002. 

o 

Dr. Real is also a former 

recipient of the college’s 

Faculty Excellence in 

Research Award. He received 

eight letters of nomination 

from his current and 

former students. 

Faculty Community Service 

– This award recognizes 

service that goes beyond 

work ordinarily recognized 

through the faculty members 

Distribution of Effort 

(DOE). Recognition can be 

for activities in either or 

both of two areas: (1) 

Voluntary participation as 

a citizen in the work of 

civic organizations that 

benefit the general public 

or institutions; or (2) 

Noteworthy dedication to 

the activities of faculty selfgovernance 

that mark the 

individual as an exceptional 

academic citizen. 

Dr. Lois Mai Chan is a 

professor in the School of 

Library and Information 

Science. She has been on the 

faculty at UK since 1970 and 

is the author of five books, 

co-author of two books, and 

co-editor of two collections of 

papers. Her service to the professional 

community is vast, 

spanning many years of 

national and international 

leadership. Her contributions 

have been recognized by 

several national, prestigious 

awards. She was a recipient 

of the UK Alumni Association 

Great Teacher Award and the 

College of Communications 

and Information Studies’ 

Excellence in Teaching 

Award. Her university services 

include membership on 

the Chancellor Search 

Committee; the President’s 

Commission on Diversity; 

and the NCAA Self-Study 

Subcommittee on Academic 

Integrity, and she has served 

as the University Marshall 

since 1989. She also has 

served on the Herald-Leader 

Fellowship Committee. 

o 

2

Research Award – The 

Faculty Excellence in 

Research Award recognizes 

faculty achievement in 

research that is important to 

the college or to the faculty 

member’s area of expertise. 

Dr. Chan Yun Yoo is a 

professor in the School 

of Journalism and 

Telecommunications. He 

joined the faculty in 2005. 

He has a Ph.D. and M.A. 

degree in advertising from 

the University of Texas at 

Austin, and a B.A. degree 

in journalism and mass 

communications from 

Hanyang University, Korea. 

His research interests include 

consumer behavior and marketing 

communications, new 

media advertising, advertising 

media planning, and 

economic impact of advertising. 

His doctoral dissertation, 

“Preattentive Processing of 

Web Advertising,” won the 

2004 American Academy of 

Advertising Doctoral 

Dissertation Competition, 

and the revised dissertation 

was published by Cambria 

Press in 2007. His research 

appears in Journalism and 

Mass Communication 

Quarterly, Journal of 

Interactive Marketing, 

International Journal of 

Advertising, Journal of 

Interactive Advertising, 

Korean Journal of 

Communication & 

Journalism Studies and 

more. His area of research 

focus is how consumers 

process Web advertising. Dr. 

Yoo’s most recent journal 

article, “Implicit Memory 

Measures for Web Advertising 

Effectiveness,” published in 

Journalism and Mass 

Communication Quarterly, 

received attention in both the 

New York Times and MIT 

Tech Review. 

Friend of the College Award 

– This award is presented 

to a person that has 

demonstrated support to 

the college or one of its 

units by volunteering, or 

by providing internships or 

by their involvement in 

programs or events 

supported by the college. 

Carl West graduated from 

the UK School of Journalism 

in 1966. He started his 

newspaper career with The 

Kentucky Post as a general 

assignment reporter in 1966. 

He moved to the Frankfort 

bureau of the Post in 1969. 

He went to Washington, D.C. 

in 1971 as a regional 

correspondent for Scripps- 

Howard News. He moved to 

the Scripps-Howard national 

desk in 1973 as part of a twomember 

investigative team. 

In 1978, he was assigned to 

cover the Pentagon. He 

returned to Frankfort in 

1979 as editor of The State 

Journal. He is the founder of 

the Kentucky Book Fair. In 

2003 he was inducted into 

the Kentucky Journalism Hall 

of Fame. West has helped the 

School of Journalism and 

Telecommunications by 

partnering with them in an 

on-going senior-level journalism 

course, “Covering 

the Capitol.” This course is 

offered in the spring semester 

to coincide with the Kentucky 

State Legislative session. This 

partnership has resulted in 

numerous publications for 

the school’s students, most of 

them on the front page of 

The State Journal. He also 

helps mentor the students 

and has partnered with the 

school twice to host the 

print journalists in the 

Edward R. Murrow 

Journalism Fellows group. 

Outstanding Alumnus 

Award – This award is 

presented to an outstanding 

alumnus of the college 

and recognizes their 

achievements and many 

contributions to the college 

and to our community. 

Dr. Lee B. Becker has had 

an outstanding career. He 

received his B.A. degree in 

journalism from UK in 1969 

and his M.A. degree in 

communication from UK in 

1971. After graduating from 

UK, he worked as a journalist 

in this region and in Kansas 

before returning to school to 

earn a doctorate in mass 

communications from the 

University of Wisconsin. He 

has been a faculty member at 

the University of Georgia 

since 1997 and has been 

recognized for outstanding 

graduate teaching there. As 

part of his responsibilities in 

Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. 

Center, he conducts the 

Annual Surveys of Journalism 

& Mass Communication, 

essential tools for JMC 

administrators because the 

data provides salary benchmarks 

for faculty and placement 

information for JMC 

graduates. He is a prolific 

researcher and has received 

recognition including the 

Krieghbaum Under-40 Award 

from AEJMC and the Harold 

L. Nelson Award from UW- 

Madison. He has been a 

Fulbright Research Scholar 

twice. He is one of the 

Dean J. David Johnson 

welcomes guests at the 

College’s annual recognition 

and Awards Ceremony. 

Dr. Chan Yun Yoo 

(JAT), Carl West 

(JOU/’66) and Dr. 

Lee Becker (JOU/’69 

& GPC/’71) were 

honored at the 2007 

College Recognition 

and Awards Ceremony 

and Dinner. 

3

COM – Department of 

Communication 

GPC – Graduate Program in 


JAT – Journalism and 

Telecommunications 

JOU – Journalism 

ISC – Integrated Strategic 


TEL – Telecommunications 

SLIS – School of Library and 

Information Science 

best-known scholars in journalism 

and mass communication. 

His career success 

speaks directly to the mission 

of the college, the graduate 

program, and the School 



For a list of past award 

recipients, information on 

attending the awards dinner or 

nomination information go to: 

www.uky.edu/CommInfo 

Studies/awards.html 

Student 

Awards and 

Recognition 

2007-08 

We are pleased to be able to 

recognize our student scholarship 

recipients. The support 

we receive from our alumnus, 

friends and faculty help to 

make these scholarships, fellowships 

and awards possible. 

All cities listed are in Kentucky 

unless otherwise noted. 

Sam Abell and Dick 

Ware Photojournalism 

Scholarship 

Kendra Suchy, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

Adam Altman 

Innovation Award 

Tony Rico Fisher, JAT/TEL, 

Lexington 

AT&T Kentucky Scholarship 

Evan Storck, JAT/TEL, 

Lexington 

oBill Billiter Memorial 

Scholarship 

Ryan Alves, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Lawrenceburg 

Laura Pepper, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Stow, Ohio 

Gregory Robinson, JAT/pre- 

JOU, London 

Hallie Day 

Blackburn Scholarship 

Charlotte Fleming, SLIS, 

Berea 

James C. Bowling 

Scholarship 

Lori Reifert, JAT/ISC, 

Louisville 

Maria Braden Endowed 

Scholarship Fund 

Chris DeLotell, JAT/JOU, 

Mason, Ohio 

Krista Hayes, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

Sarah E. Livesay, JAT/JOU, 

Louisville 

o 

o 

Williena Burdine 

Broyles Scholarship 

Charlotte Fleming, SLIS, 

Berea 

John D. Chaplin 

Scholarship 

Kelly Berger, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Crestwood 

CIS Endowed Scholarship 

Katie Bosworth, JAT/pre-ISC, 

Lexington 

Joanna Clark, JAT/pre-ISC, 

Louisville 

Emilee Dover, JAT/pre-ISC, 

Louisville 

Lauren Frame, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Ashland 

Kara Harp, COM, 

Nicholasville 

Julia Meador, JAT/ISC, 

Shelbyville 

Elizabeth Joy Nicolet, COM, 

Owensboro 

Sharon Santo, COM/GPC, 

Louisville 

Thomas (Chad) Thompson, 

COM/pre-COM, Bowling 

Green 

Lt. Col. Charles Richardson 

DeSpain Journalism Award 

James D. Davidson, Jr., 

JAT/ISC, Missouri City, 

Texas 

Chris DeLotell, JAT/JOU, 

Mason, Ohio 

Krista Hayes, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

o 

Department of 


Outstanding Junior Award 

Renee Smith, COM, 

Covington 

4

o 



Outstanding Senior Award 

Regan Werdna Sale, COM, 

Chicago, Ill. 

Dickerson Trust Scholarship 


Crestwood 

JAT General Excellence 

Scholarship 

Ashleon Butler, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Stone Mountain, Ga. 

Laura Pepper, JAT/pre-JOU, 

Stow, Ohio 

Gregory Robinson, JAT/pre- 

JOU, London 

Ashley Seiter, JAT/ISC, 

Lexington 

Megan K. Tolley, JAT/ISC, 

Louisville 

Sherrell Watson, JAT/ISC, 

Frankfort 

Jasmine Whitlow, JAT/pre- 

JOU, Louisville 

L. Niel Plummer 

Scholarship 

Hannah Alley, JAT/TEL, 

Edmonton 

Rachel Vojtsek, JAT/ISC, 

Algonquin, Ill. 

Joe W. Quinn Prize 

in Journalism 

Clayton Hunter Bell, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

Sy Ramsey Reporting 

and Writing Award 

Jessica Marie Mitchell, 

JAT/ISC, Louisville 

Theodore E. Schulte 

Memorial Scholarship 

Megan K. Tolley, JAT/JOU, 

Louisville 

Jeremy Michael Streck 

Memorial Scholarship 

William A. Price II, 

JAT/ISC, Kokomo, Ind. 

Carol Sutton Scholarship 


Crestwood 

James D. Davidson, Jr., 

JAT/ISC, Missouri City, 

Texas 

o 

Alexandria Cicerchi, JAT/JOU, 

Westerville, Ohio 

Jon Hale, JAT/JOU, Langley 

Eric Lindsey, JAT/JOU, 

Louisville 

Rebecca Sweeney, JAT/JOU, 

May’s Lick 

R. Lewis Donohew 

Graduate Fellowship 

Jennifer Maginnis, GPC, 

Petroskey, Mich. 

J.A. McCauley Award 

(Received funding for travel 

to SPJ Conference) 

Rebecca Sweeney, JAT/JOU, 

May’s Lick 

Elizabeth Brown, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

J.D. Williams, JAT/JOU, 

Louisville 

Kenny Colston, JAT/JOU, 

Louisville 

Dan Rather Broadcast 

Journalism Scholarship 

Mallory Bonbright, JAT/JOU, 

Lexington 

Shirley Rose Scholarship 

Nena Chima, JAT/ISC, 

Lexington 

Rick Roth Memorial 

Scholarship 


Shelbyville 

Naitore Kiogora, JAT/ISC, 

Richmond 

Rodrigo Mejia, JAT/JOU, 

Waldorf, Md. 

Sypher Memorial 

Scholarship 

Nicole Dobransky, GPC, 

Mentor, Ohio 

Melody Trosper Award 

Jennifer Link, SLIS, Mount 

Orab, Ohio 

Students Kelly Berger (JOU/Chaplin/ 

Dickerson /Sutton), Jenny Maginnis 

(GPC/Donohew) and Rigo Mejia 

(JOU/Sutton) were recognized at 

the 2007 College Recognition and 

Awards Ceremony and Dinner. 

5

planned giving opportunities 

contact the UK Office of 

Development at 859-257- 

3911 or 800-875-6272. 

Graduate faculty members Alan 

Desantis, Tom Lindlof, Nancy 

G. Harrington and Jim Hertog. 

Doug Boyd, former dean of the 

College, presents Judy Clabes 

(’67) with a Fellows plaque in 

recognition of her support of 

the College and JAT. 

Bernie Vonderheide 

Scholarship in Public 

Relations 


Shelbyville 

Bruce Westley Memorial 

Graduate Scholarship 

Laura Beth Daws, GPC, 

Athens, Ala. 

Development 

News 

The college has received a 

great deal of support from 

our alumni and friends. 

Your gifts support student 

scholarships and fellowships, 

professorships, and our three 

Centers of Excellence: The 

McConnell Center for Youth 

Literature, the Scripps 

Howard First Amendment 

Center and the Institute for 

Rural Journalism and 

Community Issues. This 

past year we had several 

new scholarships and endowments 

created as well as 

upgrades to several existing 

ones and conducted our 

annual Phonathon and 

Bids for Brains scholarship 

fund raiser. 

To learn more about our 

programs or how to fund a 

scholarship, endowment or 

professorship contact Janice 

Birdwhistell at 859-257- 

4241, or by e-mail at 

janice.bird@uky.edu. For 

additional information on 

• Phonathon a success— 

thanks to you! The 

Phonathon broke past 

records for number of pledges 

made and gifts received. We 

received 934 pledges and 

$41,865.27. This is a 7.15 

percent increase over last 

year and is the largest 

amount in the college’s 16- 

year phoning history. Again, 

we thank you for your continued 

support of our students 

and programs. We hope 

that you will continue to say 

“yes” to the student callers 

and help us to continue to 

expand our scholarship 

opportunities and activities. 

• The Clabes Family First 

Amendment Center Fund 

was established in the 


Telecommunications in 

2007. In 2008, the Scripps 

Howard Foundation made a 

$50,000 gift to endow the 

Judith G. Clabes Scholarship 

in honor of her service to the 

Scripps Howard Foundation. 

The scholarship will be 

awarded to declared upperdivision 

majors, preferably 

print who have demonstrated 

through class work, internships, 

part-time work, or 

extra-curricular activities an 

exceptional understanding of 

and commitment to the 

importance of First 

Amendment advocacy and 

principles in the professional 

and civic life of a working 

journalist and/or of the vital 

relationship of these principles 

to the preservation of 

democracy. For additional 

information on the Scripps 


6

Center contact: Dr. Mike 

Farrell at 859-257-4848 or by 

e-mail at farrell@uky.edu. 

• The Institute for Rural 

Journalism and Community 

Issues holds national 

conferences and partners 

with numerous institutions 

to develop its programs, to 

expand its outreach activities 

and to develop a clearinghouse 

for curricula related to 

rural journalism. The institute 

has received a $1.5 

million match from the 

Commonwealth’s Research 

Challenge Trust Fund to 

match a $1.5 million pledge 

it received from The Friends 

of Rural Journalism to establish 

the Institute. To date, the 

institute has raised $500,000 

of the amount pledged. The 

Tall Grass Farm Foundation 

Graduate Fellowship was 

established by Lois Mateus as 

part of the endowment. The 

donor has requested, that if 

possible, the fellowship be 

awarded to a rural female 

graduate student in the 

college. For additional 

information on the institute 

contact: Professor Al Cross at 

859-257-3744 or by e-mail 

at al.cross@uky.edu. 

• The Jesse R. and Virginia 

K. Grisham Scholarship 

Fund was established by 

Judy Clabes in honor of her 

parents and their abiding 

love for the University of 

Kentucky, their insatiable 

interest in the news and 

public affairs, and appreciation 

of the value of education. 

The scholarship will be 

awarded to a student who is a 

resident of Henderson County, 

Ky.; shows an interest in 

public affairs reporting; can 

demonstrate financial need; 

and is a declared pre-major 

or major in the School 


Telecommunications. 

• The 2007 Bids for Brains 

dinner and live and silent 

auction was held in October. 

Thanks to the support of our 

alumnus - by attending the 

event and by donating items 

- we were able to raise 

$20,000 to support existing 

scholarships and to create a 

JAT Programming 

Endowment. This endowment 

covers any and all 

expenses associated with 

guest speakers, including 

speakers in regularly scheduled 

classes, at recognized 

student organization meeting, 

public lectures, 

and for panelist for presentations 

made to students. 

For information or to donate 

an item for the event, contact 

Dr. Beth Barnes at 859-257- 

4275 or by e-mail at 

bbarnes@email.uky.edu. 

Research 


Success with 

extramural funding 

We currently have several 

active grants across the 

College. Beth Barnes and 

several of her colleagues 

in Journalism and 

Telecommunications received 

funding from the American 

International Health Alliance 

for a project to develop partnerships 

to strengthen 

Zambian organizational 

capacity in HIV/AIDS 

communication. Rick 

Zimmerman and 

several colleagues in 

Communication continue 

o 

Bids for 

Brains 

their work funded by the 

National Institute of Mental 

Health on Targeting Mass 

Media Campaigns for HIV, 

STD and Pregnancy 

Prevention (this project is 

being conducted in the 

United States and India) and 

work funded by the National 

Institute on Drug Abuse on 

substance abuse prevention 

conducted through UK’s 

interdisciplinary Center 

for Drug Abuse Research 

Translation. Pam Cupp 

and colleagues in 

Communication continue 

their work on a project funded 

by the National Institute 

on Nursing Research, 

7

o 

Improving School Learning 

Environments in HIV 

Prevention. Seth Noar 

(COM) received funding from 

the National Institute of 

Mental Health for his study, 

Enhancing Message Design 

in Tailored, Computerized 

HIV/STI Interventions. Tim 

Sellnow (COM) has funding 

from the Department of 

Homeland Security for his 

project, Robust Case Study 

of Food-borne Crisis Events. 

Tim Sineath (SLIS) continues 

his work with the 

Kentucky Department for 

Libraries and Archives. Lisa 

O’Connor (SLIS) received 

an American Library 

Association Emerald Award 

for her research on information 

seeking behaviors of 

non-professional investors. 

Success with 

internal funding 

We have had great success 

securing internal funding to 

support our faculty and their 

research. Caroline Rankin 

(COM) received summer 

support for 2007 to investigate 

risky sexual communication 

in college student 

dating relationships. Three of 

our faculty members will 

receive support for summer 

2008. Zixue Tai (JAT) will 

complete his book on the 

changing landscape of 

Chinese media in the new 

millennium. Deborah 

Chung (JAT) is planning to 

study how differing forms of 

news delivery affect the cognitive 

and affective processing 

and perception of news 

content. Lisa O’Connor 

(SLIS) will expand her 

research on the information 

seeking behavior of female 

amateur investors. 

Our College 

Grants Officer 

When it comes to obtaining 

extramural funding, an integral 

member of our team is 

our College Grants Officer, 

Gina Vessels. As CGO, Gina 

assists faculty and staff with 

pre-award and post-award 

grant activities. Services 

include helping researchers 

find appropriate funding 

opportunities for their projects, 

drafting budgets and 

preparing grant applications 

and internal forms in compliance 

with both sponsor 

and university policies, assisting 

with account ledger 

review and resolution of 

account issues that may arise 

during the project, and coordinating 

with all departments 

on campus that are vital to a 

grant’s success, including 

but not limited to the Office 

of Sponsored Projects 

Administration, Sponsored 

Projects Accounting, and 

the Office of Research 

Integrity. Prior to joining the 

University of Kentucky, Gina 

wrote and managed grant 

programs for community 

non-profit organizations and 

was a project manager for a 

large national association, 

allowing her the benefit of 

seeing all aspects of grants 

and project implementation 

from beginning to end. This 

experience gives her a unique 

perspective as she helps 

faculty and staff navigate 

the requirements for obtaining 

and managing grants at 

the university. 


research 

activities 

awards 

Each year, the College 

receives 5% of the indirect 

costs that it generates from 

its extramurally funded 

research. We use the majority 

of that money to fund faculty 

research projects and international 

travel. 

Research Project 

Elisia Cohen (COM), 

Campaigns for Smoking 

Cessation and Oral Health: 

Literature Review and 

Content Analysis. The goal of 

this research was to complete 

reviews of the oral health 

communication literature to 

provide the foundation for a 

grant application to NIH. 

International Travel 

Several faculty members 

received travel support to 

attend the 58 th Annual 

Conference of the 

International Communication 

Association in Montreal, 

Quebec, Canada. 

Deborah Chung (JAT) 

presented a paper she coauthored 

with doctoral student 

Jennifer Robinette, Fast 

Forward into the Future: 

Trends in the Interactivity 

of Online News. 

Elisia Cohen (COM) presented 

her paper, Naming and 

Claiming Cancer, Fears, 

and Fatalism Among 

African-American Women: 

An Application of 

Problematic Integration 

(PI) Theory. She also participated 

in a session on 

Remapping Public Media: 

Imagining Public Media in 

an Open, Digital 

Environment, and chaired a 

panel on Risk Perceptions 

and Fatalism in Health. 

Seth Noar (COM) presented 

three papers, which he coauthored 

with several faculty, 

graduate student, and 

practitioner colleagues: 

Understanding Partner 

Characteristics and 

Personality Factors as 

Predictors of HIV: 

Implications for Message 

Design; Applying the Attitude- 

Social Influence-Efficacy 

Model to Condom Use Among 

African-American STD Clinic 

8

Patients: Implications 

for Tailored Health 

Communication; and A 

10-Year Systematic Review 

of HIV/AIDS Mass 

Communication Campaigns: 

Have We Made Progress He 

also chaired a panel on Media 

Influences on Health. 

Jim Hertog (JAT) participated 

in a Scholar to Scholar: 

Political Communication 

Interactive Paper Poster 

Session, presenting work he 

co-authored with doctoral 

student J Human, Candidate 

Campaign Experience and 

Willingness to Run Again. 

Tim Sellnow (COM) served 

as a respondent to the panel 

Public Relations, 

Organizational Learning 

and Renewal: Emerging 

Perspectives in Risk 

Communication. 

o 

Mina Tsay (COM) presented 

a paper she co-authored with 

her former dissertation advisor 

from The Pennsylvania 

State University, Mary Beth 

Oliver: Is Watching Others 

Self-Disclose Enjoyable An 

Examination of the Effects 

of Depth and Mode of 

Information Delivery in 

Entertainment Media. 

Research 

Workshops 

We sponsor topical workshops 

in the fall and spring semesters 

each academic year. In 

the fall, Communication 

Professors Phil Palmgreen 

and Rick Zimmerman presented 

a workshop on how 

to more effectively pursue 

extramural funding. In the 

spring, UK’s Vice President 

for Research, James W. Tracy, 

visited the College to discuss 

research issues at UK and 

the role of his office in 

promoting research. 

Research 

Seminars 

The CIS Office of Research 

continued its Research 

Seminar Series with 

monthly presentations by 

faculty members: 

Seth Noar (COM), Does 

Tailoring Matter Metaanalytic 

Review of Tailored 

Print Health Behavior 

Change Interventions 

Mark Stuhlfaut (JAT), The 

Dimensions of Creativity 

Kwan Yi and Lois Chan 

(SLIS), A Feasibility Study 

for Linking User-tags in 

Folksonomy to Library 

Congress of Subject 

Headings 

o Michael Arrington (COM), 

Communicating Social 

Support for Prostate 

Cancer Survivors 

Lisa O’Connor (SLIS), The 

Information Seeking 

Behaviors of Female 

Amateur Investors 

Alan DeSantis (COM), 

Inside Adderal U 

Chan Yoo (JAT), The 

Effect of Keyword Search 

Advertising: An 

Experimental Examination 

of Factors Affecting 

Click-Through 

For additional information, 

contact Dr. Nancy Grant 

Harrington at 859-257-3622 

or by e-mail at 

nancy.harrington@uky.edu. 

9



UK’s School of Journalism and Telecomunications 

is a professionally-oriented undergraduate program. 

Working closely with media firms and the local community, 

the School strives to maintain the high academic 

standards of its accrediting body, the Accrediting Council 

on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, 

while providing students with professional skills. Three 

undergraduate majors are offered: Integrated Strategic 

Communication, Journalism and Telecommunications. 

Students in Journalism have the opportunity to report and 

write for a wealth of campus media; students in Integrated 

Strategic Communication and Telecommunications 

are required to complete a for-credit internship before 

graduation. 


Students 

The school’s Dow Jones 

Summer High School 

Journalism Workshop gave 

students the opportunity to 

learn the basics of sports and 

news writing while enjoying 

local attractions and sporting 

events. The Workshop lasted 

ten days and was attended by 

13 high school students. 

Several of those who attended 

the workshop are now 

pre-majors in the school. 

o 

Nineteen University of 

Kentucky students, most 

of them ISC majors, 

participated in “Advertising 

and Public Relations in 

London,” a course taught in 

London, England during the 

winter intersession. The 

course was co-taught by Dr. 

Beth Barnes and Dr. Alyssa 

Eckman through the 

Cooperative Center for 

Study Abroad, a multi-university 

consortium of which 

UK is a member. 

ISC senior Megan Tolley, 

Louisville, Ky., was one of 

two student recipients of the 

Algernon Sydney Sullivan 

Medallion recognizing outstanding 

public service contributions. 

The Sullivan 

Medallion is awarded at 

graduation, and is one of the 

university’s highest honors. 

The Advertising Women of 

New York awarded scholarships 

worth $750 each to ISC 

students Devon Dufresne- 

Durand, Lexington, Ky.; 

Ryan Hilliard, Carterville, 

Ill.; Jessica McQuiston, 

Dayton, Ohio; and Brooke 

Stutler, Alexandria, Ky. 

Two ISC majors, junior 

Leah Harms and sophomore 

Megan Pulskamp (both 

women’s swimming), 

were named to the 2008 

Southeastern Conference 

Academic Honor Roll for 

winter sports. 

The UK Ad Club held its 

first senior showcase and 

awarded ISCar trophies to 

top winners selected by 

judges from the Lexington 

Advertising Club. Taking 

the gold ISCar was Naitore 

Kiogora for her Philips 

ad execution. Ryan Love 

received the silver ISCar 

award for his work with the 

Frazier International History 

Museum in Louisville and 

Sarah Myers earned a bronze 

ISCar for her “snow white” 

Clorox execution. 

Sean Rose, journalism senior 

from Crestwood, Ky., won the 

Roy W. Howard Reporting 

Award. He received a one 

week study trip to Asia. 

Rose also won best four-year 

reporter for 2007 and second 

place for news story of the 

year from the Associated 

Collegiate Press. 

The 48 th annual William 

Randolph Hearst 

Foundation’s Journalism 

Awards Program National 

Writing Competition awarded 

third place to Megan G. 

Boehnke, journalism senior 

from Crestwood, Ky. 

Journalism major Jill Laster 

placed sixth in the Hearst 

news writing spot news writing 

competition; journalism 

major Juliann Vachon tied 

for fourteenth place in spot 

news. UK was ranked 

8 th nationally in photo 

journalism at the 

o 

Hearst Photojournalism 

Competition. Sixty-seven 

students from 41 universities 

competed. Elliott Hess tied 

for sixteenth place (1 st round) 

and tenth place (2 nd round); 

Ed Matthews, fourteenth 

place (2 nd round) and 

Britney McIntosh tied 

for 18 th place (1 st round). 

Six student photographers 

from the Kentucky 

Kernel were recognized 

in the Kentucky News 

Photographers Association’s 

2007 awards. Awards presented 

were: Picture Story: 3rd 

place, Britney McIntosh; 

General News: 3rd place, Ed 

Matthews; Honorable mention, 

Ed Matthews and Keith 

Smiley; Picture Package: 3rd 

place and Honorable 

mention, Elliott Hess; 

Sean Rose (JOU) interviewed 

former UK basketball coach 

Tubby Smith in Minnesota after 

Smith was named their new 

coach. 

Feature Picture: 3rd place, 

Elliott Hess; Honorable 

mention, Brad Luttrell; 

Sports Action: 1st and 2 nd 

place, Keith Smiley; Sports 

Feature: 2nd place, Elliott 

Hess; Honorable mention, 

Ed Matthews; Portrait/ 

Personality: 3rd place, 

Britney McIntosh; Pictorial: 

Honorable mention, Arkasha 

Stevenson and Keith Smiley. 

10

The Integrated Strategic 


Competition Team 

won 3rd place honors at 

the district level in the 

American Advertising 

Federation’s National Student 

Advertising Competition. 

o 

Eighteen ISC students spent the spring 

semester developing an integrated 

campaign to promote AOL social media 

services. Here students created 

this photo to illustrate their 

“Have You Heard” message 

about Aim services. 

11 

The Kentucky Kernel was 

named the best college and 

university newspaper in 

Kentucky for the fourth 

year in a row, winning the 

2007 General Excellence 

Award in the Kentucky Press 

Association annual competition. 

Kernel staff members 

received first place honors in 

15 of 26 categories, 10 second 

place awards, eight third 

place awards, and one certificate 

of merit. The Kernel 

swept the Best Spot News 

Coverage category. 

The Lexington Advertising 

Club (LAC) awarded $1,000 

scholarships to ISC students 

Sierra Fowler, Alexandria, 

Ky.; Naitore Kiogora, 

Richmond, Ky.; Jessica 

McQuiston, Dayton, Ohio; 

Danielle Rose, Alexandria, 

Ky.; and Brooke Stutler, 

Alexandria, Ky. To be eligible, 

students must be majors in 

advertising or related fields at 

any four-year, accredited 

college or university in 

Kentucky that has a student 

chapter of the American 

Advertising Federation (AAF). 

Naitore Kiogora, an ISC 

senior from Richmond, Ky., 

was honored as the College’s 

Representative for the 2007 

Lyman T. Johnson Torch 

Bearer Award. 

o 

A 2007 Women Leading 

Kentucky Scholarship for 

$1,000 was awarded to 

Danielle Rose, an ISC 

major from Alexandria, Ky. 

Students from ISC, 

Journalism and 


participated in a Flash 

workshop conducted by 

Bill Pitzer, news graphics 

editor at the Charlotte 

Observer. The Flash workshop, 

and a session on effective 

multimedia conducted by 

Kentucky Journalism Hall of 

Fame inductee Al Tompkins 

of the Poynter Institute, was 

part of the school’s on-going 

effort to help prepare students 

for careers in multimedia. 

Faculty 

Professor Dennis Altman 

continues to teach creative 

PATH courses along with 

the ISC ethics course. He 

was on leave during the 

spring semester. 

Dr. Chike Anyaegbunam 

co-authored “Dialogue to 

Deliberation: Expanding the 

Empowerment Education 

Model.” The paper was 

published in the American 

Journal of Health Behavior 

and in World Bank. He is a 

member of the College’s 

graduate faculty. 

Dr. Beth Barnes served as 

a judge for the Scripps 

Howard National Journalism 

Awards. Barnes chaired the 

accreditation visit teams for 

Buffalo State University 

and Hofstra University and 

serves as co-chair of UK’s 

Internationalization Task 

Force. She was elected to 

the board of the Lexington 

Humane Society, and also 

serves on the advisory board 

for the Hearst Journalism 

Awards program. She is a 



Dr. Deborah S. Chung was 

selected to receive a Summer 

Faculty Research Fellowship 

from the University of 

Kentucky. Chung has in 


Dr. Beth E. Barnes 

Director and Professor 

press, “Interactive Features 

of Online Newspapers: 

Identifying Patterns and 

Predicting Use of Engaged 

Readers,” Journal of 

Computer-Mediated 

Communication; and 

Chung, D.S. and C.Y. Yoo, 

“Audience Motivations for 

Using Interactive Features: 

Distinguishing Use 

of Different Types of 

Interactivity in an 

Inline Newspaper,” Mass 

Communication and 

Society. She is an associate 



“2007-08 was a terrific year for alumni 

involvement. We had a number of alumni 

return to campus to speak with students, 

and students took full advantage of hearing 

their perspectives and talking with 

them one-on-one to get career advice. 

We’re also grateful for the increasing 

number of internship opportunities for 

students that are coming through alumni. 

The Kentucky connection runs deep, and 

it’s marvelous to see how much students 

are benefitting.” 

Phone: 859-257-4275 

Department Number: 859-257-2786 

Address: 107 Grehan Building, 40506-0042 

Fax: 859-323-3168 

E-mail: bbarnes@email.uky.edu 

Web Page: 

www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/JAT/ 

Education: B.A., The College of William 

and Mary; M.A., Northwestern University- 

Medill School of Journalism; Ph.D., 

Northwestern University- School of 

Speech. She joined the School in July 

2003. She previously was the assistant 

dean at Syracuse University’s S.I. 

Newhouse School of Public 

Communications. 

Specialties: Advertising, media, research 

and campaigns 

Outside Interests: Cooking, reading, travel 

and photography

Dr. Beth Barnes presents a 

certificate recognizing James 

D. Davidson, Jr. as a 2006-07 

recipient of the Carol Sutton 

Scholarship. This is the second 

time Davidson has 

received the award. 

Professor John Clark 

was appointed internship 

director and sequence 

coordinator for the 

Telecommunications major. 

He serves as faculty advisor 

for WRFL, UK’s student-run 

radio station, the Society of 

Telecommunications Scholars 

(STS) and the Grehan 

Recording Group (GRG). 

Professor Al Cross was 

re-elected a director of the 

Sigma Delta Chi Foundation 

of the Society of Professional 

Journalists and remains secretary 

and intern supervisor 

of the Kentucky Judicial 

Campaign Conduct 

Committee, a private group 

that monitors campaigns 

for judgeships. 

Dr. Alyssa Eckman serves as 

the sequence coordinator for 

ISC. She was the newspaper 

designer for UK’s Dow Jones 

Summer High School 

Journalism Workshop. 

Eckman wrote two special 

sections which focus on the 

energy industry for the 

Lexington Herald-Leader’s 

Newspapers in Education 

program for use in 

elementary and secondary 

school classrooms. 

Dr. Mike Farrell 

moderated a panel of First 

Amendment scholars discussing 

their latest research 

projects at the Association for 

Education in Journalism and 

Mass Communication 

national convention. He 

was named to the ethics 

committee of the Society of 

Professional Journalists. He 

also served as a judge for the 

Scripps Howard National 

Journalism Awards. 

Dr. Jim Hertog presented 

his co-authored paper 

“Candidate Campaign 

Experience and Willingness 

to Run Again,” in the 

Political Division at 

the International 

Communication Association 

conference. The paper was 

co-authored by doctoral 

student J Human. Hertog 

is a member of the College’s 


o 

Dr. Philip Hutchison will 

have his article, “Journalism 

and the Perfect Heat Wave: 

Assessing the Reportage of 

North America’s Worst Heat 

Wave, July-August 1936,” 

appear in the winter edition 

(Volume 25(1) 31-54) of 

American Journalism. He is 

an associate member of the 

College’s graduate faculty. 

Dr. Richard Labunski’s 

book, James Madison and 

the Struggle for the Bill of 

Rights was published in 

paperback by Oxford 

University Press in June 2008. 

The hardcover and audio 

versions have been available 

since 2006. Labunski has 

begun writing his sixth book. 

Labunski is a member of the 


Dr. Tom Lindlof will have 

his book, Hollywood Under 

Siege: Martin Scorsese, the 

Religious Right, and the 

Culture Wars, published by 

the University Press of 

Kentucky, August 2008. This 

year marks the 20 th anniversary 

of the original release of 

the Scorsese film The Last 

Temptation of Christ, which 

is the focus of Lindlof’s book. 

Lindlof is a member of the 


John McGary spent 2007-08 

with the school as a visiting 

instructor, teaching broadcast 

journalism and other 

journalism courses. 

Professor Buck Ryan spent 

the spring semester on 

sabbatical, updating and 

expanding his book, The 

Editor’s Toolbox: A 

Reference Guide for 

Beginners and 

Professionals. The planned 

revision will split the book 

into three texts, one focused 

on grammar and usage, 

one on editing, and a 

third updating the Maestro 

Concept to apply 

to multimedia. 

Professor Scoobie Ryan is 

the sequence coordinator for 

the journalism major and 

the school’s graduate teaching 

assistant supervisor. 

Dr. Mark Stuhlfaut led the 

UK National Student 

Advertising Competition 

Team in the development of 

a campaign for ADL, as part 

of this year’s national program. 

Stuhlfaut chairs the 

school’s Diversity Committee 

and coordinated the program 

for an April event. He is an 

associate member of the 


o 

Dr. Zixue Tai has been 

selected to receive a Summer 

Faculty Research Fellowship 


Kentucky. The fellowship will 

provide support to complete 

12

work on a book-length project 

examining the development 

and evolution of mass 

media in China. He is an 



Dr. Scott Whitlow is the 

adviser for UK’s chapter of 

the Public Relations Student 

Society of America and is 

the internship director for 

ISC majors. 

Dr. Chan Yoo published 

“Exploring a New Version 

of Need for Orientation in 

Agenda Setting Theory,” 

Korean Journal of 

Journalism & 

Communication Studies, 

51(6), 411-438. He is an 



New Faculty 

Mel Coffee will join the 

school in fall 2008, teaching 

courses in broadcast journalism 

and supervising the JAT 

News student newscast. Coffee 

previously taught at Southern 

Methodist University and at 

Syracuse University. He has 

worked as a reporter, writer, 

managing editor, news director, 

producer and executive 

producer in markets including 

Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, 

Kansas City, Nashville, 

Philadelphia and San 

Francisco. He holds a 

master’s degree from 

Northwestern University. 

Bobi Ivanov will join the 

school’s Integrated Strategic 

Communication faculty, 

teaching courses in account 

management and consumer 

behavior. He previously 

taught in the marketing 

department at Central 

Oklahoma University and 

has worked in marketing 

consulting. Ivanov received 

his doctorate in communication 


Oklahoma. He is originally 

from Macedonia. 

Yung Soo Kim will also join 

the school in fall 2008, teaching 

courses in photojournalism 

and visual communication. 

He will complete his doctorate 

at Southern Illinois 

University-Carbondale in summer 

2008. Kim has worked as 

a photojournalist in Korea and 

the United States. 

o 

Staff 

Christine Amerman is the 

UK Career Center liaison to 

the school. 

Lisa A. Brown recently 

completed her fifth year of 

service to the university. 

Debbie Danaher has joined 

the office of student affairs. 

Amy Jarvis is the 

assistant to the director 

of the school. 

Nathan Stevens recently 

completed his fifth year of 

service to the university. 

Janet Whitaker is a staff 

assistant for the Institute for 

Rural Journalism and 

Community Issues. 


The Institute for Rural 

Journalism and Community 

Issues received national 

recognition at the First 

National Rural Assembly 

in Washington, D.C. Al 

Smith (also the recipient 

of the 2006 Friend of the 

College Award), chair of the 

institute’s steering committee, 

was recognized as one 

of six “National Rural 

Assembly Heroes.” 

Christine Amerman, the liaison 

to the College at the James W. 

Stuckert Career Center on campus, 

shares a moment with her 

Egyptian Arabian horses, Zara 

(left) and Graley (right). 

English and journalism 

students from Mason 

County High in Maysville, 

Ky. visited the school and sat 

in on journalism classes, 

including news writing, 

editing and Web design. 

13

The “State of the First 

Amendment” address was 

presented by David Giles, 

counsel for E.W. Scripps Co. 

Jon Fleischaker was presented 

the James Madison Award 

from the Scripps Howard First 

Amendment Center. The 

Center also sponsored a panel 

discussion, “The Next 

Frontier: Libel Invades the 

Internet.” Panelists were Jon 

Fleischaker; Monica Dias; 

Richard Labunski; and David 

Giles. The moderator was 

Judy Clabes. 

The Scripps Howard First 

Amendment Center cosponsored 

a high school 

essay contest on the First 

Amendment and voting. The 

contest is run through the 

Kentucky Secretary of State’s 

office. Members of the Scripps 


Center steering committee 

served as judges, selecting 

one winner each from 9 th , 

10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grade 

entries from Kentucky 

high schools. 

The 6 th annual Richard G. 

Wilson Alumni Symposium 

for Journalism focused on 

sports writing. The panelists 

were Sally Jenkins 

(Washington Post); Todd 

Jones (JOU/’88), Columbus 

Dispatch (Ohio); Jennifer 

Smith (JOU), Lexington 

Herald-Leader; and Brian 

Bennett (JOU/’95), Louisville 

Courier-Journal. The moderator 

was Chip Cosby 

(JOU/’96), Lexington 

Herald-Leader. 

o The 2007 Bids for Brains 

Scholarship Fundraiser 

earned $20,000 for endowments 

and scholarships in 

the school. The emcee for the 

event was Nick Clooney. Over 

100 people attended this 

annual event. 

The Scripps Howard First 

Amendment Center hosted a 

forum on open records for 

Kentucky Attorney General 

candidates Jack Conway (D) 

and Stan Lee (R). The 

moderator was Judy Clabes. 

The James C. Bowling 

Executive-in-Residence 

Lecture Series featured 

Kenneth Sternad, Vice 

President of Public Relations 

for United Parcel Service. 

The 2007 Excellence in 

Public Relations Award was 

presented to Jay Rayburn. 

Rayburn began his academic 

career at UK in 1975. He is 

the author or co-author of 

more than a dozen publications 

and is the head of the 

Florida State University 

Division of Public Relations 

and Advertising. 

The School of Journalism 

and Telecommunications and 

the UK Career Center jointly 

sponsored an Internship & 

Career Fair. Over 50 

companies participated. 

The 31 st annual Joe Creason 

Lecture featured John S. 

Carroll, former editor of the 

o 

o 

Christine Amerman talked with 

students during a recent Grehan 

event. Every November, the 

School offers a communications-related 

Internship and 

Career Fair. 

Lexington Herald-Leader, 

the Baltimore Sun and the 

Los Angeles Times. Carroll 

spoke on “The Future (We 

Hope) of Journalism.” 

Seven outstanding Kentucky 

journalists joined the 

Kentucky Journalism Hall 

of Fame, housed in the 

school. The 2008 inductees 

were Jack Crowner, senior 

farm director, Kentucky 

AGNET and WHAS Radio; 

Don Edwards, a retired 

columnist for the Lexington 

Herald-Leader; Virginia 

Edwards (JOU/`78), editor 

and publisher of Education 

Week magazine and president 

of Editorial Projects in 

Education; T George Harris, 

founding editor of 

o 

Lauren Castle (JOU) and Sean 

Rose (JOU) introduced Creason 

lecturer John S. Carroll. 

14

Psychology Today and a 

reporter for Time, Look and 

other publications; Kent 

Hollingsworth (JOU/`50), 

editor of The Blood-Horse 

from 1963 to 1987 (posthumous 

induction); William 

Ray Mofield, broadcast journalist 

and former head of the 

journalism department at 

The 2008 inductees to the 

Kentucky Journalism Hall 

of Fame. 

Murray State University 

(posthumous induction); 

and Al Tompkins, 

Broadcast/Online 

Group Leader at the 

Poynter Institute. 

Diversity.” Panelists were 

Nanci J. Davidson 

(JOU/`82), publisher for 

Cooking Pleasures magazine; 

T George Harris, founding 

editor of Psychology 

Today and a reporter for 

Time, Look and other publications; 

Shaunice Hawkins, 

vice president, Diversity and 

Multicultural Initiatives, 

Magazine Publishers of 

America; and Kennethe 

Vaughn, staffing and 

diversity director for Emmis 

Communications, owner of 

eight regional magazines in 

six states. Hawkins served as 

the panel moderator. 

The 6 th annual Richard G. 

Wilson Alumni Symposium 

for ISC featured careers in 

media sales. The panelists 

were: Steve Mann (TEL/`84); 

Sherise Davis Hurst 

(ISC/`04); Saundra Lemaster 

(JOU/`78); and Erik Schmidt 

(ISC/`99). The panel was 

moderated by ISC student 

Ashlie Berling. 

Alumni Patrick D. Mutchler 

(ADV/’76) and Chuck Brymer 

(COM/’81) provided ISC 

majors with insights into 

major corporate and agency 

advertising and marketing 

communication during an 

April visit. Brymer, President 

and CEO of DDB Worldwide, 

spoke on his agency’s 

approach to developing 

effective advertising. Brymer 

oversees DDB’s 206 offices 

in 96 countries. Mutchler is 

Company Group Chairman 

with Johnson & Johnson, 

where he manages the 

Johnson’s Baby business. 

He and Joe McCarthy, Johnson 

& Johnson Global Consumer 

Group’s Vice President, 

Worldwide Advertising and 

Marketing Communications, 

spoke on Johnson & 

Johnson’s approach to 

marketing communication. 

Several school students 

and faculty members are 

participating in UK’s entry in 

the Department of Energy’s 

Solar Decathlon. Twenty 

universities compete in this 

event to develop, design and 

build a solar-powered house. 

The houses will be displayed 

on the Mall in Washington, 

DC in fall 2009. The school 

is helping develop the 

communications plan for 

the UK entry. 

The school and the Kentucky 

Press Association are collaborating 

on a Twinning project 

with the Zambia Institute 

of Mass Communication 

(ZAMCOM). The school 

and KPA will assist ZAMCOM 

in strengthening the training 

it provides to journalists 

across southern Africa on 

how to cover HIV/AIDS 

stories. The partnership 

involves exchange trips 

and development of 

training materials. 

The school’s annual 

Diversity Event was 

“Spotlight on Magazine 

Publishing: America’s Most 

Diverse Medium Looks at 

o 

15

School of Library and 


UK’s School of Library and Information Science 

has played an important role in supporting the mission of 

the University of Kentucky. The school has been an integral 

part of the University by providing excellence in 

library and information science education, research and 

service. The school offers the only master’s degree program 

in Kentucky and is one of only 56 programs in the 

United States and Canada accredited by the American 

Library Association. The school offers both on-campus 

and distance learning classes. This year the school will 

welcome a new director, Dr. Jeffrey T. Huber. Dr. Huber is a 

Kentucky native and received his master’s degree from the 

school in 1987. We are also pleased to report the school’s 

new home is in recently renovated space on the third floor 

of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library Building where you 

will find our administrative and faculty offices, three stateof-the-art 

smart classrooms, and a comfortable student 

lounge area. We also occupy several areas on the fifth 

floor of the King Library Building which houses the 

McConnell Center for the Study of Children’s Literature 

and the Center for Applied Information Technology (CAIT). 


Students 

In fall 2008, the SLIS will 

welcome approximately 100 

new students. In 2007, the 

school graduated 96 students. 

Sixteen students were inducted 

in Beta Phi Mu at the 

school’s annual alumni dinner. 

Beta Phi Mu is the international 

honorary society in 

the school. Membership in 

the honorary requires faculty 

nomination, and each spring 

the faculty select students 

whom they wish to nominate 

for membership. 

Sara Abdmishani, from 

Richmond, Ky., received the 

2007 American Libraries 

Association Spectrum 

Scholarship. She was also 

the recipient of the 

Graduate School Lyman 

T. Johnson Fellowship. 

Katherine McCardwell, an 

Oberlin College graduate and 

Shelbyville, Ky. native, 

o 

received a UK Graduate 

School Multi-Year Fellowship. 

The Multi-Year carries a 

stipend of $18,000, plus a 

tuition scholarship and student 

health insurance. 

Mary Landrum received the 

LISSO Leadership Award and 

the 2008 Melody Trosper 

Award. The LISSO 

Leadership Award is given to 

a student who demonstrates 

leadership in the classroom 

and contributes to the education 

of others. The Melody 

Trosper Award is given 

annually to a student for 

excellence in scholarship, 

leadership, and service. The 

Award was established by the 

family and friends of Melody 

Trosper as a memorial to her. 

Melody, a 1980 graduate of 

SLIS, died in a car accident 

soon after completing 

the program. 

Faculty 

Dr. Rebecca Miller Banner 

joined the faculty in the 

information services position. 

After completing a BA in 

French at the University of 

Nebraska-Lincoln, she earned 

a Maîtrise, Linguistics, at 

the Université Stendahl 

(Grenoble III), Grenoble, 

France. She subsequently 

earned an MLS at the School 

of Library & Information 

Management, Emporia State 

University, where she is wrapping 

up her PhD. Rebecca’s 

dissertation is titled “The 

Diffusion of Professional 

Knowledge in International 

Partnerships: A Case Study of 

the American Bulgarian 

Library Exchange.” 

Dr. Donald Case was elected 

ASIST president-elect. His 

term begins in November 

2009. A 2008 report by the 

publisher Wiley-Blackwell 

identifies an article by 

authors affiliated with UK- 

SLIS as among the top 20 

highest-cited papers for the 

journal JASIST during the 

period of 1999-2007. Ranked 

12th in the list is an article 

written by Professor Case and 

Georgeanne M. Higgins 

(SLIS/`99): Case, D. & 

Higgins, G. (2000). “How 

can we investigate citation 

behavior A study of reasons 

for citing literature in 

Communication.” Journal 

of the American Society for 

Information Science, 51 

(7), 635-645. 

Dr. Lois Chan has 

published “Cataloging 

and Classification: An 

Introduction. 3rd edition.” 

Lanham, MD: Scarecrow 

Press, 2007. She spent a 

week at the University 

of Can Tho (Can Tho, 

Vietnam), as a speaker at the 

Dewey Decimal Classification 

Workshop, attended by more 

than 70 librarians and 

library educators from 

various parts of Vietnam. 

Professor Melissa Gardner, 

(SLIS/`00) will join the 

faculty in August, filling the 

position vacated by Jackie 

White. Melissa expects to 

complete UK’s Doctorate of 

Education degree program in 

December of this year. Her 

doctoral focus is on instructional 

systems design. 

Dr. Sujin Kim has published 

“Cluster analysis of Cancer 

blog user.” Journal of the 

Medical Library Association, 

94 (4):445-450; Kim, S. 

and Gilbertson J. (2007). 

“Information requirements 

of cancer center researchers 

focusing on human biological 

samples and associated 

data.” Information 

Processing & Management, 

43 (5): 1383-1401; Chung, 

DS and Kim, S. (2008). 

“Blogging Activity Among 

Cancer Patients and Their 

Companions: Uses, 

Gratifications and Predictors 

of Outcomes,” Journal of 

American Society for 


and Technology. 59(2)1-11, 

In Press. 

Professor Joe Miller has a 

book contract with Libraries 

Unlimited for the text 

Internet Technologies and 

Information Services. 

16

Professor Stephanie 

Reynolds presented 

“Bibliocognition and 

Collection Development” to 

the Northern Kentucky 

Children’s and Young Adult 

Services Librarians at their 

KDLA regional meeting. She 

also presided over the 2008 

McConnell Conference for 

the school. 

Becky Ryder, part-time 

faculty member and head of 

the Preservation Services at 

the University of Kentucky 

Libraries, has been named 

the winner of the inaugural 

LBI (Library Binding 

Institute) George Cunha 

and Susan Swartzburg 

Preservation Award in 

recognition of her service 

to the field of preservation. 

The Preservation and 

Reformatting Section (PARS) 

of the Association for Library 

Collections and Technical 

Services (ALCTS) will recognize 

Ryder at an awards ceremony 

at the 2008 American 

Library Association (ALA) 

Annual Conference. 

Dr. Timothy Sineath is 

stepping down from the 

directorship of the school and 

will spend next year teaching, 

overseeing renovations and 

serving as a consultant to the 

new director. 

Professor Jackie White has 

received the Carol J. Parris 

Mentoring Award from the 

Kentucky Library Association 

in recognition of her work 

with school media specialists 

across the state. She also 

retired from the school. 

Professor Kwan Yi has 

published “Automated Text 

Classification Using Library 

Classification Schemes: 

Trends, Issues, and 

Challenges,” Journal of 

International Cataloguing 

and Bibliographic Control, 

36(4), October-December 

2007. His paper, “Hyperlink 

Analysis for the Visibility 

of Canadian LIS School 

Websites” is to be 

published in Online 

Information Review. 

Staff 

Student affairs officer Will 

Buntin attended graduate 

school fairs at Northern 

Kentucky University, Berea 

College and Kentucky 

State University to recruit 

prospective students. 

o 


The school is also pleased 

to announce Cindy 

Edgington Miller (SLIS/`82) 

was chosen to receive the 

school’s Outstanding 

Alumna/us Award for 2008 

and to deliver the Karen Cobb 

Memorial Lecture. The award 

was presented at the annual 

alumni banquet. Cindy 

Miller and four others founded 

the Endeavor Information 

Systems in 1994 and implemented 

the Voyager system 

at the Library of Congress. 

She retired in 2001 following 

the sale of Endeavor to 

Elsevier Science. 

Martin Dillon, independent 

technology consultant and 

former senior official at 


Dr. Jeffrey T. Huber 

Director and Professor 

Online Computer Library 

Center (OCLC), delivered the 

2008 Lazerow Lecture. 

Dillon’s lecture, “The 

Evolving Web and the 

Changing Role of 

Information Providers,” was 

free and open to the public. 

The 40th annual McConnell 

Conference on Children’s 

Literature was a great 

success with about 350 

participants. The Conference 

opened with the traditional 

Friday night banquet. The 

event speakers were author 

Pam Munoz Ryan, 

author/illustrator Denise 

Fleming, and author George 

Ella Lyon. This year’s event 

was coordinated by Lousetta 

Carlson (administrative 

assistant), Mary Landrum 

(graduate assistant) and 

Professor Stephanie 

Reynolds. Professors Jackie 

White and Sandy Ireland 

also contributed to the center 

and conference. 

“I am looking forward to working with 

the faculty to move the school forward 

during this period when the university is 

experiencing unprecedented growth and 

development. It is an exciting time to be 

joining UK. And as a native Kentuckian, it 

is essentially like coming home.” 

Director Phone: 859-257-2334 

Admissions Number: 859-257-3317 

Address: 320 Lucille C. Little Library 

Fax: 859-257-4205 

Web Page: www.uky.edu/CIS/SLIS/ 

Education: MSLS, University of Kentucky; 

Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh. He was a 

faculty member in the School of Library 

and Information Studies at Texas Women’s 

University, where he held the rank of 

Professor. He coordinated their MLS 

program. He had a concurrent appointment 

as Associate Director for Research, 

Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas 

Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library. He 

was also appointed Adjunct Associate 

Professor in the School of Health 

Information Sciences, Health Science 

Center at Houston, University of Texas. 

Specialties: Medical informatics 

17

The Graduate Program in 


UK’s Graduate Program in Comunication is the 

only doctoral communication program currently 

available in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The 

M.A. program was approved in the fall of 1966 and 

the first degree was conferred in 1967. To date, 310 

Master of Arts degrees in communication have 

been awarded. The Ph.D. program (in the restructured 

College of Communications) was approved 

in December 1977 but it wasn’t until 1980 that the 

first students were admitted and 1983 before the 

first degree was awarded. To date, 141 doctoral 

degrees in communication have been awarded! 

The graduate program approaches the study of 

communication as a social science with an 

emphasis on both theory construction and 

empirical research methods in order to generate 

new knowledge about communication as a 

core process. As such, our strategic planning 

efforts include several important features 

involving faculty recruitment, curriculum 

renovation, and increased interaction with 

our alumni. 

Program 


Students 

In fall 2008, the 

GPC will welcome 

seven new doctoral 

students (Anna 

Hoover, Kathleen 

Vidoloff, Alyssa 

Millner, Denise 

Damron, Stephanie 

VanStee, Rachel 

Price, and Gerald 

Dean Abbott) and 

five new master’s students 

(Zachary 

Calhoun, Aubrey 

Krekeler, Kathryn 

Anthony, Elizabeth 

Petrun, and Mitchael 

Schwartz). There are currently 

49 students enrolled 

in the program. Twenty-one 

students are doctoral candidates, 

twelve Ph.D. and fourteen 

M.A. students are taking 

coursework, and two students 

are enrolled in the University 

Scholars Program. 

The GPC had four doctoral 

students successfully defend 

their dissertations. They were 

in order of completion: Sarah 

Elizabeth Cavendish, Robert 

Joseph Trader, Florence 

Maria Witte, and Zhiwen 

Xiao. The new doctoral candidates 

who successfully 

defended their qualifying 

exams were: Nicole Denise 

Dobransky, Debra Faith 

Nickell, Kelly Elizabeth 

Dixon, Christine Benac, 

Purnima Mehrotra, Sarah 

Elizabeth Riley, Jennifer 

Lynn Robinette, Erin Elysia 

Gilles, Laura Beth Daws, 

and Elizabeth 

Martina Webb. 

Morgan Poor, Lisa Lynn 

Beeler, and Cassandra 

Selena Stevens defended 

their master’s thesis and 

eight additional students successfully 

completed comprehensive 

exams during the 

last year: Taylor Marie 

Papania, Amanda M. 

Harsin, Anna Goodman 

Hoover, John Andrew 

Gillispie, Christine Noel 

Tigas, Laura Christine 

Coleman, Timothy Reed 

Wiseman, and Bradley 

Michael Arterburn. 

The Graduate Student 

Association officers for 

2007-08 were: co-chairs- 

Laura Beth Daws (doctoral 

student) and John Gillespie 

(master’s student), secretary- 

Rosalie Shemanski, and 

treasurer-Elizabeth Webb. 

They did a spectacular job! 

DOCTORAL DISSERTA- 

TIONS COMPLETED 

DURING 2007-2008 

Instructional 

Communication Matters: 

A Test of Knowledge 

Acquisition Theory (KAT) 

from a Message-Oriented 

Receiver Perspective 

Robert Joseph Trader, Ph.D. 

Director: Dr. Derek R. Lane 

Committee: Dr. Donald Case, 

Dr. Beth E. Barnes, Dr. 

Gary Anglin, Dr. James S. 

Rinehart (outside 

examiner) 

Accepted by the Graduate 

School: 7/10/2007 

Mentoring Matters: The 

Influence of Social Support 

and Relational Maintenance 

Strategies On Critical 

Outcomes In Doctoral 

Education 

Sarah Elizabeth Cavendish, Ph.D. 

Director: Dr. Derek R. Lane 

Committee: Dr. Nancy G. 

Harrington, Dr. Michael I. 

Arrington, Dr. Jeffrey 

Bieber, Dr. Larry J. Grabau 

(outside examiner) 



o 

18

The Fear Factor: Toward A 

Modification of Witte’s 

Extended Parallel Process 

Model for Application To 

Screening Mammography 

Florence Maria Witte, Ph.D. 

Director: Dr. Nancy G. 

Harrington 

Committee: Dr. Philip 

Palmgreen, Dr. Derek R. 

Lane, Dr. John F. Wilson, 

Dr. Sharon E. Lock 




MASTER’S THESES 

COMPLETED DURING 

2007-2008 

The Sweet Life of Zach & 

Cody: A Content Analysis 

of the Food Related 

Messages in Disney 

Television Program 

Organizational Safety and 

Climate: A Study of 

Communication Campaign, 

Safety Climate and Safety 

Performance 

Cassandra Selena Stevens, MA 

Director: Dr. Kevin J. Real 

Committee: Dr. J. David 

Johnson, Dr. William 

F. Maloney 



Faculty 

There are currently 28 members 

of the college graduate 

faculty. Of those 18 are full 

primary graduate faculty 

members including two 

recently added full primary 

graduate faculty (Dr. 

Deanna Sellnow and Dr. 

Tim Sellnow), two that were 

recently promoted (Dr. 

Michael I. Arrington and 

Dr. Seth Noar) and 10 are 

associate primary graduate 

faculty members including 

five recently added associate 

primary graduate faculty that 

include Dr. Elisia Cohen, 

Dr. Philip Hutchison, Dr. 

Mark Stuhlfaut, Dr. Zixue 

Tai, and Dr. Mina Tsay. 

Congratulations to Dr. 

Nancy G. Harrington and 

Dr. Richard Labunski for 

their recent promotions from 

Associate to Full Professor. 

Graduate students gather after a 

recent conference. 

19 

Al Cross, director of the Institute 

for Rural Journalism and 

Community Issues works with 

doctoral student Chas Hartman. 

Adapting and Applying a 

Multiple Domain Model of 

Condom Use to Chinese 

College Students 

Zhiwen Xiao, Ph.D. 

Director: Dr. Philip 

Palmgreen 

Committee: Dr. Rick 

Zimmerman, Dr. Seth 

Noar, Dr. Chike M. 

Anyaegbunam, Dr. 

Richard Clayton, Dr. Glyn 

Gordon Caldwell 




Morgan A. Poor, MA 

Director: Dr. Beth E. Barnes 


Palmgreen, Dr. Seth Noar, 

Dr. Mary Roseman 

(Nutrition and Food 

Science) 



Look behind you! Look 

behind you!: The Horror 

Genre and a New Scheme 

for Cultivation Analysis 

Lisa Lynn Beeler, MA 

Director: Dr. James K. Hertog 


Palmgreen, Dr. Derek 

R. Lane 



Meet the Associate Dean 

Dr. Derek R. Lane 

Associate Dean and Associate Professor 

“Never forget that work always expands 

to time available. We care about the 

success of our graduate students and 

really want to hear from our alums. 

What is happening in your career What 

have you been doing since you left the 

University of Kentucky Where are you 

now If you are planning to attend the 

National Communication Association 

conference in San Diego, please plan to 

attend the University of Kentucky social 

event (always held on Friday evening). 

Take time to reconnect with your 

alma mater.” 

Phone: 859-257-7805 


Fax: 859-323-9879 

E-Mail: Derek.Lane@uky.edu 

Web page: 

www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/GRAD/ 

Education: A.A. 1983, Eastern Wyoming 

College; B.S. Ed. 1986, Chadron State 

College; M.A. 1992, University of 

Nebraska-Kearney; Ph.D. 1996, University 

of Oklahoma. 

Specialties: Message reception; instructional 

communication, interpersonal communication, 

group communication. 

Outside Interests: Vacation cruises, 

movies, music, and new digital technology

Elizabeth Webb, recently 

defended her qualifying 

exams. Jennifer Gray 

successfully defended her 

dissertation and graduated. 

Jason Martin is beginning 

his second year in the 

doctoral program. 

In 

addition 

to the college 

graduate 

faculty, there 

are six additional 

graduate faculty 

who have a secondary 

appointment in our college. 

Four of the six are 

Full Secondary Graduate 

Faculty members and the 

remaining two are Associate 

Secondary Graduate Faculty 

Members. We also have six 

emeriti graduate faculty 

members (Dr. Applegate, Dr. 

Baseheart, Dr. Bostrom, Dr. 

Donohew, Dr. Moore, and 

Dr. Rush) that together 

helped to create the graduate 

program we enjoy today. 

Staff 

Louise Menifee is the 

program’s staff assistant. 

She has been with the program 

for fifteen years. 

Program Events 

The fall semester began with 

a new student orientation 

and the annual Graduate 

Student Association picnic. 

In place of a retreat, graduate 

students met in October to 

discuss strategies for improving 

the process of graduate 

comprehensive and qualifying 

exams. 

The Graduate 

Student 

Colloquium was 

held in November. 

Dr. Joe Walther 

from Michigan 

State University 

presented a program 

titled, “The 

Past, Present, and 

Future of 

Computer 

Mediated 


Research. 

The 12th annual 

Graduate Student 

Association Symposium was 

held at the Crowne Plaza/ 

Campbell House in Lexington 

on Saturday, March 1, 2008. 

The theme of the symposium 

was “Communication in 

Context” and the keynote 

address was delivered by Dr. 

Laura Stafford (The Ohio 

State University). We are also 

pleased to announce that Dr. 

Stafford will be joining our 

faculty in the fall as a full 

professor with tenure! 

We celebrated the end of 

another successful year with a 

lovely Saturday afternoon picnic 

hosted by Caitlin Dixon 

who is a master’s student in 

our program and is chair of 

the social committee. 

Kelly Cowden and Laura Coleman 

both master’s students are at work 

in the Graduate Seminar Room. 

20

We Need to Hear From YOU! 

s t r a t e g i c 

In order to improve 

information access 

we created a new graduate 

program Webpage 

that is available at 


Studies/GRAD. We are 

currently in the process 

of updating the technology 

for the 

Website so 

that a database 

can be used to 

populate and update 

the site using SQL and 

PhP. We are also planning 

a page where all 

our past dissertations 

and theses can be 

accessed. We 

created new recruitment 

materials to 

increase our visibility 

at regional, national, 

and international conferences. 

w e b s i t e 

p l a n 

We are currently developing 

a strategic plan 

to renovate the curriculum. 

The plan includes 

the addition of new 

faculty who will teach 

existing and new graduate 

seminars. The new 

curriculum will continue 

to instill in students 

the importance of positively 

contributing to 

the discipline 

during 

and after 

completion of their 

graduate degree. We 

are also developing a 

marketing plan that 

attempts to tell the UK 

Communication graduate 

story more confidently. 

We need to hear 

from you so please, 

drop us an email, send 

us a digital photograph, 

or simply complete 

the online form at 

http://comm.uky.edu/grad/ 

alumni/. I am convinced 

that more frequent 

interactions with our 

alumni will not only 

help us improve our 

#6 national ranking 

but also will help us to 

recruit new graduate 

students that will be 

successful in our 

graduate program. 

It is also important for 

us to work together to 

build a solid endowment, 

a key indicator of 

financial health, and to 

boldly ask for the 

resources we need to 

accomplish our vision. 

I would like to personally 

thank all of you for 

your continued financial 

support for the 

graduate program. Your 

contributions make it 

possible for graduate 

students to attend conferences, 

present their 

e n d o w m e n t s 

research, and obtain 

valuable feedback that 

increases the likelihood 

that their research will 

be published. For 

information on making 

a gift, visit: 


Studies/alumni.html 

Dr. Derek R. Lane 

Associate Dean and Associate Professor 

Dr. Derek Lane consults with 

Dr. Nancy G. Harrington 

21



UK’s Department of Communication offers 

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees for 

undergraduate communication majors and teaches 

most of the graduate courses leading to a Master’s or 

Doctoral degree in communication through the College’s 

Graduate Program in Communication. We have experienced 

considerable growth over the past year. Last fall, 

we obtained four new faculty lines and this year, we 

obtained one new faculty line. Including replacements 

for faculty who have retired, that translates into eight 

new people on our faculty in two years. The number of 

undergraduate pre-majors and majors continues to 

increase, as well. We now serve nearly 500 students in 

our program. Although funding through the National 

Institutes of Health and other agencies has been severely 

curtained in recent years, we continue to bring in a 

significant amount of grant dollars to the University. Our 

portfolio now includes funding from not only the 

National Institutes of Health, but the Department of 

Homeland Security. Almost all of this research is 

focused on the health communication area, an area in 

which we ranked 6th in the nation in a recent poll by the 

National Communication Association. 

Department 


Students 

Senior Ashley Collette was 

accepted into MA programs 

in communication at 

Marquette University and 

Wake Forest University and 

received full teaching assistantship 

offers from both programs. 

Senior Elizabeth 

Nicolet was accepted into the 

MA program at the University 

of Cincinnati with a full 

teaching assistantship award. 

Senior Collin Cowgill was 

named the 2008 “Scholar 

Athlete of the Year.” This is 

one of the highest honors 

the University of Kentucky 

Athletic Association awards to 

a student athlete. 

o 

Faculty 

Dr. Michael Arrington had 

his article “Prostate cancer 

and the social construction of 

masculine sexual identity” 

accepted for publication in 

the International Journal of 

Men’s Health. 

Dr. Douglas Boyd continues 

to serve as the chief of staff to 

UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr. 

Dr. Elisia L. Cohen was 

competitively selected among 

a group of early career investigators 

by the National 

Cancer Institute’s Division 

of Cancer Control and 

Population Sciences and the 

Office of Behavioral and 

Sciences Research of the 

National Institutes of Health 

to attend the 4th Annual 

Advanced Training Institute 

on Health Behavior 

Theory at the University 

of Wisconsin-Madison in 

July, 2008. She also 

attended the International 

Communication Association 

Conference in May to present 

her original research entitled 

“Naming and claiming 

cancer, fears, and fatalism 

among African-American 

women: An application of 

Problematic Integration 

(PI) theory.” 

Dr. Pam Cupp had her 

article “Combining and 

Adapting American Schoolbased 

Alcohol and HIV 

Prevention Programs in 

South Africa: The HAPS 

Project” accepted for 

publication in the special 

AIDS Care edition “Youth 

and Vulnerable Children.” 

Dr. Alan DeSantis was 

named UK Best Professor in 

the latest Kentucky Kernel 

poll. This makes seven out of 

the past nine years. Way to 

go, Alan! 

Professor Regina Francies 

participated in UK’s Dance 

Blue fundraiser and attended 

the National Communication 

Association convention 

in Chicago. 

Dr. Nancy G. Harrington, 

Scott Johnson and Linda Mudge 

welcome KCHC conference 

registrants. 

Dr. Nancy Harrington 

finished her two-year term as 

chair of the Coalition for 

Health Communication and 

was appointed to the Cardinal 

Hill Research Committee. 

Dr. Donald Helme joined 

the faculty at the rank of 

assistant professor; he comes 

to us from Wake Forest 

University. Dr. Helme’s 

research focuses on substance 

abuse prevention, most 

recently in relation to intercultural 

issues. Recent projects 

include a study of environmental 

tobacco smoke 

prevention among Native 

Americans and a study of 

smokers in Hungary. 

Welcome, Don! 

o 

o 

22

Faculty members from the 

Department participated in 

Dance Blue, a twenty-four hour 

dance marathon. This studentled 

fundraiser for the Pediatric 

Oncology Unit at UK Children's 

Hospital raised $424,855. 

Professor Traci Letcher was 

appointed to the facultybased 

advisory board for 

the Central Advising and 

Transfer Center. 

Professor Don Lowe taught 

through the Cooperative 

Center for Study Abroad 

this past summer in 

London, England. 

Professor Cyndy Miller was 

promoted to senior lecturer. 

Congratulations, Cyndy! 

Journal of Public Health, 

and his chapter “Mass media 

campaigns as a tool for HIV 

prevention” appeared in 


Perspectives on HIV/AIDS for 

the 21 st Century. 

Dr. Caroline Rankin 

continued as faculty 

advisor to the undergraduate 

Honors Society. 

Dr. Kevin Real had his 

article “The symbolic and 

material nature of physician 

identity: Implications for 

physician-patient communication” 

accepted for publication 

in the Health 


China Office; Public Health 

Agency of Canada; the 

European Centre for Disease 

Prevention and Control; 

and the Ministry of 

Health, Singapore. 

Dr. Laura Stafford joined 

the faculty at the rank of 

full professor with tenure; 

she comes to us from The 

Ohio State University. Dr. 

Stafford’s research focuses on 

interpersonal relationships, 

23 

Dr. Seth Noar received 

tenure and promotion to 

associate professor, and the 

book he co-edited with 

Timothy Edgar and Vicki S. 

Freimuth, Communication 

Perspectives on HIV/AIDS 

for the 21 st Century, was 

published by Lawrence 

Erlbaum Associates. 

Dr. Phil Palmgreen had his 

article “Effects of the Office 

of National Drug Control 

Policy’s Marijuana Initiative 

campaign on high-sensationseeking 

adolescents” published 

in the American 

Dr. Deanna Sellnow was 

o appointed to three major 

university committees: 

the General Education 

Steering Committee, 

the Undergraduate Council, 

and the Institutional 

Effectiveness Group. 

Dr. Tim Sellnow was one of 

five crisis and emergency risk 

communication scholars 

invited to participate in the 

Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention’s 2008 Risk 

Communications Evaluation 

Summit in Atlanta. In addition 

to the U.S. delegation, 

Dr. Sellnow presented his 

evaluation and recommendations 

to representatives from 

such agencies as the CDC 

Meet the Chair 

Dr. Nancy Grant Harrington 

Professor and Chair; Associate Dean, 

Office for Research 

“Our faculty has undergone tremendous 

change over the past few years. Several 

retirements have led to the loss of some 

of our most ‘tried and true,’ people in 

large part responsible for building the 

enviable reputation the department currently 

enjoys. At the same time, new faculty 

positions allocated to us by our 

Provost have swelled our ranks. Between 

‘replacing’ retirees and hiring for new 

lines, we are supremely fortunate to have 

attracted some of the most talented 

Communication scholars in the nation. 

With our wonderful ‘new’ people added to 

our outstanding ‘ongoing’ people, I am 

confident that the Department of 

Communication will continue its tradition 

of excellence for many years to come!” 

Phone: 859-257-3622 

Department Number: 859-257-3621 


Fax: 859-257-4103 

E-mail: nancy.harrington@uky.edu 

Web Page: 

www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/COM/ 

Education: B.A., M.A., University of 

Cincinnati; Ph.D., University of Kentucky 

Specialties: Health communication and 

interpersonal communication 

Outside Interests: Kenpo Karate (third 

degree black belt) and her three dogs 

(English Setters) and one husband.

Dean Johnson meets with a 

student at a recent UK 

Preview Night. 

in particular the effect of 

long distance on relational 

maintenance. Welcome, 

Laura! 

Dr. Mina Tsay was 

appointed to the University 

Commencement Committee. 

Dr. Jeffrey VanCleave presented 

his paper “A Nation 

within a Nation: A Rhetorical 

Analysis of the Quebecois and 

Sovereign-association 

Movement” at the National 

Communication Association’s 

annual convention. 

Staff 

Mageleen “Maggie” 

Chapman received the 

College’s 2007 Outstanding 

Staff Award. 

Department 

Events 

The Department of 

Communication held its 10th 

biennial Kentucky 

Conference on Health 

Communication in April. 

The conference theme was 

The Future of Health 

Communication: Where Are 

We Going and How Do We 

Get There The featured 

speakers included Lynn 

Miller, University of Southern 

California—Annenberg 

School; Brian Flynn, 

University of Vermont; Robert 

Hornik, Pennsylvania State 

researchers Seth Noar, Phil 

Palmgreen and Rick 

Zimmerman. The conference 

featured competitive papers, 

posters, and panels that 

focused on major issues facing 

health communication 

research and practice as we 

head toward the second 

decade of the 21st century. 

The Robert Lewis Donohew 

Outstanding Health 

Communication Scholar 

Award was presented to 

Richard L. Street, Jr., Texas 

A&M University. The Top 

Young Scholar award went 

to Elaine Hsieh, University 

of Oklahoma. The Top 

Student Paper award was 

given to Leora Elli, University 

of Memphis. By all accounts, 

the conference was a 

huge success. The next 

conference will be held 

April 22-24, 2010. 

Dr. Norm Van Tubergen 

retired from the University 

of Kentucky after more than 

three decades of service. 

Congratulations, Norm! 

Dr. Rick Zimmerman 

resigned his tenured faculty 

position to become a research 

professor, allowing him 

greater flexibility to pursue 

extramural funding through 

the University of Kentucky as 

well as the Pacific Institute 

for Research and Evaluation, 

Louisville, Kentucky, where 

he serves as director. 

University—Annenberg 

School; Marian Huhman, 

Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention; Stella 

Babalola, Johns Hopkins 

University; and UK 

o 

Dr. Phil Palmgreen presented at 

the 10th biennial Kentucky 

Conference on Health 


24


History 

In 1993, the UK Board of Trustees approved 

the merger of the College of Communications 

with the College of Library and Information 

Science to form the new College of 

Communications and Information Studies. 

The new college included the Department of 

Communication, the School of Journalism and 

Telecommunications, the School of Library 

and Information Science and the Graduate 

Program in Communication. 

We offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral 

degrees designed to provide our students with 

the knowledge and skills to become communication 

professionals in the 21st century. 

Our mission is to teach 

students how to create, 

produce and disseminate 

effective communication 

messages; how to obtain, assess 

and verify information; and how 

they can make strategic use of 

information. We strive to create an 

environment in which teaching 

and learning complement discovery 

and research. 

The College welcomes your help in keeping our 

alumni files current. We want to hear news of your 

accomplishments, personal news and your pictures. 

We also welcome any comments you have about this 

annual report or suggestions on what information 

you would like us to include. Please send your alumni 

information or comments to Janice Birdwhistell at 

janice.bird@uky.edu or call 859-257-4241. Or by 

mail to 129 Grehan Building, Lexington, KY 40506- 

0042 or by fax to 859-323-9879 

Photo Credits: Chike Anyaegbunam, Beth Barnes, Janice 

Birdwhistell, Tim Collins, ADF Competition Team, Dow Jones 

Summer Workshop Students, Nicholas Dumont, Alyssa 

Eckman, Kentucky Kernel, Derek Lane, Don Lowe, Ann 

Stroth, Lee Thomas, Odyssey magazine, Mina Tsay, UKPR

School News - College of Communication and Information

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