Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Faculty Continue to Publish During Pandemic December 11, 2020
Posted by Mia Moody-Ramirez in : Uncategorized , add a commentDepartment Research Summary
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media faculty continued to publish research in the industry’s top journals, conferences and with leading publishers.
Dr. Marlene Neill published three journal articles this past year including “Public Relations Professionals Identify Ethical Issues, Essential Competencies & Deficiencies” in the Journal of Media Ethics, “Examining the Effects of Symmetrical Internal Communication and Employee Engagement on Organizational Change Outcomes” in the Public Relations Journal, and “Public relations primed: An update on practitioners’ moral reasoning, from moral development to moral maintenance.”
In addition, her second book, “PR Women with Influence: Breaking through the Ethical and Leadership Challenges” is scheduled for a late December release with Peter Lang Publishing.
New faculty member Dr. Alec Tefertiller published two articles during his time at Baylor, “Cable cord-cutting and streaming adoption: Advertising avoidance and technology acceptance in television innovation” in Telematics and Informatics and “Preparing mass communication students for an evolving industry: The influence of emotional intelligence and extracurricular involvement on career adaptability” in the Journalism and Mass Communication Educator.
In addition, Dr. Tefertiller presented two papers at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication this past August. “Prepping (for) a Diverse Ad Industry Future: First-Generation College Students are More Proactive, Creative and Adaptable” was presented in the Advertising Division, and “The nature of FoMO: Trait and state fear-of-missing-out and their relationships to entertainment television consumption” was presented in the Entertainment Studies Interest Group.
Finally, Dr. Tefertiller’s paper “Company responses in times of crisis: A content analysis of COVID-19 emails” was presented at the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication Symposium this past October, where it was awarded a top paper award.
Dr. Moody-Ramirez had three journal articles accepted for publication and made several presentations. She co-authored Black Twitter Representations of #Kavanaugh Hearing with Dr. Dorothy Bland, which was published in the Journal of Research on Women and Gender. Along with Drs. Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh and Ingrid Bachmann, Dr. Moody-Ramirez, co-authored Educating Journalism Students on Gender and Inequality, which was published in Journalism and Mass Communication Educator. In a third article, Dr. Moody-Ramirez, Robbie and Franci Rogers published, Activist Knitting: How stitching together something so simple has created a movement in the Journal of Research on Women and Gender.
Moody-Ramirez and graduate student Emily Guajardo received a Top Paper award from the AEJMC Visual Communication Division for a paper titled, “A Critical Race-Visual Communication Analysis of Immigration-Themed Memes.” Also during AEJMC 2020 conference, Moody-Ramirez served on a panel titled, “Teaching Students How to Construct Theory.” The panel was sponsored by the Communication Theory and Methodology Division.
Moody-Ramirez also served on an Electronic News Division panel titled, “Covering Covid-19, Black Lives Matter and the Election.” Panelists discussed best practices, challenges, fears in an effort to support one another during this era of social unrest. Moody-Ramirez also served as a panelist for the 2020 AEJMC Kopenhaver pre-conference workshop. The workshop, “Women Faculty Moving Forward: 100 Years from Suffrage to Academic Leadership,” offered tips to new assistant professors on the tenure track.
Helping Students in a Time of Need December 10, 2020
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During these challenging times, Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media had more students than usual seek financial assistance in the fall semester. Fortunately, the department has more than $200,000 in endowed scholarships to award each academic year. For 2019-20, we were blessed to be able to award a total of 91 scholarships. This includes students who reached out to us after the March deadline.
A breakdown of the number of scholarships awarded is below:
Freshman 48
Sophomores 14
Juniors 20
Seniors 9
Total 91
Last year, our department endowed a scholarship in Sara Stone, Ph.D.’s name. This semester, we hope to launch a campaign to raise funds for a scholarship in honor of former Chair Doug Ferdon, Ph.D. Look for details in this newsletter.
We highlight a few of our scholarship recipients below. Please visit our Facebook page to see more.
Landry Leatherwood is a 2020 recipient of a Carmage Walls scholarship. Leatherwood is a senior from Irving, Texas. She has interned at The Cove Waco, the Midway ISD Education Foundation and is currently an Advanced PR Intern at Four Columns Marketing in downtown Waco. Landry also serves on the Panhellenic Executive Board, is a member of PRSSA and Chi Omega and enjoys serving at her church home, Harris Creek. Landry hopes to end up at a vibrant, fast-paced corporate PR or marketing agency somewhere in Texas upon graduation.
Kerry “KJ” Burkley is a 2020 Fentress Scholarship recipient. He is a senior. Burkley is active in Baylor’s School of Journalism. He currently presides as Vice President of the National Association of Black Journalists, Baylor Chapter. He is a staff writer for The Roundup Yearbook, guest writer for Focus Magazine and is a Baylor Journalism ambassador. Outside of school, Burkley is part of the musician staff at Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church of Waco. Burkley’s curiosity for researching and understanding how people perceive businesses, companies and products through advertising and brand perception is what influenced him to receive an education in advertising. He plans to pursue a Master of Arts in Public Relations from Baylor.
Drake Toll is a 2020 recipient of the Headliners Foundation of Texas Sam Wood Scholarship. Toll was Baylor University’s Sophomore Class President and the LTVN managing editor. He is a Journalism, Public Relations major and a Leadership minor.
“I’m unbelievably grateful to represent Baylor University and our amazing Department of Journalism in receiving this honor,” he said. “This was possible only through fervent prayer and the extraordinary effort the faculty and staff of the Department of Journalism extended during my first year at Baylor.”
Note: While the Sam Wood scholarship is not awarded by our department, we are extremely proud of Toll.
Click this link to find out more about the types of scholarships awarded by Baylor University.
https://www.baylor.edu/sfs/index.php?id=963428&s=6061
Flagship Podcast: Direct Line December 10, 2020
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By Jon Platt
In a year full of what seems like more downs than ups, the Baylor Line Foundation has been proud to continue both the legacy of the Baylor Family and our incredibly beneficial, important, and unique relationship with the Journalism Department. So many of my best writers, interns, and partnerships come from the second floor of Castellaw and it is a joy to stay so very connected with the place I called home as a Baylor student.
A new addition to our product suite at Baylor Line Foundation is our already stellar, flagship podcast, Direct Line. Each episode features a fantastic, engaging, and always insightful conversation with a different member of the Baylor Family, and you’ll not be surprised to recognize many of my guest in our first season. Dr. Moody-Ramirez and I spoke about (among many other things) how you can best prepare yourself and your team to respond in crisis. Robert F. Darden nearly brought me to tears several times during our conversation on his latest piece for Baylor Line Magazine on the story of highly acclaimed author Mike Dewlen and how he struggled to properly grieve the loss of his son, Baylor alum Mike Dewlen, to the Vietnam War.
You’ll also find conversations with other contributors to our Fall magazine in your feed, including current JPRNM student Sophia Alejandro and alumna (and now current JPRNM graduate student) Rae Jefferson. You can get each episode by following Direct Line in your favorite podcast app or by visiting baylorline.com/podcast.
At Baylor Line Foundation, we consider it an absolute honor to be the voice of Baylor alumni since 1859 and a true privilege to continue the legacy of the Baylor Family with you. Don’t miss these captivating interviews and many more!”
All my best,
Jon
Editor-in-chief, Baylor Line Magazine
First Semester Wisdom December 10, 2020
Posted by Mia Moody-Ramirez in : Uncategorized , add a commentBy Professor Matthew Brammer
Any good professor will tell you … your first year is rough. And those professors probably didn’t start their first years during a global pandemic. I learned several lessons in my online teaching adventure this fall, the most important being to stay real with students and keep the personal touch.
Not even 20-20 vision could have prepared me for the year 2020. On Friday, March 13, I was furloughed (read: stopped making any income at all) from my previous position as a coach and trainer in the automotive industry. I was emotionally conflicted, yet, in the midst of my human emotions, Father God had a plan for my success and a new chapter. Friday, March 13 was also the date on the email from Baylor President Dr. Livingstone offering me a position as a full-time lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media. God’s plans are perfect – in perfect time – and exactly what we need.
The university determined that I would be teaching all my classes online from my home in Phoenix, Ariz., so along with preparing a course, writing a syllabus and gathering my sources, I also had to create Canvas modules to support remote learning. I took my master’s degree classes online, so I was aware of what a good experience looked like for a student. I was not, however, prepared for the back side. The professor’s side. Creating assignments, discussions, quizzes and exams. And, then grading them.
One of the best things about Baylor is the opportunity for connections with students, and despite the distance and technological interface, it is still possible to build those relationships. I made sure to start class by connecting with every student, by name. I asked questions about their weekends, their events, their families. It became real and not just a lecture or video to watch.
Even though my sections were officially asynchronous, I made sure to schedule regular times for Zoom classes and lectures so students could feel they were a part of something and not alone. The meetings were recorded and published for those who could not make the session.
I also focused on being available. I’ve heard through the grapevine that some professors don’t offer their cell numbers, but I went against that grain. I was sure to set priorities in the syllabus and reinforce that calling was a last resort after emailing, one-on-one zoom meetings and texting. In fact, I only received calls from three students the entire semester, but I think that knowing I was available gave them security.
I offered and encouraged the Zoom meetings – in office hours as well as by appointment. Sometimes, the appointments were later in the evening, but, that’s when they had the questions, and I worked to make time. I had one student taking classes remotely from Wuhan, China, so we arranged meetings at 9 p.m. my time in order to accommodate her schedule.
It might sound silly, but I also added smiley-faces and positive comments to the papers I graded. Positive psychology studies suggest the benefits from focusing on what went right and leveraging that is much more effective than only marking errors.
I also invested in an iPad and Apple pencil in order to grade the papers. With almost four course sections and 80 students, the workload can be too much when you have to print things out, grade and edit, scan and then submit them to the students, one-by-one. Canvas Teacher made it a breeze with the tablet, and my turnaround for grading assignments and providing feedback to build on reduced from days to hours.
I also have to mention the safety net of my department. Every professor and administrator was available to answer my questions and coach me on things I did not understand. Teaching is a passion, a calling, and each of my peers is gifted in ways I am looking forward to exploring. Being 2,000 miles away was challenging because there was no “coffee talk,” but we did have meetings every two weeks to stay connected and up to date on the department and university.
One other thing I did, at the end of the class was to end with a “Sic ’em Bears.” I think it reminded them that even if they aren’t learning in quite the same way this year … they’re still Baylor students, a part of something special, and that they can accomplish anything.