Archived Stories

Spring Dean's List Honors

Thirty-eight Communication Studies majors received Dean's List honors for Spring Quarter. The mean grade point average for the students was 3.74, including seven students with a 4.0. This quarter's list included freshmen Danielle Berton, Taylor Clarke, and Jeffrey Waterman; sophomores Alexandra Begin, Lindsay Beisheim, Lauren Chetner, Lauren Drewniany, Lauren Falcon-Shapiro, Hailey Gausewitz, Sydney Jordan, Samantha Keville, Rachel Maloney, Makenna Miller, and Rameen Shafiee; juniors Jessica Chernekoff, Elizabeth DeVeny, Clare Devlin, Chanel Garcia, Sayoa Jodar, Corinne Sherman, Megan Stewart, Megan Van Hamersveld, and Amy Watson; and seniors Erin Abzug, Daisy Brightman, Kellie Brown, Jenna Davis, Anna Gerlach, Caroline Hollister, Natalie Hopkins, Nichole Lorenz, Sara Lyons, Danielle Morrison, Robin Sweeney, Beverly Tyo, Jessica Volmer, Brent Weber, and Alexandria Whalen.

Spring Quarter Public Speaking Contest Results

The Spring Quarter Public Speaking Contest was held June 7. Students representing various sections of the Spring Quarter Public Speaking and Principles of Oral Communication courses competed in the contest. The first place award was presented to Nick Bergman. Second and third places went to Ryan Powell and Kevin Given, respectively. Congratulations to those who placed!

Duffy Book Released

Southern Illinois University Press has announced the release of a new book by Communication Studies professor Bernard K. Duffy. The book, co-authored by University of North Carolina-Charlotte professor Richard W. Leeman, is titled The Will of a People: A Critical Anthology of Great African American Speeches. Additional information about the book is available through the SIU Press website.

Communication Studies Alumna to Speak at Open House Career Forum

Lauren (Healy) Davis, a 2009 Communication Studies graduate, is one of four Liberal Arts alumni who have been invited to speak at the College's Career Forum on April 13. The Forum will be held in Philips Hall, the Performing Arts Center lecture hall, from 11:00 am until 12:30 pm. Davis is an Event Marketing and Fundraising Coordinator for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in the Bay Area. Her position with St. Jude's grew out of her experience as the Executive Director of a campus fundraising event for the hospital while she was an undergraduate. The Liberal Arts Career Forum is a regular event in the campus Open House schedule.

Winter Dean's List Honors

Forty Communication Studies majors received Dean's List honors for Winter Quarter, bringing the total number of different Communication Studies students receiving the honor so far this academic year to 64, or roughly one-quarter of the students currently registered in the major. The mean grade point average for the forty students was 3.72, including five students with a perfect 4.0 GPA. This quarter's list included freshmen Holly Kelly, Josiah McPeak, Leah Monteleone, Jessica Singleton and Ashley Stephens; sophomores Kristian Cosgrave, Elizabeth DeVeny, Patrick Fitzsimmons, Jenna Gollands, Haley Gross, Jordan Harris, Rachel Hey-Shipton, Danielle Morrison, Ashley Nelson, Megan Stewart, and Kelly Trom; juniors Buckley, Jenna Davis, Amanda Gonzalez, Timothy Grando, Alison Johnson, Nichole Lorenz, Natalie Schutt, and Alexandria Whalen; and seniors Sierra Cadena, Sarah Cooper, Bryanna De Oca, Nathan Hennes, Katharine Henry, Maryam Moenizad, Courtney Muniz, Rachel Norris, Alyssa Santos, Camellia Sarmadi, Allison Sasscer, Stephanie Taft, Quinn Thompson, Carolyn Ward, and Courtney Wen. Twenty-three of the students on the Winter list also were honored for their Fall grades. Davis has the current longest running stretch of consecutive quarters on the Dean's List at five.

Winter Quarter Intramural Debate and Public Speaking Contest Results

The Winter Quarter Public Speaking Contest was held March 2. Thirty students representing the various sections of the Winter Quarter Public Speaking and Principles of Oral Communication courses competed in the contest. The first place award in the competition was presented to Jacob Rogers, a freshman Agribusiness major. Taking second place was freshman Architecture major Tim Pernice, and third place in the contest went to freshman Child Development major Helen Sim.

The quarterly Intramural Debate Tournament concluded on March 12 following the usual two weeks of in-class competition, First place in the tournament went to the team of Kendra Borner and Marisa DeArmas, both freshman Communication Studies majors. Receiving the second place award was the team of sophomore Communication Studies major Danielle Biesanz and senior Communication Studies major Kennith Jackson, and honorable mention went to junior Communication Studies major Alex Biale and sophomore Communication Studies major Macy Boschee. The first place individual speaker award was presented to sophomore Biomedical Engineering major Michael Dewitt, with the second place individual award going to junior Communication Studies major Tim Granado. Twenty-four students enrolled in the Forensic Activities course participated in the tournament.

Department Holds Annual Career Symposium

The Department held its annual Communication Careers Symposium on January 29 and the Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort in Avila Beach. More than 80 Communication Studies majors and minors attended the event. The presenters included four graduates of the department -- Diane (Tilley) Auten, Lauren (Healey) Davis, Jeff Martin, and Nicole Paschoal -- as well as career counselor Charlotte Rinaldi from Cal Poly Career Services.

Fall Dean's List Honors

The Dean's List for Fall Quarter 2011 includes 47 Communication Studies majors, or roughly one-fifth of the students enrolled in the degree program. Students must earn a grade point average of 3.50 or higher with a class load of 16 or more units to earn Dean's List honors. The mean GPA for the 47 majors earning honors this quarter was 3.72, with two students earning a perfect 4.00 GPA. Both the total number of majors on the list and the recipient rate (19.9%) are the highest levels since the department began tracking Dean's List data in 2006. On the average, 35 students (16.0%) earn the honor each quarter. This quarter's honorees include freshmen Damien Arredondo, Chad Hennings, Holly Kelly, Joshah McPeak, Leah Monteleone, Jessica Singleton, Ashley Stephens, Sara Torres, and Erin Warren; sophomores Kendra Berner, Kellie Brown, Audrey Coleman, Kristina Cosgrave, Elizabeth DeVeny, Patrick Fitzsimmons, Haley Gross, Caroline Hollister, Danielle Morrison, Kelly Trom, and Natalie Zafis; juniors Blair Buckley, Krista Burke, Nicholas Carrasco, Jenna Davis, Amanda Gonzalez, Timothy Granado, Vianna Hochstrasser, Alison Johnson, Manya Maier, Natalie Schutt, Madeleine Sciarra, Hannah Teitelbaum, and Amber Ullo; and seniors Maryn Anderson, Sierra Cadena, Arianna Chopelas, Alison Costello, Hannah Drain, Nathan Hennes, Katharine Henry, Christine Herman, Claire Kister, Megan Michels, Kelley Plasterer, Alyssa Santos, Stephanie Taft, and Courtney Wen. This is the fourth consecutive quarter on the Dean's List for Davis and Twitelbaum, and the seventh consecutive quarter for Zafis.

Fall 2011 Graduates Honored at December Commencement

University Commencement ceremonies were held on December 4 in Mott Gym, with seventeen Communication Studies students receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees. Although the university awards degrees quarterly, commencement ceremonies are held only in June and December. The new graduates reduces the total number of current Communication Studies majors to 219 students. Degrees awarded are not official until a final check is conducted by the Evaluations Unit.

Fall Quarter Intramural Debate and Public Speaking Contest Results 

The quarterly Intramural Debate Tournament concluded on November 30, following two weeks of competition. First place in the debates was presented to the team of Kristina Cosgrave, a sophomore Communication Studies major, and Rosie Falcon-Shapiro, a freshman Graphic Communication major. Taking second place in the contest was the team of Clay Mead and Natalie Schutt, both sophomore Communication Studies majors. Receiving an award as the top individual speaker in the tournament was junior Communication Studies major Amanda Gonzalez, with senior Communication Studies major Brian Peters receiving the second place individual award. Twelve students participated in the debates.

The quarterly Public Speaking Contest was held on December 2, with 40 students competing as representatives of the Fall Public Speaking and Principles of Oral Communication classes. Taking first place in the contest was freshman Mathematics major Nicolas Rodriguez. Second place was awarded to junior Kinesiology major Sara Peterson, and third place went to freshman Agricultural Science major Rebecca Graham. Three received Honorable Mention for their performance in the tournament preliminary rounds: freshman English major Varvell, sophomore Business major Travis Webb, and freshman Journalism major Hayley Williams. Both competitions are judged by student enrolled in the Advanced Forensic Activities class.

Communication Studies Alumna Named California Teacher of the Year

Cal Poly e-News Release. Rebecca (Lipschultz) Mieliwocki, a 1990 Speech Communication graduate, has taken an unorthodox, yet effective approach to teaching students at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank, Calif. The state Department of Education recently chose Mieliwocki as one of five California Teachers of the Year and the state's nominee for the national honor. Mieliwocki, who has taught at the school for nine years, understands the fast pace of information bombarding today's adolescents and has set up her lesson plan to capture and retain their attention.

Besel Elected to Environmental Communication Interest Group Post 

While attending the National Communication Conference in New Orleans, Dr. Richard Besel learned that he had been elected to the position of Vice President for the NCA Environmental Communication Interest Group. NCA Interest Groups serve as a loose organization of scholars pursuing research in areas related to the Interest Group, and are responsible for program planning for Interest Group sponsored events at the upcoming national conference.

Department Represented at National Communication Association Conference

The department was well represented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, held November 17-20 in New Orleans. Presenting papers at the conference were Dr. Richard Besel, Dr. Jnan Blau, Dr. Bernard Duffy, and Dr. Michael Fahs.

Zeuschner Receives Recognition from Fullbright Program 

The Institute of International Education recently recognized the excellent work of Communication Studies Emeritus Professor and Interim Director of International Program Raymond Zeuschner in its annual report on the Fullbright Scholars Program. Zeuschner was singled out for his "strong contributions to the program's success at Cal Poly." Cal Poly is ranked Number 9 on the Fullbright Scholars Program list of top producing Masters granting institutions for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Class of 2015 Arrives

The Class of 2015 arrived on campus September 12 for the annual university Week of Welcome (WOW) new student orientation activities. The incoming Communication Studies class includes 63 first time freshmen and 12 upper-division transfer students. The number of new students exceeds university projections by more than 10%. Combined with a slightly lower than projected number of June graduates, the major now stands at 239 active students. If that number holds, it will represent the largest Fall class in the history of the department, surpassing the previous record of 230 student majors set in Fall Quarter 2008. The five-year average for the department is 214 student majors. The department begins the academic year with 32 returning academic minors. The number of registered minors usually doubles over the course of the academic year as new students replace the recently graduated minors.