January-February_CollegeNews25

4 | January & February | College News College of Fine Arts and Communication | 5 expertise in their work and lives today. The alumni guests were all prior WID students from Dr. Eger's seminars in 2017, 2019, and 2022, and they joined the current 2025 students for an engaging alumni panel. As pictured, Dr. Eger and the current WID class, the alumni speakers included: EM Pollard , Victoria Diaz, Chelsea Biggerstaff , Logan Kennedy , Niko Corbin , Ramces Luna , A.D. Alston , and Jeannetta Landrum . [3] Marian Houser spent 3 days at Kennesaw State University, GA conducting a program review for the School of Communication and Media. She teamed with Dr. Joe Mazer, Dean of the School of Communication and Information at the University of TN, Knoxville. They were hosted by TXST M.A. alum, and Dr. Robin Mathis, assistant professor at Kennesaw. Marek Muller received the runner-up award for Online Teaching Excellence sponsored by the office of online and extended programs. The award recognizes and rewards superior online teaching, provides models of excellence for fellow faculty, and encourages all faculty to continue to improve and advance their online teaching pedagogy. Marek participated in a showcase featuring presentations by the award winners, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what makes their courses so effective. Manu Pokharel presented “Pandemic communication environments: A longitudinal investigation of the differing effects of overload, repetitiveness, exaggeration, and fatigue in the COVID-19 pandemic” to the Society for Risk Analysis annual conference held in Austin. STUDENT ACCOLADES Speech and Debate team wins overall sweepstakes at TIFA Championships. The LBJ Debate Society and Elton Abernathy Forensics Society bested fourteen colleges from across Texas to win the Overall School Sweepstakes at the Texas Intercollegiate Foren- sic Association (TIFA) Championships. The tournament was hosted by the University of North Texas in Denton, January 31-February 1, 2025. Among the other schools participating were SMU, Texas Tech, and the University of Texas. In addition to first place overall, the Bobcats also won the top debate school sweepstakes, and placed second, behind Univer- sity of Texas, in the school individual events sweepstakes. Luke Sides was the top debate speaker, and RJ Jasso was the second-place speaker. Luke also took home top honors in IPDA (Individual Parliamentary) debate, and he and RJ placed second in team parliamentary debate. Taylor Tate won the state championship in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Other notable achievements: Santiago Malpica Calleja finished fourth overall in the individual speech sweepstakes by placing first in Impromptu speaking, 2nd in Extemporaneous speaking, and 3rd in Com- munication Analysis. Robert Davis finished 4th in Poetry Interpretation, 4th in Prose, and 6th in Program Oral Interpretation. Carlos Castro finished 3rd in Poetry and 6th in Dramatic Interpretation. Josh Lockaby finished 3rd in Program Oral Interpretation and 4th in Dramatic Interpretation. Jakob Salsgiver finished 4th in Impromptu Speaking and was also the top novice at the tournament. Texas State also had two students named to the All-State Speech Squad, Taylor Tate and Josh Lockaby . Only seven students are named to the All-State Squad. The team is coached by Wayne Kraemer who is the TIFA executive secretary, and Jeremy Hutchins , who is the outgoing vice president and tournament director. Tyler Cole and Ashton Rios round out the coaching staff. FACULTY ACCOLADES Jasmine Austin was awarded an REP grant through Texas University for $16,000 for "Casting for Change: Reconstructing Policies for Inclusive Musical Theatre Programs" with Aaron Brown of Theatre, Dance and Film. Stephanie Dailey delivered a webinar for WellCats titled, "Social Media and Mental Health: What You Need to Know and How to Protect Your Well-Being." Stephanie was also invited to visit the Department of Communication Arts at University of the Incarnate Word to share her research with their graduate students. Stephanie took part in the “Innovation and Discovery Workshop,” an initiative from the Division of Research to stimulate multidisciplinary grant funding. She is the only representative from the College of Fine Arts and Communication whose application was accepted. [1] Elizabeth Eger was named a Regents’ Teacher by the Texas State University System Board of Regents. She was also awarded an REP grant through Texas University for $8,000 focused on "Investigating Disabled and Chronically Ill Workers' Communication about Presenteeism." Elizabeth welcomed Dr. Eric James, Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at Metropolitan State University at Denver, for a virtual Scholar Dialogue to her graduate seminar on Work, Identity, and Difference. Students discussed Dr. James' article on blue-collar workers' organizational communication about healthy worker identities and workplace health programs. [2] Most recently, eight Communication Studies M.A. alumni visited Elizabeth’s “Work, Identity, and Difference” (WID) graduate seminar to discuss their work and communication research and how they use their WID and communication 2 3 COMMUNICATION STUDIES Communication Studies, Health Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Leadership Studies, Organizational Communication, Persuasive Communication, Political Communication, & Teacher Certif ication in Communication Studies Stephanie Dailey was the only representative from the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the Innovation and Discovery Workshop Dr. Eric James joins for a virtual Scholar Dialogue with Elizabeth Eger's graduate seminar on Work, Identity, and Difference Elizabeth Eger hosted M.A. alumni speakers in her (WID) graduate seminar to discuss how they use their expertise in their work and lives today 1