March_CollegeNews_25

6 | March | College News College of Fine Arts and Communication | 7 FACULTY ACCOLADES Jasmine Austin was the keynote speaker for a graduate student-centered conference at Texas A&M where she shared three actionable strategies to help graduate students carve their own paths with confidence and purpose. Jasmine welcomed scholars from Texas Christian University, the University of Southern California, an organizational trainer, and M.A. alum Johnny Vasallo to her graduate level qualitative methods course. Each participant recorded videos requesting qualitative consulting from graduate students in the class. The students were able to learn about the scholar’s research and then give specific strategies for participant recruitment, participant engagement and rapport building, and recommendations for giving back to the participants. [1] Ann Burnette received the Presidential Distinction Award for Service at the Associate Professor/Professor level. She will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the university level for the Presidential Award. Ann also received the Rena Barr Volunteer Spirit Award from the Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico (TxOLAN) Alpaca Association. She has been the official announcer of the annual TxOLAN Sweetheart Spectacular Alpaca Show since 2009 and has also served as the official announcer of the TxOLAN Bluebonnet Stakes Alpaca Show since 2020. Stephanie Dailey received the Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching at the Associate Professor/Professor level. She will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the university level for the Presidential Award. Stephanie welcomed Erika Lingonblad and Giselle Kowalski to her Social Me- dia in Organizations course. They spoke about their roles in the Division of Marketing & Communications at Texas State (TXST), sharing insights behind running the TXST flagship accounts and the TXST Podcast Network , as well as fruitful career advice for students seeking to work in social media. [2] Kristen Farris published, "A test of relational turbulence in sibling relationships: Relationship characteristics, emotions, communication, and relational turbulence" in the Journal of Family 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 Jasmine Austin was the keynote speaker for a graduate student centered conference at Texas A&M Stephanie Dailey welcomed Erika Lingonblad and Giselle Kowalski to her Social Media in Organizations course Rebekah Fox participated in a briefing for the Hazardous Fuels Review Team in the Ocala National Forest in Florida 1 Rebekah Fox participated in a briefing for the Hazardous Fuels Review Team in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. These periodic reviews contribute to her ongoing, funded work with the United States Forest Service. [3] Marek Muller received the 2024 runner-up award for Online Teaching Excellence from the Division of Online & Extended Learning at TXST. This is a prestigious and competitive award meant to highlight innovative teaching methods in online instruction. They were honored for their online, accelerated course in Intercultural Communication. Specifically, their course was honored for its outstanding organizational struc- ture, creative assessments, and multimodal course texts. Mark Paz received the Presidential Distinction Award for Ser- vice at the Lecturer/Sr Lecturer/Assistant Professor level. He will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the university level for the Presidential Award. Lindsay Timmerman received the B. Aubrey Fisher Out- standing Journal Article Award for her publication in Western Journal of Communication , titled “Redefining ‘healthy mom, healthy baby’: Making sense of traumatic birth stories through relational dialectics theory.” The award was presented to her and co-author Valerie Cronin-Fisher at the Western States Communication Association Conference in February. DEPARTMENT ACCOLADES TEDxTexasStateUniversity Celebrates Ten Years The TEDx Texas State University team hosted its 10th annual TEDx event on Saturday, February 22. The theme of this year’s event was Legacy. On November 8, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson , alumnus of Texas State University (then Southwest Texas State College), signed into law the Higher Education Act of 1965 on our campus in San Marcos, Texas. One of the primary aims of the legislation was "to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities.” The 2025 TEDx event celebrated the 60th anniversary of the signing of this bill and its lasting legacy, with speakers repre- senting a variety of fields and perspectives including technolo- gy, health, the arts, media, social sciences, the humanities, and the natural sciences. This year’s event featured seven speakers discussing various subjects surrounding the theme Legacy, exploring the legis- lation’s impact on higher education, the limitless possibilities within education, and the promising future of education. • Andy Bell is a former director of innovation & Ecosystems at LEGO Education and currently serves as CEO of Think- ery, a premiere children's museum in Austin. Andy is driven to create a mean- ingful impact in the world by reimagining education to bring a lifelong love of learning to ALL kids. As a cancer survivor, engineer, educator, father, public speak- er, and executive leader, his relentless focus is finding the potential in all things and collaboratively building innovative solutions to ensure today's youth thrive. He passionately works as an advocate and educator for joyful learning serving on the Advisory Board for SXSW EDU, the Champions Board for the Greater Austin STEM Ecosystem, and the Board of Directors for the Center for Engineering and Education Outreach at Tufts University. Andy discussed how the US education system needs not just an evolution, but a revolution to help ensure that children become critical thinkers. He shared the elements needed to reimagine our learning environments and experiences. • Sergio Carvajal-Leoni is a storyteller, researcher, and cultural advocate with over two decades of experience telling stories across multiple platforms, including film, music, interactive media, and live events. Based in Texas, he is the creator of italchannel.tv, an edutainment plat- form celebrating Italian culture, as well as El Gallo and the Texas cult film Tiramisu for Two . His film work has been featured at renowned festivals, including Tribeca, South by Southwest, and Traverse City. His recent docu- mentary series, Education is Boring , spotlights innovative approaches to make learning more engaging, reflecting his commitment to connecting communities through media and storytelling as tools for entertainment-edu- cation. Sergio is the founder of Tiburon Transmedia, a boutique communications shop based in Austin, where he collaborates with clients from local organizations to global corporations. Sergio’s talk highlighted the power of intergenerational learning and how we can use digital tools to collect and preserve the stories of our elder family members.