November & December 2016 College News

30-minute interview wherein he discussed his ongoing workplace romance research. Sean was also one of four Texas State faculty members asked to speak on the Distinguished Research Panel at the Eighth Annual Research Conference for Graduate Students. Miriam Sobre-Denton received the Distinguished Scholarship Award for NCA Top Faculty Paper in the Experiential Learning Division for “Tracing the theoretical implications and pragmatic applications of critical intercultural communication pedagogy.” Melinda Villagran was a featured guest for the inaugural episode of “Professor to Professor,” a campus webcast hosted by SJMC Professor Tom Grimes. “Professor to Professor” is designed to help faculty develop strategies for overcoming common barriers to scholarly and creative productivity. The first episode focused on balancing an active program of research with work and family issues. FORENSICS ACCOLADES At the Fall 2016 Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) championship, Texas State placed second in individual events sweepstakes, 5th place in debate sweepstakes, and 3rd place overall. [ 2 ] Two Bobcats placed 1st in their individual events: Micailah Nobles placed 1st in program oral interpretation and Symone Holmes placed 1st in dramatic interpretation. Micailah was the 3rd place speaker across all individual events and Symone was 6th overall. Also placing in individual events finals were: Emily Cumming , 6th in persuasive speaking and 6th in impromptu speaking; Preston Nieves , 4th in extemporaneous speaking and 3rd in novice persuasive speaking; Miguel Porfirio , 5th in poetry; Jaelyn Ashford , 2nd in novice program oral interpretation; Elissa Palmer , 2nd in novice impromptu speaking and 2nd in novice extemporaneous speaking; Micailah Nobles , 3rd in prose; Symone Holmes and Micailah Nobles , 2nd in duo dramatic interpretation. In the debate events, Coffey McCurdy and Elissa Palmer received 2nd place in team parliamentary debate and were the 15th and 16th speaker respectively. Coffey McCurdy and Nate Sauve were quarterfinalists in individual parliamentary debate. In the second half of the tournament, Texas State placed 3rd in individual events sweepstakes. Overall, Texas State received 3rd place for both tournaments combined. Emily Cumming placed 1st in persuasive speaking. Also placing in individual events were: Antonio Rivera , 2nd in program oral interpretation; Jaelyn Ashford , 3rd in program oral interpretation; Matthew Anderson , 5th in persuasive speaking and 6th in extemporaneous speaking; Preston Nieves , 7th in extemporaneous speaking and semi-finalist in impromptu speaking; Miguel Porfirio , 3rd in poetry Elissa Palmer , semi-finalist in impromptu speaking Symone Holmes and Micailah Nobles , 5th in duo dramatic interpretation. ALUMNI ACCOLADES M.A. student Vanessa Salazar successfully defended her thesis, “Welcome aboard: An exploration of the impact of structured socialization on newcomer perceived organizational support, engagement and identification.” She will also present a condensed version of the paper to the International Communication Association conference. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Laura Brown (M.A., 2013) just started her first year in the PhD program at the University of Kentucky. Her focus is Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, with certificates in College Teaching and Instructional Communication. Her eldest daughter is applying to be a Texas State Bobcat with a major in music education. Jeremy Fyke (B.A., 2005 & M.A., 2007) currently teaches at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. His most recent publication is a co-edited case study book, Cases in Organizational and Managerial Communication: Stretching Boundaries . [ 3] Cassandra (Querques) Mullinnex (M.A., 2009) is currently a career counselor at State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta. After serving as an adjunct professor teaching Introduction to Communication and Argumentation courses, Cassie worked as a transfer admissions counselor for five years. For two years she has been a member of the Career Development Center team, helping students explore and pin down their next stop after graduation. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 7