November 2010
 Volume 37 no. 5

In This Issue

WSCA Annual Meeting, February 18-22, 2011, Monterey, California
WSCA News Editor:
Michele H. Jackson, University of Colorado at Boulder. jackson@colorado.edu
WSCA News

Prep Time

by Heather Hundley, President

Heather Hundley

I hope everyone has gotten off to a great academic year. With fall, football season, and the Major League Baseball playoffs, that only means one thing, WSCA paper and panel submission deadlines are behind us. Several preparations are going into making the February conference as great as usual.

President Elect Pat Ganer is now busy with putting the program together. To ease her job (and believe me, it’s a big one), please work through your interest group planner to communicate to her. That is, if you have an affiliation change, a panel title change or any corrections you’d like to make before the program is sent to the printers, it is best to inform the interest group planners so they can consolidate any requests and send them altogether. If you haven’t been notified yet if your work was accepted, you will be notified soon. So be patient and fill your mind with NCA, grading papers, or preparing for the holidays.

In addition to Pat working diligently on the program, 2nd Vice President Michelle Holling is keeping busy with receiving Undergraduate Scholar’s Research Conference papers. She will need reviewers and panel respondents, so if you are up to the task, let her know. The reviews take place during December and respondents are needed on the Saturday of preconference. Also, encourage your undergraduates to submit their best term paper. It’s a very rewarding experience and prepares them for graduate work or professional life.

Other committees are busy as well searching for nominees or sifting through nominations in quest of the Distinguished Service Award recipient, the Scholar Award designee, and the Model Teaching Program winner. The Publications Committee is searching for our next Communication Reports Editor. The Time and Place Committee is securing bids for 2014. And Local Hosts are getting organized with the hotel, local merchants, and students to help us have a fun and enjoyable trip. This of course is just a sample of some of the work that gets done for WSCA.

My hat is off to all the numerous WSCA members who give back to the discipline by giving their time and committing to service. The organization would not be as successful if it were not for the dedicated professionals who serve it. Thank you!

Does Your Program Have a Department Membership?

by John Reinard, Executive Director
 John Reinard

Is your Departmental membership current? A check of the website page http://www.westcomm.org/membership/dept_members.asp can let you know.


There are many reasons for a program to hold a Departmental Membership.
  • Departmental members are permitted to post job announcements on the WSCA website for free.
  • Departmental members receive copies of WSCA journals to add to their local holdings (an advantage for providing resources for the students in a program).
  • Departmental members receive reduced rates for convention program and journal announcements.
  • Departmental members have a link to the department’s web site placed on the WSCA website.
  • Departmental members receive reduced rates for participation in the Graduate Programs Open House.
  • Departmental members have all the rights and privileges of Regular Membership.
Departmental Membership is available to any academic institution upon payment of $80 dues. Just download the membership form at http://www.westcomm.org/join/2010memform.pdf and complete the request for Departmental membership. This form may be attached to a requisition, a purchase order, or submitted with departmental credit card information.

Planning for Monterey

from Marnel Niles, Jordan Lee, and Brooke Bedrosian, Local Hosts  

MontereyAre you ready for a stimulating weekend filled with fun and excitement? Well, get ready, because this year’s Western States Communication Association convention will be held in the beautiful and tranquil city of Monterey, CA, from February 18-22, 2011.

California State University, Fresno, the 2011 WSCA Convention local host, hopes to not only bring an exciting turnout to the Monterey conference, but to also ensure an enjoyable and entertaining time. We plan to make your experience spectacular by providing discount transportation to and from San Jose and Monterey airports, arranging special events such as wine tasting, and the annual Sock Hop, and providing discount tickets to some of Monterey’s biggest attractions, including the Aquarium.

We want the 2011 WSCA convention to be both educational and enjoyable. To help get you excited, here are a few trivia questions:
  • What county has the distinction of having over 175 distinct vineyards?
  • What city has one of the Nation’s most memorable aquariums?
  • What organization will bring you the some of the best keynote speakers?
That’s right!! Monterey, CA and the 2011 WSCA Convention. We will see you there! Be sure to join our group on Facebook: “WSCA Convention 2011”.

Is Your Membership Current?

by Michelle A. Holling, 2nd Vice President

Whether you are a long-standing member of WSCA or a relatively new member to WSCA, I appreciate your on-going support, conference attendance and membership. As WSCA’s Second Vice President, one of my responsibilities is to coordinate the membership drive.  Likely that you have already received an electronic membership renewal letter, and I encourage you to renew your membership now. If your form is somewhere between the stack of papers to grade or the stack of research articles to read, no worries because forms are accessible by visiting http://www.westcomm.org.  Maintaining current membership has you receive a few benefits such as journal subscriptions to Western Journal of Communication and Communication Reports, electronic copies of WSCA News, access to the WSCA listserv, reduced annual convention rates, and lowered fees for other regional communication journals.

I look forward to seeing you at our 2011 convention in Monterey from February 18-22, 2011. Program planner and President-Elect, Pat Ganer is building an exciting conference around the theme “Communication and Community.” It encourages participants to reflect on the ways communication can be used to improve our communities at campus, local, national and global levels. Convention information is posted on our website as it becomes available, and preregistration materials will go out in early December. In addition, WSCA is sponsoring the 8th annual Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference. Please encourage your undergraduate students to participate in this exciting opportunity by submitting their research papers to me by December 1st for consideration. Submit to: mholling@csusm.edu. The USRC will take place on Saturday, February 19th. More information can be found at: http://www.westcomm.org/conventions/WSCA-2011-Monterey/CFPforUSRC.pdf

Shortly after the USRC on Saturday the 19th, WSCA is hosting a Graduate Student Workshop as well as a Graduate Student Open House. These events are organized to support graduate students’ scholarly development and success in moving towards their academic goals. If your friends or colleagues are interested in pursuing an M.A. degree or Ph.D., please encourage them to attend these events. The Graduate Student Open House also offers departments the chance to showcase their graduate programs. I thank you for your continued support of WSCA. I look forward to seeing you in Monterey!

Model Communication Program Award: Call for Nominations

by Nancy Rose, Chair

What the award can do for your school… “Winning the award garnered our department local, regional, and national attention and solidified our legitimacy on our campus.  The plaque stands in a place of honor in our departmental display case, serving as a source of pride and a morale booster for every full- and part-time communication faculty member.” –A. Todd Jones, Bakersfield College

Nominations are open until November 8, 2010.  Please send your application via email to Nancy Rose, Chair of the Model Communication Program Award:  rose_n2@msn.com

The Western States Communication Association invites applications for the WSCA Model Communication Program Award.  This award is open to any size program from community colleges or high schools in the Western States.  Proposals are adjudicated on the extent to which the program is a replicable example for equally sized programs.  These "Model Communication Programs" are created by and designed for particular institutions depending on variables like geographic location, population served, administrative support, and funding systems.  The selection committee adjudicates applications relative to the particular context of the program.  Up to two (2) awards may be presented to a community college and a high school in any given year.

The recipient of the WSCA MCPA receives recognition at the annual convention and a showcase panel where they share their success story following the awards banquet.  The application deadline for 2011 award is November 1, 2010.  Applications should not exceed 2500 words and should address the following criteria:
  1. Describe your institution in terms of geographic location, population served, administrative support, funding systems, ratio of full-time/part-time faculty, and any other variable helpful in creating a snapshot of your institution.
  2. How is your program a Model in Teaching?  How does the program integrate current and/or best practices for teaching communication in their curriculum?  Include descriptions of course offerings, teaching innovations, certificates, degrees, curricular design and innovation.
  3. How is your program a Model in Service?  Include descriptions of service to your students, your program, your institution, and/or your community.  Either list service by individual faculty members or as a department. This category includes forensic teams, service learning, internships, committee memberships, etc. 
  4. How is your program a Model in Research and/or Creative Works?  Include descriptions of internal or external grants, articles, reviews, training programs and/or other methods of creating or using current research from the field of Communication Studies. 
  5. How has your program effectively used resources available to create a Model Communication Program?  Include administrative support, integrating broader curricular and co-curricular activities, and encouraging development of specialized areas to reflect the breadth and depth of the field.

WJC Announces Editor Transition

Bill Eadie As of October 1, 2010, submissions to the Western Journal of Communication have been routed to incoming editor Bill Eadie, San Diego State University.  Current editor Brian Ott, University of Colorado, Denver, believes that he can fill his remaining issues from the submissions he has on hand.  

Eadie has announced that his editorial policy will remain the same as previously announced: 
“Published since 1937, the Western Journal of Communication is one of two scholarly journals of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA). The journal is dedicated to the publication of original scholarship that enhances our understanding of human communication. Diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives are welcome. WJC’s longstanding commitment to multiple approaches, perspectives, and issues is reflected by its history of publishing research across rhetorical and media studies, interpersonal and intercultural communication, critical and cultural studies, language behavior, performance studies, small group and organizational communication, freedom of speech, and health and family communication. Research accessible to both scholarly audiences and the learned public is strongly encouraged. The Western Journal of Communication typically does not publish manuscripts over 9,000 words, and submissions that exceed 11,000 words will be returned to the author without review.”

Electronic submission to WJC is required; the journal’s review and publication processes are now entirely paperless until finished issues are printed.  Instructions to authors for manuscript preparation and submission may be found on WJC’s website, http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rwjc.  Please use current editions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the MLA Style Manual in preparing your submission (the author instructions will be updated soon to reflect this change).

Issue’s under Brian Ott’s editorship will continue to appear through the end of 2011.  Bill Eadie is currently processing submissions for issues appearing in 2012.

Western Journal of Communication Vol. 75(1) January-February 2011

by Brian Ott, Editor

Brian Ott

SPECIAL ISSUE: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Work as a Source of Positive Emotional Experiences and the Discourses Informing Positive Assessment Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik, Sarah Riforgiate, and Courtney Fletcher

Exploring the Organizational Tensions and Communication of Community Organizing: The Case of a Local Neighborhood Association Matt Koschmann and Nicole M. Laster

A Study of Voluntary Organizational Membership: The Assimilation Process in a Community Choir Michael W. Kramer
WJC cover
Surviving the Corporate Jungle: The Apprentice as Equipment for Living in the Contemporary Work World Daniel J. Lair

Anticipatory Socialization in Blue-Collar Families: Contradictory Messages of Social Mobility and Reproduction Kristen Lucas 

2010 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 

Mixing Metaphors  Daniel J. Canary

Communication Reports Vol. 23 (2) and Call for Submission

by William (Bill) Sharkey, Editor

Bill Sharkey

Relational Quality Indicators and Love Styles as Predictors of Negative Relational Maintenance Behaviors in Romantic Relationships  Alan K. Goodboy, Scott A. Myers, and Members of Investigating Communication

Coming Out with Our Children: Turning Points Facilitating Lesbian Parent Discourse with Their Children About Family Identity Diana Breshears

Transformational Leadership in the Classroom: The Development and Validation of the Student Intellectual Stimulation Scale San Bolkan and Alan K. Goodboy

Perceptions of Swearing in the Work Setting: An Expectancy Violations Theory Perspective
Danette Ifert Johnson and Nicole Lewis

Call for Submissions:  CR publishes original manuscripts that are short, data/text-based, and related to the broadlComm Reports Covery defined field of human communication. The mission of the journal is to showcase exemplary scholarship without censorship based on topics, methods, or analytical tools. Articles that are purely speculative or theoretical, and not data analytic, are not appropriate for this journal. Authors are expected to devote a substantial portion of the manuscript to analyzing and reporting research data. Research articles should 5000 words or less. This restriction includes the abstract, text of the document, references, footnotes, appendices, and the captions for tables and figures, but longer manuscripts may be considered.  CR is now using the 6th edition of the APA Manual. If you are not sure of the appropriateness of your manuscript in terms of its length or content, please contact the Editor, Bill Sharkey, at creports@hawaii.edu.