Points of Pride

Research and Scholarship

• SIS faculty are ranked number one in the nation for per capita journal articles published. The school is ranked second among all US Library and Information Sciences (LIS) programs with respect to the number of journal articles published and third in the researchers cumulative program rankings.

• School of Communication Studies faculty members have served on editorial boards for key business communication journals, including the Journal of Business Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and the Journal of Communication Studies.

• Dr. Carol Tenopir is ranked as the most research productive LIS faculty member in the United States.

• School of Advertising and Public Relations faculty members are often invited to present their original research at national and international conferences. Faculty have won numerous "top paper" awards for their research and many serve or have served as editors and board members for industry journals.

• Several Journalism and Electronic Media faculty members have authored books that are considered seminal works in a number of different areas such as Web journalism, media history, international communications, writing and editing. 

• Since 1998, SIS professor Mike Pemberton has been the executive editor of the Information Management Journal, an international, interdisciplinary, journal which has twice won awards from the American Society of Association Executives and has been twice cited by members “the most valuable benefit of membership."

Rankings 

• US News and World Report recently named the School of Information Sciences as 16th best among library schools in North America.

• Advertising faculty are among the top five advertising programs nationally in the number of presentations made at the national conferences of the American Academy of Advertising.

• SIS is in the top 10 programs for receiving grants and contracts in North America.

International Activities

• The School of Communication Studies has one of the most active study abroad programs for undergraduate and graduate students among communication programs across the nation.

• The School of Journalism and Electronic Media holds a $1.2 million grant to enhance journalism in the Middle East.

• The School of Information Sciences has signed a memorandum of understanding and works closely with both the East African School of Library and Information Sciences at Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Puerto Rico’s Graduate School of Information Sciences and Technologies.

• The School of Journalism and Electronic Media provides professional training for Eastern European journalism and media managers under the auspices of the US Department of State Programs.

Program Highlights

• The University of Tennessee is the only university in the state to offer a major in public relations and is one of a few select universities nationwide to do so.

• The School of Communication Studies sponsors the largest public speaking contest in the Southeast. Each semester, the McClung Public Speaking Contest involves more than 800 students representing almost every major at the university.

• Advertising students have won first place in American Advertising Federation (AAF) District 7 Competition in four of the last five years.

• The School of Journalism and Electronic Media's news site, The Tennessee Journalist, offers students an innovative way to gain experience in online newsgathering and reporting.