Every year the College of Communication and Information (CCI) honors its faculty, staff, and graduate students with awards recognizing excellence in academic, professional, and service areas. Award winners, as well as four retiring faculty members and six graduating PhD students, were celebrated May 7 at a CCI faculty and staff event.
Below are all the amazing faculty members, staff, and students who received CCI awards and recognitions this year:
Graduate Student Awards
- Graduate Student Research Award – Carla White, PhD
- Graduate Student Teaching Award – Sarah Devereux, PhD
- Dissertation Award – Minjeong Kim, PhD
You can read more about our graduate award winners in this article.
Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
This is the first year CCI has awarded this honor, which recognizes faculty engagement in our college-wide graduate programs. The inaugural recipient of this award is Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations Professor Eric Haley, who is known for his intellectual generosity, accessibility, and high standards, as well as for having a profound impact on students’ academic and professional growth.
Graduating PhD Students
CCI’s interdisciplinary PhD program takes hard work and perseverance, and this year six students have achieved the goal of graduating from this program. Supporting these students throughout their PhD journey were their advisors, who were recognized alongside their advisees.
“Together, our graduates and their advisors have exemplified the highest standards of academic excellence and, as a flagship, land-grant, Research 1 university, we are honored to congratulate them—both student and advisor— on their achievements,” said CCI Dean Joe Mazer.
CCI’s graduating doctoral students are:
- Kristin Schrader and her advisor, School of Journalism and Media Professor Julie Andsager. Schrader’s dissertation studied the perceived source of public health messages and how those influence trust and behavioral intent, particularly among rural audiences.
- Scott Greeves and his advisor, School of Journalism and Media Assistant Professor Mustafa Oz. Greeves’ dissertation explored how people think about and value the natural environment and how those values influence support for environmental policies, which resulted in plastic containment booms being placed along 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Creeks near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus. Greeves will be starting a post doc position at the University of Idaho after graduation studying community resilience to extreme weather.
- Jules Morris and her advisor School of Journalism and Media Professor Nick Geidner. Morris’ dissertation examines how female leaders in sports media marketing define, develop, and enact creativity as part of their leadership identity within a historically male-dominated industry.
- Anna McClure and her advisor, School of Communication Studies Associate Professor John Haas. McClure’s dissertation research explores how instructors’ communication abilities impact student learning in public speaking courses; this study’s implications extend beyond public speaking courses, providing a framework for evaluating instructor communication effectiveness in higher education more broadly.
- Habibi Mamone and her advisor School of Information Sciences Professor Suzie Allard. Mamone’s dissertation examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, addressing key challenges in adoption and optimization to enhance operational efficiency, decision making, and competitive advantage in large-scale enterprises. After graduation, Mamone will continue teaching at UT, as well as lead her consulting company, Said Supply Chain Management LLC.
- Shelby Luttman Rios and her advisor, Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations Professor Beth Foster. Rios’s dissertation examined paid leave advocacy through a content analysis of paid leave advocacy organization’s Facebook pages to identify message strategy, engagement, and comment sentiment, based on legitimizing strategies used in the posts.
Faculty and Staff Award Recipients
Last year, CCI revamped its faculty and staff awards to better align with the college’s strategic plan, and to better recognize those who go above and beyond their roles to serve the college, campus, and community at large. This year’s award recipients are:
Innovation in Student Success Award
This award recognizes excellence in delivering and broadening academic opportunities. The winners also demonstrate commitment to innovation, equity, and accessibility for academics through a strong and visible commitment to student success.
- Assistant Professor Minjie Li, Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations – Li uses innovative course design, individualized career coaching, and integrating real-world industry experiences into the classroom, and has helped students win national awards, secure prestigious internships, and launch successful careers.
- Lecturer Lindsay Harrison, School of Communication Studies – Harrison exemplifies innovation and student-centered teaching through her creative approaches such as implementing technologies like Kahoot, making video recordings of her lectures available to students, and creating accessible materials to meet diverse student needs.
Making a Difference through Research and Creative Achievement Award
- Assistant Professor Martin Riedl, School of Journalism and Media – Riedl is an early career researcher who has published in top-tier journals and shared his research, which addresses critical questions around the damaging effects of technological power structures and its effects on those most negatively impacted by technology, internationally—including through partnerships with institutions like the United Nations and his fellowship at University of Munich’s Center for Advanced Studies.
- Professor Amber Roessner, School of Journalism and Media—Roessner’s lifetime of research on President Jimmy Carter pushed her to the media forefront in the wake of his death as she shared expert analysis at major media outlets around the world. Her interdisciplinary collaborations on topics like the mental health advocacy of Olympic Athletes and her ever-present commitment to advancing historical dialogue demonstrates an enduring dedication to innovation and impact.
Access and Engagement Initiatives Award
This award recognizes extraordinary efforts to progress and sustain a nurturing college culture through innovative and impactful access and engagement efforts. As a cornerstone in developing the next generation of Vols, CCI faculty and staff who embrace these efforts to make a difference are celebrated with this award.
- Alexis Anderson, Program Manager for CCI’s Online Master’s Program: Strategic and Digital Communication – Anderson leads with inclusiveness and develops programs geared towards multiple audiences and underrepresented groups, resulting in more than 350 students enrolling in this program since its launch in 2022. Her programming delivers a top-tier experience, and she built sustainable models for closing retention and graduation gaps in the college’s online programs.
Innovation and Collaboration Award
This award recognizes excellence in leading innovative solutions or building meaningful collaborations that improve processes for the college, university, or society. The recipients demonstrate vision to create innovative ideas and/or build collaborations that serve the CCI community or the broader community-at-large.
- Assistant Professor Guy Harrison, School of Journalism and Media—Harrison is the inaugural director of the Alan and Wendy Wilson Communication and Leadership Academy, and his recruitment efforts resulted in over 120 applications for the first cohort, reflecting his ability to inspire and connect students across disciplines. He also played a key role in designing the Wilson Academy’s student application process, recruiting the inaugural advisory board, and coordinating a new global experience in Japan.
- Eric Altenhof, IT Technician—Altenhof is known for his positive attitude, resourcefulness, and problem-solving skills that support faculty, staff, and students throughout CCI. He’s transformed classrooms by tailoring technology to meet each course’s needs, including innovative approaches such setting up 360-degree Zoom video recordings for invited speakers and creating accessible video files for students.
Volunteer Outreach and Engagement Award
This award recognizes CCI faculty and staff who connect the college with our local, state, regional, national, and/or international communities and, in turn, serve the land-grant mission of the university. In doing so, the Volunteer spirit is spread broadly and inspires others to engage in our community.
- Professor Erin Whiteside, School of Journalism and Media—Whiteside embodies the Volunteer spirit through the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities she curates for her students such as the partnership with USA Today, which allowed her students to cover the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. Her background in sports media and research on underrepresented groups provided a foundation for her students’ success, allowing them to produce professional-level content that reached millions worldwide.
- Devan Lane, CCI Director of Career and Professional Development—Lane has launched programs that have expanded career pathways, internships, and mentorship opportunities for our students, delivering programs such as the UX in Practice Panel, the Communication & Information Career Fair and Mingles, Newstreks, and employer information sessions that bring over 60 employers with hiring interests to CCI. From leading the Vols Remote Internship Program to researching and implementing CCI’s first Virtual Career Center, her initiatives embody the spirit of innovation and service.
Volunteer Spirit Award
This award recognizes a full-time CCI staff member for strong work ethic, positive attitude, strong work efficiency and productivity, and notable service to constituents in the College of Communication and Information.
- Sarah Bunch, administrative specialist in the School of Communication Studies – Bunch is known for her exceptional work ethic, positive attitude, and dedication to serving students, faculty, and staff. She expertly manages complex scheduling, supports hundreds of course sections, organizes major student trips and events, and even championed critical health and safety improvements to ensure there are accessible AEDs within the CCI building.
Career Achievement Award
This award is intended to recognize full-time CCI faculty and staff members who have made outstanding, sustained contributions over the course of their career and who have called CCI home for the majority of their career. As such, nominees must have served as a full-time faculty or staff member of CCI for at least 20 years.
- Professor Barb Kaye, School of Journalism and Media – Kaye has served CCI for 24 years and is a renowned scholar with more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, three co-authored textbooks, and more than11,000 citations of her scholarly works, with her textbook Now Media recognized as the Broadcast Education Association’s Textbook of the Year and used in over 60 colleges and universities. The students she’s taught, study abroad programs she’s led, and her service and leadership roles at the school, college, and university level are vast across her career at UT and she truly embodies the Volunteer Spirit.
Celebrating the Careers of Retiring Faculty and Staff
- Lecturer Kathy Braun, School of Communication Studies – Braun has taught at Business and Professional Communication at CCI for 12 years, where she combined her two loves: academia and performing. Kathy sang and danced with aspirations of a career in entertainment, where she learned valuable communication, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations skills. She also had a career in education and taught mathematics at the middle and high school levels in Nashville and Knoxville before transitioning to higher education.
- Professor Julie Andsager, School of Journalism and Media – Andsager, a distinguished professor whose scholarship has shaped our understanding of media, health, and public opinion, is retiring after 10 years at CCI. A UT alumna, Dr. Andsager has authored two influential books and published extensively in top-tier journals including Health Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Communication. According to Google Scholar, her research has been cited more than 3,500 times, reflecting her far-reaching impact in the field.
- Professor Joan Rentsch, School of Communication Studies – Rentsch, who is retiring after 14 years at CCI, is a respected scholar in organizational psychology, communication, and mindfulness. She has served the university in multiple leadership roles and her research has been widely published in top journals such as the Journal of Applied Psychology and the Academy of Management Journal, with support from organizations including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense. She has served on numerous editorial and review boards and has been deeply engaged in faculty development.
- Professor Barbara Kaye, School of Journalism and Media – Kaye’s retirement and career are marked by outstanding scholarship, innovative teaching, and dedicated service. Her articles are among the most cited in leading journals such as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly and Atlantic Journal of Communication. She has been an NATPE Fellow and a participant in the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy, and her leadership and service across the university reflect the true Volunteer spirit.
