CCI Faculty, Graduate Students Shine at Annual NCA Convention  

While exploring booths at the 2025 National Communication Association (NCA) Convention last month, College of Communication and Information (CCI) master’s student Md Ibnun Sarwar Rafi made an interesting discovery.  

His first published article, “Barriers to discussing comprehensive sexuality education: a qualitative study of home tutor-student interpersonal communication in Bangladesh,” which investigated barriers home tutors faced when discussing comprehensive sexuality education with their students, was cited in a new book, New Directors For, and Panaceas Arising From, Communication Accommodation Theory.   

“I picked up the book just to see its contents and interestingly found the article I co-authored as an undergraduate student cited for the first time,” Rafi said.  

The discovery further enhanced an already memorable conference for the first-time attendee.   

Rafi joined 28 CCI faculty and graduate students, including three other master’s students, Grace Brooks, Aurora Silavong, and Shaina Jo Scheetz, in Denver last month at the annual NCA convention. 

For more than 100 years, NCA’s annual convention has brought together world-class academics and professionals in the communication studies fields to share research, network with fellow communication professionals, and grow professionally through specialized workshops and mentorship opportunities.   

CCI faculty and students showcased their expertise through presenting papers, chairing committees, participating in panel discussions, and more. CCI also received the following accolades at this year’s convention for faculty and students’ outstanding work: 

• CCI received an NCA Presidential Citation for hosting the doctoral honors seminar this summer during the NCA Legislative Assembly Meeting at the convention. CCI will host the NCA doctoral honors seminar again in 2027. 

• CCI doctoral student Traci Lively won the 2025 NCA Nonverbal Communication Division Top Student Paper award for her paper “The Feedback Tango: Understanding the Performer’s Response.” Her award-winning paper explores feedback dancers receive from instructors in a professional dance organization and its impact on helping them reach their full potential.   

• Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations Assistant Professor Jeannette Iannacone received the 2025 NCA Public Relations Division PRIDE award for her journal article, “Mapping Social Networks: A Qualitative Approach to Networked Public Relations Scholarship.” Her research proposed the integration of a qualitative approach to social network analysis, a research method used to examine the structure, dynamics, and outcomes of interactions among social actors. 

“As director of the college-wide graduate programs, I am continually inspired by seeing our students and faculty share their research at conferences such as NCA and receive recognition for their meaningful contributions to their academic communities, reunite with alumni, and connect with prospective students who visited our graduate student open house booth during the conference,” Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations Professor Moonhee Cho said. Their engagement truly showcases the strength of our graduate programs.” 

Growing Networks at NCA 

For some CCI attendees, such as doctoral student Jenna Pauly, the opportunity to connect and network with so many established and emerging scholars in the field was their highlight from the convention.  

CCI also hosted a reception in partnership with the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information at NCA as a way for current faculty and students to reconnect and meet new colleagues. 

Pauly said she finds networking with others invaluable as a researcher, adding she took away several ideas and recommendations on how she can advance her research. Pauly said this year’s convention was her second time at NCA, so it was less intimidating to approach others to pick their brain about a research topic she was interested in or to just express admiration for their work. 

Her desire to grow these connections even led to her getting more involved by accepting a nomination to be the graduate student representative for the NCA Communication Sport Division.  

Other CCI doctoral students, such as Carla White, also took advantage of opportunities to serve on an NCA division committee to build their professional network. White serves as a committee member on the Public Relations Division’s social media committee.  

 “It is just a great way to get more involved and just keep building those connections,” Pauly said. “It was nice to reunite with some people as well. They say you’re going to make conference friends, and I felt like I am finally making those connections.”  

For a full list of CCI faculty and students’ presentations, papers, speakers, and more at 2025 NCA convention see the list below: 

Key: 
Bolded names — CCI faculty 
Bolded and asterisk (*) —CCI students