Category Archives: Faculty News
CCI Dean Mike Wirth to Return to Teaching
Mike Wirth, dean of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Communication and Information for the past 14 years, has announced his decision to step down and return to teaching at the end of the current academic year.
Wirth is an internationally known expert in the field of cable telecommunication and broadcast economics, and his career includes many accomplishments and accolades. He is a current member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
As a co-editor of the Handbook of Media Management and Economics, he received the 2006 Robert Picard Award for … Read more “CCI Dean Mike Wirth to Return to Teaching”
CCI Alumni Start VOLs Remote Internship Program for Students
As many students around the country had their summer internship plans put on hold because of COVID-19 and economic uncertainty, the University of Tennessee’s New York City Alumni Chapter quickly organized a virtual internship program for future communicators.
The VOLs Remote Internship pilot program paired five interns from CCI with social media and digital communication roles at nonprofit organizations dedicated to education.
CCI Board of Visitors member Jamie Lonie (PR ’10), who also serves as president of New York City Alumni Chapter, said the idea for a digital internship program was born from the November 2019 CCI Board of Visitors … Read more “CCI Alumni Start VOLs Remote Internship Program for Students”
New CCI Faculty, Staff for 2020-21
The College of Communication and Information welcomes seven new faculty and staff members for the 2020-21 school year.
The new year also brings two familiar faces to administrative roles. Professor Beth Avery Foster became the new Director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations on August 1. Chancellor’s Professor and Board of Visitors Professor Carol Tenopir was named interim director of the School of Information Sciences when SIS Professor and Director Diane Kelly was named UT Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
New Faculty
Guy Harrison (Assistant Professor, Journalism and Electronic Media) has a PhD in Journalism and Mass … Read more “New CCI Faculty, Staff for 2020-21”
CCI Presents at 2020 AEJMC Conference
Faculty and graduate students from the University of Tennessee College of Communication and Information (CCI) presented 10 peer-reviewed research papers at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) annual conference, which was held virtually Aug. 6-9.
In addition, six CCI faculty served as panelists, moderators, and discussants during the conference.
Faculty serving in AEJMC leadership roles include: Amber Roessner, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, who was elected to the Standing Committee on Research, and Joy Jenkins, JEM assistant professor, who is the incoming head of the Magazine Media Division. Moonhee … Read more “CCI Presents at 2020 AEJMC Conference”
Foster Named New ADPR Director
Professor Elizabeth Avery Foster became Director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations on August 1.
She takes over from Professor Sally McMillan, who returned to the faculty after serving as interim director since June 2019.
“Beth Foster is an internationally known scholar, an outstanding teacher and an excellent servant leader,” said Wirth. “Her experience in working with a wide range of constituencies and of developing effective working relationships at all levels will allow her to be very effective in her new role.”
Foster joined the ADPR faculty as an assistant professor in 2006 and was promoted to professor … Read more “Foster Named New ADPR Director”
Kelly Named UT Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; Tenopir Named Interim SIS Director
Diane Kelly, director of the School of Information Sciences, was named UT Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs effective August 1.
Kelly did an outstanding job of serving as professor and director of the School of Information Sciences since 2016. Her accomplishments included leading the school to a 110 percent enrollment increase in the Master of Science in information sciences and the creation of a new bachelor’s degree in information sciences.
Read Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick’s letter about Kelly’s appointment.
Chancellor’s Professor and Board of Visitors Professor Carol Tenopir will serve as interim director of the School of … Read more “Kelly Named UT Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; Tenopir Named Interim SIS Director”
2020 ICA Conference – CCI Participants
The 70th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Gold Coast, Australia, was held virtually May 20-27. A number of professors and students from the School of Advertising and Public Relations, the School of Communication Studies, and the School of Journalism and Electronic Media participated.
Discussion Moderators & Chairs
ADPR Interim Director & Professor Sally McMillan:
- Chair: Virtual Reality: New Methods, Approaches, and Theories
JEM Assistant Professor Joy Jenkins:
- Chair: How Journalists Use Social Media
ADPR Assistant Professor Matthew Pittman:
- Chair: HIGH DENSITY: Messaging for Public Awareness and Social Change
CS Associate Professor Michelle Violanti:… Read more “2020 ICA Conference – CCI Participants”
Professors Teach Stress Reduction to Hospital Students, Employees
Working in the medical field can be stressful even in the best of times, but the COVID-19 pandemic has many medical professionals feeling overwhelmed.
To counteract this, professors Joan Rentsch of the College of Communication and Information and David Patterson of the College of Social Work are leading weekly sessions in mindfulness-based stress reduction with medical residents and employees at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
The Zoom sessions include short guided meditation practices for the 25 to 35 participants, followed by time for discussion and teaching. Sessions usually finish in less than an hour.
“Mindfulness practices can aid participants … Read more “Professors Teach Stress Reduction to Hospital Students, Employees”
Haley, White Named DeForrest Jackson Professors
Professors Eric Haley and Candace White are the next recipients of the School of Advertising and Public Relations’ DeForrest Jackson Professorship.
The professorship is held by tenured faculty members in the school on a three-year rotating basis. Haley and White will hold the professorship from August 1, 2020 to July 31,2023. They succeed Mariea Hoy, who was selected as the inaugural recipient of the professorship in 2017.
The DeForrest Jackson Professorship, ADPR’s first named professorship, was created with a gift from Suzanne Sackleh Masters of Atlanta. She earned her bachelor’s degree in advertising in 1989 and made the gift in … Read more “Haley, White Named DeForrest Jackson Professors”
Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start
With Dolly Parton’s new 10-week bedtime-story series Goodnight with Dolly under way, the honorary UT alumna is doing her part to comfort kids all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media Nick Geidner, who produced and directed the documentary film The Library That Dolly Built.
“My one-and-a-half-year-old, Sam, who makes some cameos in the film, loved the first episode, especially at the end when Dolly sang ‘I Believe in You,’” Geidner said. “He loved the woo-woo-woos in the song, but I also think he loved it because it is … Read more “Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start”