Lily Crosby was drawn to strategic communications after working for the Appalachia Service Project (ASP), a housing non-profit that works with people in Central Appalachia. She returned to school to improve those skills, graduating in May 2021 with her master’s degree in Communication and Information with the concentration in public relations.

Crosby wants to use her enhanced public relations and strategic communication skills to serve the community through nonprofit organizations.

What has it been like juggling an internship while attending graduate school? Do you have any time management tips?

After four years of full-time copywriting work, Philip Servello was drawn back to college to pursue a degree that would help him pivot to a sports production career.

He recently completed his master’s degree with a concentration on journalism and electronic media. He took full advantage of student media that CCI offers, serving as sports and news director for WUTK 90.3 the Rock and a news producers and sports director for UT Today. He was also a freelance sportswriter for the Oak Ridger covering college sports.

Jessica Barfield is pursuing her PhD in the College of Communication and Information with a concentration in information sciences and recently completed her first year of studies.

She is an active member of the CCI Graduate Student Association and served as vice president during the spring semester. She is a graduate research assistant working with Professor Dania Bilal and also works in the Adam Brown Social Media Command Center.

What made you pursue your PhD in Information Sciences? What are your previous degrees in?

School of Communication Studies Associate Professor Laura Miller has been selected as the second recipient of the William H. Swain Endowed Professorship. 

Miller’s scholarship intersects interpersonal and health communication, specifically exploring illness-related uncertainty, identity negotiations, and conversations with close others in various disease contexts. She teaches courses in health communication, communication theory, and qualitative methods.

Joseph Mazer, professor and chair of Clemson University’s Department of Communication, will be the next dean of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s College of Communication and Information effective July 1. Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick made the announcement to the campus community earlier today.

In a few months, Ciera Noe will earn her second degree from the College of Communication and Information. 

The second one will definitely be a first. 

Noe completed her bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Electronic Media in 2020 and is on track to being the first graduate of CCI’s new Strategic and Digital Communication (SDC) program this summer. She does not have finalized career plans, but she found a strength in copy edited during her undergraduate studies and the SDC coursework sparked an interest in social media marketing. 

After more than 15 years away, Dania Sarelska returned to Rocky Top in 2018 from her home country of Bulgaria to pursue a PhD in Communication and Information with an emphasis in Journalism and Electronic Media.

She was part of two Journalism and Electronic Media non-degree exchange programs in 2000 and 2003  while studying at Sofia University. Since graduating, she has been a news producer and director in Bulgaria.

What made you decide to pursue your PhD at UT?

School of Journalism and Electronic Media Professor Rob Heller has been selected as the fourth recipient of the CCI Board of Visitors Professorship. 

The BOV Professorship, currently held by Suzie Allard, Chancellor’s Professor in Information Sciences and CCI Associate Dean for Research, was made possible by generous gifts from donors including current and emeritus members of the college’s Board of Visitors. The three-year rotating professorship was established to recognize and reward outstanding CCI faculty members whose research, creative activity, teaching, and academic and professional service have uniquely contributed to the mission of their school, the college and the university.

Abebe Rorissa will be the new director of the School of Information Sciences on July 1, 2021. He is currently Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Associate Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.