The\u00a0CCI Graduate Student Research Award<\/strong>\u00a0recognizes outstanding research and creative activity by a current graduate student in the college.\u00a0This year\u2019s recipient is Kibum Youn <\/strong>with the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations, who successfully defended his doctoral dissertation this spring. Youn has an impressive research record for a graduate student. He has published four referred journal articles, three of which are first-author publications, and featured in outlets such as the Journal of Advertising Research<\/em> and the International Journal of Advertising<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0He also has several manuscripts in progress or under review, and 19 proceedings at conferences. Of course, quantity is not the only marker of an impressive researcher. He is a great conceptual thinker with a strong grasp of research methodology, and he shows promise of having a strong and innovative research career ahead of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0CCI Graduate Student Teaching Award<\/strong>\u00a0recognizes outstanding classroom instruction by a current graduate student in the college.\u00a0This year\u2019s recipient is Aman Misra<\/strong>, a doctoral student in the School of Journalism and Media. Misra This year\u2019s winner is an accomplished instructor, teaching several classes for CCI including Sports Reporting Across the Media and Intro to Journalism and Creative Media.\u00a0\u00a0Both students and faculty note his passion and enthusiasm for instruction, which he infuses into every class period.\u00a0<\/p>\n He has coordinated several guest speakers for his classes, including Jarrod Kimber, a former ESPN writer, and Joe Posnanski, who has won the AP sportswriter of the year award. He is an instructor who can both connect with students and facilitate their learning. One comment from his course evaluations sums it up perfectly: \u201cHe was a great professor who cared about giving all of his students a solid foundation for a career in journalism.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dissertation Award\u00a0<\/strong>recognizes outstanding scholarship as exemplified in the dissertation. This year\u2019s recipient is Katie Knight,<\/strong> who recently successfully defended her dissertation, A Relational Ontological Framework for Identifying Unstated Assumptions in Scientific Data<\/em>. Her dissertation focused on the role of fundamental epistemological questions in creating systems to manage and analyze scientific data.\u00a0\u00a0It has the ability to make a significant impact on the field, because it illuminates how neglecting unstated assumptions in scientific data sets can lead artificial intelligence and machine learning applications to create biased outcomes.\u00a0Her nominators highlighted how this is simply one of the best dissertations they have read. In the words of one nominator, \u201cThe work touches on the foundations of science and has great potential to impact so many disciplines, a rare feat.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n CCI is also celebrating eight graduated doctoral students and their dedicated advisors, who are:<\/p>\n Celebrating CCI Board of Visitors<\/strong> Professorships<\/strong><\/p>\n This endowed professorship was made possible by generous gifts from several current and past members of the CCI Board of Visitors. It was established to reward and recognize outstanding CCI faculty whose research and creative activity, teaching, and academic and professional service have uniquely contributed to the mission of their school, the college, and the university.\u00a0CCI is recognizing excellence across tenure-track faculty ranks by awarding two Board of Visitors Professorships <\/em><\/strong>for a three-year term.\u00a0One professorship will be awarded to a tenured faculty member, which is consistent with prior college practice. To recognize exceptional performance among CCI\u2019s tenure-track faculty, one professorship will be awarded to an assistant professor with at least three years of completed service in CCI.\u00a0<\/p>\n Celebrating Faculty and Staff Award Recipients<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Every year, CCI honors the work and commitment of faculty and staff with awards, and this year CCI has revised and expanded its awards to align with the college\u2019s strategic vision. This year, those award recipients are:<\/p>\n The Innovation in Student Success Award <\/strong>recognizes excellence in delivering and broadening academic opportunities. The winner also demonstrates commitment to innovation, equity, and accessibility for academics through a strong and visible commitment to student success. There are two recipients of this award this year.<\/p>\n The first recipient, Assistant Professor Mustafa Oz<\/strong>, School of Journalism and Media, is committed to fostering an academic environment that encourages student excellence and engages them in innovative educational experiences beyond traditional learning. He demonstrates outstanding performance in education through high student evaluations and peer reviews. He has developed and taught innovative courses including Communicating with Data and Audience Analytics, which have received positive feedback from students and colleagues.\u00a0The nominee\u2019s efforts have led to increased student engagement, retention, and enrollment in his classes. He also enhanced academic accessibility by attending workshops and implementing inclusive teaching strategies. Additionally, he leads a study abroad program in Valencia, Spain, providing students with valuable internships and cultural experiences.\u00a0Oz\u2019s comprehensive efforts across these areas not only demonstrate his unwavering commitment to student success but also reflect his belief in the transformative power of education.\u00a0He is deeply invested in continuing to develop and implement strategies that enhance our students\u2019 academic journeys, prepare them for future challenges, and foster a lifelong love of learning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The second recipient is Whitney Mattson<\/strong>, associate director in the CCI Office of Undergraduate Programs and Advising. As a committed member of our college, she has consistently demonstrated an unwavering focus on student success and a strong work ethic that sets her apart. Her dedication to improving the advisor training process has been instrumental in enhancing the support system for both students and advisors alike.\u00a0Mattson has taken the initiative to not only excel professionally as an academic advisor but also to actively engage in initiatives aimed at improving the overall student experience.\u00a0An example of her commitment is her role as a change agent for the university\u2019s new CRM, Salesforce. She has been involved in process development and design since the beginning of the program\u2019s development and will serve to assist in training and onboarding our staff.\u00a0In addition to supervising the advisors within the college, she carries an advising load of approximately 70-100 students each semester. She also has a passion for working with student athletes and collaborates with the Thornton Center academic counselors to help our student athletes excel in their chosen majors. She has worked very hard to develop rapport and ongoing relationships with student-athletes and their academic counselors. This has helped to increase our student-athletes\u2019 success.\u00a0What truly sets her apart is her ability to combine academic advising excellence with a genuine passion for helping others succeed. She consistently goes above and beyond expectations, taking on leadership roles and actively seeking out opportunities to make a positive impact within our college.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Making a Difference through Research and Creative Achievement Award<\/strong> recognizes excellence in research and creative achievement. The recipient of this award demonstrates commitment to meaningful rigorous research or creative achievement that develops new knowledge or provides new insights to help advance innovative solutions to challenges for our disciplines, our communities, and our society.\u00a0<\/p>\n The recipient of this year\u2019s award is Assistant Professor Matthew Pittman<\/strong>, Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations. There are different ways to measure meaningful research achievement; and he has met many of them. He uses and expands dual-processing theories, social judgment theory, processing fluency, and accountability to increase sustainable consumption.\u00a0Per Google Scholar, his work has already garnered 2,507 citations\u2014with seventeen of his articles on the h-index. Since 2015, he has published twenty-five peer-reviewed journal articles across the top outlets in his field, including all big five advertising journals. He has co-authored a methods book and has more articles under review. He is the sole author of four of the articles and the lead author of eighteen.\u00a0He has presented at least two papers yearly at national and international conferences. He is an associate editor at the International Journal of Advertising<\/em> and sits on the review board of several other journals. He is also on two large NIH grant proposals currently under review. These quantitative metrics are but one way to show the impact and influence of his work.\u00a0He does all this while regularly publishing with graduate students, winning our college\u2019s faculty and student collaboration research award. He received a UT Teaching Support Award Grant to run social media ads to promote non-profits with another PhD student.\u00a0That work has earned him a Green Fee Award for sustainability research, several generous CCI grants over the years, and UT\u2019s 2020 Graduate Professor of the Year.\u00a0His research is impressive enough to nominate on its own merit, but his creative activity is also worth mentioning. To give students in his social media class experience making popular videos, they create content for TikTok and Instagram to see what will be successful. Many of his videos have gone viral and earned a lot of exposure for CCI and UT.\u00a0What the extensive list of accomplishments and achievements does not capture is the fact that he accomplishes all of this with the utmost collegiality, a contagious energy, and a genuine investment in his students as well as advertising research and education.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Access and Engagement Initiatives Award<\/strong> 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n This year\u2019s recipient is Dionne George,<\/strong> Tombras Program Manager in the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations and CCI\u2019s Interim Director of Access and Engagement. She works every day, to make our university community\u2014and far beyond\u2014more diverse and equitable. The energy in her work is matched only by the passion in her belief we can make a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.\u00a0She works to address underrepresentation in majors of the Tombras School through its unique and innovative Tombras Program and to create a more inclusive atmosphere. She takes an intentional and proactive approach to DE&I, engaging early at the pre-collegiate level.\u00a0Central to her approach for the Tombras School is providing educational and professional development opportunities for underrepresented youth who may not have otherwise been afforded them through strategic interventions and opportunities.\u00a0She engages with high school teachers from Flagship high schools to support their efforts to stay current with theoretical and industry applications to integrate into their lessons. These efforts reach a broad audience of underrepresented students as well as first generation students for whom college otherwise may not be considered and expose them to a possible, tangible career path.\u00a0This recipient started a new mentoring program designed for both the students and their mentors to provide a more inclusive professional development mentoring experience for our students. This 8-month program connects ADPR students with professional advocates to provide encouragement and support during the junior and senior years of college.\u00a0In this past year alone, her efforts <\/strong>reached 146 middle school students, 1,202 high school students, and 29 high school teachers and counselors.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Innovation and Collaboration Award<\/strong> recognizes excellence in leading innovative solutions or building meaningful collaborations that improve processes for the college, university, or society. The recipient demonstrates vision to create innovative ideas and\/or build collaborations that serve the CCI community or the broader community-at-large. This award will be given to two individuals this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first recipient is Associate Professor Moonhee Cho<\/strong>, Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations. She has demonstrated a commitment to pioneering initiatives and fostering partnerships that drive positive change. As an international scholar, she consistently encourages students to seize opportunities in enhancing their intercultural competency by stepping out of their comfort zone and expanding their horizon.\u00a0Recognizing that virtual exchange programs are critical educational tools for 21st century skill development and global competency building and acknowledging that only a small percentage of students can afford to participate in study abroad programs, she adopted the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program in spring 2022, which was sponsored by the Central Asia University Partnerships Program.\u00a0This marked the inception of the first-ever COIL program at the university. Since then, she has been closely involved as a COIL ambassador to the university community, presenting the COIL ideas and experiences at various on campus and national conferences.\u00a0In addition to COIL, she is also actively involved in various collaborative opportunities working with the Center for Global Engagement. In the summer of 2022, she was a part of UT delegation for the global outreach and engagement during the June 2022 UT Asia trip. Since the visit, she has been diligently working with both the universities and business to foster and enhance relationships for potential collaborations. These efforts aim to broaden the university\u2019s visibility, promote faculty research collaboration, and increase student engagement opportunities. This recipient has embraced various innovation and collaboration research opportunities as well. She has been actively involved in several collaborative research projects within the institution and other multi-institutions securing some research grants.\u00a0She was nominated to be a member of UT\u2019s Expanding Horizon cohort for 2023-2024 and has actively sought multiple research opportunities to broaden her research within a potentially convergent research context, focusing on purpose\/impact-driven communication.\u00a0Her experience in spearheading innovative initiatives and cultivating strategic collaborations makes her well-suited for the CCI Innovation and Collaboration Award. She is deeply committed to driving positive change through creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The next recipient for this award is Amy Forrester<\/strong>, assistant director of the CCI Research and Innovation Center. She regularly contributes innovative ideas to improve RIC processes to better serve our faculty, staff, and students, and she is key to building and maintaining relationships with our CCI research community partners.\u00a0She has led several innovative processes for RIC and provided the energy to bring them to reality. This individual was key during the development of the initial concept for RIC\u2019s Knowledge Clips proposal to CCI\u2019s Strategic Initiative Plan program in spring 2023.\u00a0During the proposal brainstorming session, she provided ideas about how the series could be designed, built, and measured. When the project was funded, she took over as the \u201cproduct owner\u201d developing the timeline for development of the modules including managing team input and coordination with OIT.\u00a0RIC\u2019s Knowledge Clips have been online since December 2023. It has also been shared with the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, with one member of the ORIED team noting \u201cCCI beat us to it. Just want to tell you how much I love this!!\u201d <\/em>It has received similar enthusiastic reception from associate deans for research from across the campus.\u00a0This recipient is process driven and has a keen eye for identifying process gaps that need a solution to provide a more seamless and efficient experience for our CCI research community. She created the online forms for the Graduate Student Completion Fund and the Faculty Research Innovation Fund application process. These forms allow students and faculty to apply for these funds in a fast, easy fashion so their time is optimized.\u00a0During the RIC strategic planning exercise, RIC learned that they needed a better way to understand how workflows through the team time across the various services RIC provides. This individual designed an internal activity tracking system that we use to better understand our workflows.\u00a0She has also embraced the one of the unique aspects of being the assistant director, developing and maintaining positive working relationships with RIC\u2019s external partners including, but not limited to, those at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Information. Each of these groups requires a different approach for interaction and she has developed strategies to communicate effectively with each.\u00a0She exemplifies the spirit of innovation and collaboration in all she does at the center and in her service to CCI.\u00a0<\/p>\n Th Volunteer Spirit Award <\/strong>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.\u00a0This year\u2019s recipient is Mike Schaffer, <\/strong>financial associate in the Office of Finance, Administration, and Operations.\u00a0Since he joined the team at CCI, he has developed a solid reputation for being open to new, sometimes temporary, roles within the Office of Finance, Administration, and Operations, and various CCI units.\u00a0\u00a0He has willingly shouldered the administrative responsibilities of multiple units across the college, and at the same time to fill gaps made by departing employees. He did so without a whisper of trepidation.\u00a0While all the units have different needs, he was able to serve all of them well and with accuracy. He took time to quickly develop new skills to accommodate differences, all while having a positive attitude that we have come to enjoy. His sunny disposition is a credit to OFA and the units he serves.\u00a0In addition, in his normal course of duties he has gone above and beyond his normal tasks by developing a habit of seeing each person he helps as an individual with unique strengths and abilities. He tailors his interactions with others with those in mind and makes a point to interact in person rather than strictly relying on email. Beyond this, he is always the first to and often is the last to depart.<\/p>\n The Career Achievement Award<\/strong> honors individuals who have made sustained and systematic contributions to the College of Communication and Information. 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This year\u2019s recipient is Professor Rob Heller<\/strong>, who began his career in the School of Journalism and Media in 1986. This year marks his 38th year at UT. He is a phenomenal educator with an emphasis on creative media, specifically photojournalism, and graphics.\u00a0For thirty years, he has led the Eyes on LaFollette\u201d project. There are more than 500 total students who had their time in the School of Journalism and Media positively impacted by his leadership. There is quite possibly no better hands-on, experiential learning opportunity in our college than Eyes on Lafollette, and he has made this happen for over thirty years.\u00a0The tremendous outreach that he brings to the school, college, and university with his creative work focused on Holocaust survivors via his Living On: Portraits of Tennessee Survivors and Liberators<\/em> book and photo galleries. He also serves on countless committees across campus and beyond with major contributions of service to all.\u00a0He also received the Dr. Gilya Schmidt Endowed Faculty Award in Judaic Studies this May.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Celebrating CCI Retirements<\/strong><\/p>\n Professor Mariea Hoy<\/strong> has served the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations for 35 years. She is nationally and internationally known as an expert in advertising policy, privacy, and consumer well-being. She has created a valuable connection between academia and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission through an extensive publication record and numerous presentations to the FTC in Washington, D.C.\u00a0Hoy was awarded the Inaugural DeForrest Jackson Professorship in 2017, which recognized her outstanding scholarly contributions to the field as well as her excellence in the classroom.\u00a0She was also appointed in the first cohort of Information Integrity Institute Fellows. Hoy has received numerous awards for her excellence in teaching along with several prestigious research honors.\u00a0She has received consistently excellent evaluations for her instruction of undergraduate and graduate courses in advertising research, campaigns, management, principles, consumer behavior, and promotional management, with a special expertise in advertising and society and advertising issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Professor Virginia Kupritz<\/strong>, School of Communication Studies, has also served as CCI\u2019s associate dean for academic programs and graduate studies since 2019. Her academic and professional career spans 30 plus years across several universities both in the US and abroad as a professor, administrator, and consultant.\u00a0She is nationally and internationally known for her expertise in workplace privacy. She has over fifty publications that include original contributions to privacy, such as her environmental privacy theory that incorporates a systems perspective of privacy.\u00a0Kupritz was awarded the Inaugural William H. Swain Professorship in 2016, recognizing an outstanding record of research, teaching, and service.\u00a0She was also awarded the highest teaching award at the university, the UT Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her honors and research awards also include first place research awards in communication and workplace aging issues and online instruction and learning.\u00a0Her leadership roles at UT include serving as the acting director and associate director for the School of Communication Studies, and her current role as associate dean of graduate programs.\u00a0Kupritz has served as principal investigator on multiple grants and contracts, graduate coordinator for several programs, committee chair and member for multiple master\u2019s and doctoral students, and an editorial board member for several leading journals. She also served on a board of directors for three years as the network chair, in which she oversaw thirty-four network divisions for an international research association. Kupritz has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in organizational communication and ethnographic research methods.\u00a0Her passion and commitment to teaching are the same today as they were when she was awarded the UT Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Teaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n Every spring, the College of Communication and Information recognizes and honors those who have made significant achievements in their work, whether it be excellence in teaching, research, or volunteering, or the time that they have contributed before retiring. In 2023, CCI has had much to celebrate from its graduate students, faculty, and staff. The following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":204462,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[203,197,129,56,196,200,198,201,168,202],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cci-research-innovation-center","category-events","category-faculty-news","category-featured-story","category-news","category-school-of-communication-studies","category-school-of-information-sciences","category-school-of-journalism-media","category-student-news","category-tombras-school-of-advertising-and-public-relations"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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