Attending regional conferences is one of the most exciting parts of my job. I always leave with so much inspiration from the work of the many amazing scholars across the country. This year, the Southern States Communication Association conference was held in Nashville from April 5th through April 8th, so I didn’t even have to leave the state!
One of my favorite things about the SSCA conferences is its relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to engage with so many welcoming people. Below is a summary of my professional activities at the conference, as well as links to all files used in the presentations I gave.
Tennessee Promise Panel
I presented as part of a panel of scholars discussing the impact of Tennessee Promise, a program designed to create “free community college” for students in Tennessee. We had the opportunity to discuss both the intended and unintended consequences of the program at a variety of institutions, including community colleges, 4-year public institutions, and 4-year private institutions. We were especially lucky to be placed in two back-to-back slots in the program for this discussion, which was lively and interesting!
I was honored to participate as the only representative of a private institution and the only representative of a small liberal-arts college. A special shout-out to Leonard Assante, Katelyn Brooks, Scott Christen, Jennifer James, Karen Johnson, Malcolm McAvoy, and Patrick Richey for their contributions to the panel, and to Brad Bailey for Chairing.
GIFTS
I had a fantastic time presenting on a GIFTS panel! I presented a Great Idea For Teaching Students (GIFTS) titled Slides Against Humanity in Session I. A special shout out to Doug Pruim for being the co-author on this presentation.
Files from this presentation:
Feedback Panel
I am so proud that I had the opportunity to work together with so many wonderful scholars to put together a panel on providing effective feedback at the 2018 Southern States Communication Association Conference. I organized a panel titled Musings on Instructor Feedback: Improving the Process and Quality of Feedback which came out of a series of conversations at the 2017 Tennessee Communication Association conference.
My contribution to the panel was titled Hashtag Feedback: Using Text Expansion to Streamline the Process of Providing Detailed Effective Feedback. A special shout out to Jacob Metz, L’Oreal Stephens, and Karen Johnson for their contributions to the panel, and to Brad Bailey for stepping in at the last minute to Chair in addition to preparing his own contribution.
Files from this presentation:
Service
I was elected to be the secretary of the State Association Interest Group last year. This conference marked the end of my first year in that two-year position. This year I was appointed to serve on the Nominating Committee for the Instructional Development Division for the next conference.