SPRING 2017
S O U T H E R N
VOL. 35, NO. 1
S T A T E S
C O M M U N I C A T I O N
A S S O C I A T I O N
2016-04-05 14.18.27. by Matt Glaman/CC BY-SA 2.0
SSCA’s Path to Communication and Innovation Leads to Greenville, SC
Change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis,
breakthrough: what do these words have
in common? Are they a set of terms that
capture the essence of our contemporary
moment? Or perhaps the state of higher
education today? Are they the terms assigned to the stages of a social movement
or the life and death cycle of a political
party or candidate? In fact, these words
are all listed as synonyms for “innovation.” Additionally, an innovation may
be defined as “a new method, idea or
product.” Despite the seemingly clear
link between our communication scholarship and pedagogy and the term innovation, it is interesting to note that we
have never, in our association’s history,
used the word innovation in a conference
theme up to this point. Yet our association has been both the catalyst for and the
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
VICTORIA
GALLAGHER
First
Vice President
Southern States
Communication
Association
[email protected]
stage on which we have developed and
shared countless innovations. It’s time to
celebrate, recognize, and develop the relationship between innovation and our
communication research, scholarship
and teaching even as we challenge ourselves to re-think old assumptions and to
renew our commitments to scholarship
and teaching that matter in the world. I
look forward to joining each and every
one of you in Greenville, SC for our 87th
annual convention. GO GREENVILLE!
Our convention features 192 panels
and sessions that address all aspects of
communication and innovation. As you
consider the many offerings available
during the convention, I want to draw
your attention to several panels that feature the city of Greenville and/or the conference hotel including, “Communicating Greenville as Innovative Space: From
Southern to Global Village,” hosted by
our colleagues from Furman University
on Thursday morning. This panel and
tour promises to provide convention attendees with a fulsome introduction to
the convention city. A companion panel
scheduled for Friday around noon explores Greenville as a “Communicative
City” case study and features urban communication scholars in conversation with
Please see Greenville, page 4
SSCA
Elections
Challenges
and Changes
Southern
Reflections
UHC
Greenville
Caring
Connections
Page 2
Page 3
Page 3
Page 5
Page 5-6
Click to connect
with SSCA.
SSCA
SPRING 2017
Election Time Again
Jerold L.
HALE
Executive Director
Southern States
Communication
Association
[email protected]
Many Americans were fatigued at
what seemed to be a never-ending
national election cycle and so I hope
the title of this piece does not conjure
up adverse reactions. It is SSCA election time again! I hope you received
an email from SSCA indicating that
the SSCA polls were open and offering directions for accessing candidate
information.
To access the candidate statements
and CVs you must follow three simple steps. First, login to ssca.net. Second, click on the Members tab in the
menu at the top of the page. Third, on
the left hand side of the page you will
see a tab labeled Candidates for 2nd
VP and a tab labeled Candidates for
NCA Rep. If you click on those tabs
you will see candidate statements and
abbreviated CVs.
The email sent to members included a link to the Survey Monkey site to
vote. In case you have inadvertently
deleted the email you will also see a
Vote Here tab beneath the candidate
tabs.
Voting closes March 1, 2017.
Early Conference Registration is Our Friend
Early conference registration and membership renewal is encouraged for
three reasons. First, it will save most SSCA members some money. The conference registration rate is discounted to non-members, regular members, and
student members, so you can save money by registering early. Second, your
early conference registration helps SSCA more accurately plan the conference
activities and better manage conference costs. Third, your early conference
registration and membership renewal will reduce your waiting time when you
arrive for the conference. Your conference badge, program, and other materials
will be waiting for you with minimal waiting time. Please consider renewing
your membership early and pre-registering on or before March 19, 2017 for
this year’s conference. See you in Greenville!
Hotel Registration and the SSCA Room Block
The SSCA room rates for the Hyatt Regency Greenville are $169 per night
for single or double occupancy, $179 for triple occupancy, and $189 for quad
occupancy. Those room rates are only guaranteed until the block of rooms
included in the SSCA contract fills or until March 27, whichever occurs first.
As of January 31, 2017 the room block was 85% full. To reserve your room at
the conference rate go to ssca.net, click on the Convention tab at the top of the
page, and then on the Hyatt Regency Greenville tab that will appear.
VOL. 35, NO. 1
Spring 2017
Connections is the official
newsletter of the Southern States
Communication Association (SSCA).
It is published two times a
year by the School of Humanities
and Social Sciences
at the College of Charleston.
Jerold L. Hale
Executive Director
Thomas Ezell
Editor and Designer
Southern States
Communication Association
School of Humanities
and Social Sciences
2 Greenway
Charleston, SC 29424
For SSCA convention and hotel reservation information
visit www.ssca.net/convention.
2
SPRING 2017
SSCA
SSCA’s Future Challenges and Changes – Stay Tuned!
ROSEANN M.
MANDZIUK
President
Southern States
Communication
Association
[email protected]
Warmest greetings from central Texas!
This is an exciting time for our association.
We gathered last spring in Austin for our
largest convention ever, and are preparing
for a fantastic meeting in Greenville, South
Carolina this year. Many thanks to Vicki
Gallagher for her terrific efforts in planning
our 2017 program, and to Jason Munsell for
planning the 2017 Theodore J. Clevenger
Undergraduate Honors Conference. This
promises to be an outstanding meeting, so
be sure to make your travel plans soon.
When we meet in Greenville in April, together we will be considering several policies
and practices at our business meeting and
in conversations throughout the convention. Many of these are connected to SSCA’s
new strategic plan, particularly the need to
update our association’s efficiency and planning, our need to responsibly manage our
budget and plan for the future, and the necessity to review our governing documents
to reflect some recent changes.
The issues that we will bring forward include the beginning stages of what will likely
be a multiple-year project to examine conference fees, restructure the registration fee
schedule, and reorganize our membership
categories and periods to provide for greater
predictability in the budget process. We also
will be discussing an advertising policy for
our Connections newsletter and convention
program. Third, the Constitution committee
will be bringing forward some proposed updates to our governing documents as part of
the necessary maintenance for our association. Finally, we will take a look at our typical
Southern Reflections
In my role as Marketing Director, I have often reported on my areas of
responsibility, particularly highlighting program advertising, convention exhibitors, UHC sponsorships, and institutional memberships.
Soon after accepting this position, I realized the important budgetary impact of my efforts. Consequently, you have heard my numerous
pleas for support over the years, and many of you responded time and
time again. I am overwhelmed by your generosity! Just take a look:
Source of Revenue
Total Raised from 2012-2017
TOTAL TO DATE
$61,570 and counting!
Program Advertising
Convention Exhibitors
UHC Sponsors
Institutional Memberships
convention offerings and discuss whether
and how to launch some of the good ideas
in the strategic plan, including short courses,
programs in collaboration with local community colleges and HBCU’s, and honorary
programs for award winners.
I also will report further on a renewed
collaboration between the National Communication Association and the regional
Communication associations. We had a very
frank and productive meeting in November at the NCA convention in Philadelphia
among the Presidents and Executive Directors of the four regionals and the NCA leadership that bodes very well for the future.
I hope that all of this “administrative
talk” has convinced you that SSCA is hard
at work to serve its members and plan for
its future. Please do not hesitate to contact
me with ideas, suggestions, and concerns at
[email protected]. I look forward to seeing
you in Greenville!
JENNIFER
MIZE
SMITH
meeting publication
deadlines, and for
Marketing Director
being so kind and paSouthern States
tient in the process.
Communication
Association
Other marketing
[email protected]
efforts have had a less
direct impact on the
Association’s bottom line but are important in different ways. It was
always my goal to cultivate members’ identification with and excitement about SSCA, and I encouraged everyone to Share the Southern
Experience! We have increased our social media presence, particularly around convention time, and it has been fun to watch members
connect with colleagues and friends. I have enjoyed giving away some
Southern merchandise, from t-shirts to pens, and I hope you have
enjoyed taking home a little something to remind you of SSCA
throughout the year.
I think most would agree that there’s something special about this
Association we call ‘home,’ and it has been a highlight of my professional career to have served as your Marketing Director. I wish
my successor, Ashli Quisenberry Stokes, the very best, and I look
forward to serving Southern in other capacities in the future. See
you in Greenville!
$33,745 and counting
$ 8,925 and counting
$ 8,500
$10,400
I want to personally thank you for your love of Southern! I know
firsthand that many of you support the Association in multiple ways,
year after year, even when departmental budgets are tight. I recognize
your commitment and the faith you place in the Association to steward your dollars in smart and useful ways. It is these partnerships
that afford the Association both stability and opportunity for growth.
Thank you for answering the call, for responding to my emails, for
3
SSCA
SPRING 2017
Greenville
Continued from page 1
local Greenville leaders and activists. On
Saturday, our colleagues from Greenville
Technical College will put on an original,
site specific performance titled, “Too Perfect?: The Cyborg Who Schooled Me” to
further engage us in our convention location. And on Sunday morning, an art/
performance installation titled “Afterlife”
will be available all morning long at the
hotel for viewing/experiencing. These
programs feature not only innovative
approaches to communication research
and pedagogy but also, innovations in
the types of panels we feature during
our conventions. I hope you will join
us for one or more of these site-specific
programs.
Of special note is the Vice President
Spotlight Panel scheduled for Friday late
afternoon. I am pleased to announce
that Michael McCurry, Distinguished
Professor of Public Theology at Wesley
Seminary, head of the presidential debate
commission, and former White House
Press Secretary to President Bill Clinton, will be joining us for a conversation
about communication and innovations
in presidential campaigns. This is a panel
you will not want to miss as three of our
SSCA colleagues, Drs. Jennifer Mercieca,
Navita Cummings James, and Ken Zagacki (with Dr. Mary Stuckey serving as
our moderator) discuss timely issues such
as the impact of social media on the ability of a president and the White House to
promulgate messages, the key ingredients
of effective communication in the White
House, analysis of the communication
strategies of the 2016 Presidential Campaign, and an assessment of the efficacy
and significance of presidential campaign
debates.
In addition to the many exciting and
thought provoking panels and presentations scheduled for our convention, plan
to take some time to experience the city
outside the doors of the hotel. Greenville’s
main street has been recognized as one
of America’s Top 10 Main Streets by “O”
magazine. It is delightfully walk-able with
many restaurant and retail options along
with cultural and sporting venues within
a 5-10 minute walk. Consider taking time
to visit the Greenville County Museum of
Art, just 3 blocks from the hotel featuring
the work of Grainger McCoy, bird carver
and artist and an exhibition of 80 works
providing a retrospective of Andrew
Wyeth’s paintings as well as the work of
his father, N.C. Wyeth son Jaimee and
sisters, Carolyn and Henrietta. Or plan
ahead and book tickets for An Evening
with Gladys Kinght on Wednesday night,
April 5, 2017 at the Peace Center for the
Performing Arts or for the Greenville
Symphony Orchestra’s performance of
Mahler’s 6th Symphony also at the Peace
Center on Saturday, April 8, 2017. Or if
you are more inclined toward sporting
events, the Greenville Drive—the minor
league baseball team whose Greenville
stadium is a miniature version of Fenway
Park—is playing a home stand against the
Delmarva Snowbirds April 6-9, 2017. In
any case, do not miss the chance to explore Greenville’s Falls Park at the Reedy,
a beautiful downtown park that represents what is possible when a community
works together to restore its environmental resources.
Thank you for the opportunity to plan
this convention, to observe, first hand,
the generosity and rigor of our colleagues
who served as division and interest group
planners, reviewers, presenters and panelists. My world has been improved by
working with you all. I look forward to
seeing you and thanking you personally
in Greenville, SC, April 5-9, 2017.
Convention Notes from the Executive Director
Jerold L.
HALE
An SSCA BOLO Alert—
Life, Patron, and Sustaining
Members
Advantages of Early Conference Registration
Regular and Student members of SSCA, along with nonmembers who will attend the annual conference in Greenville,
please consider registering for the conference on or before
March 19, 2017. There are three advantages to registering on or
before March 19. First, you will be helping the SSCA staff more
accurately project conference membership. Second, you will
save money by registering early. Non-members will save $15,
Regular members will save $10, and Student members will save
$5 by registering early. A third advantage is that you will avoid
lines at registration if you register early.
Life, Patron, and Sustaining memberships to SSCA all include the cost of annual
Southern States
conference membership. Our Patron and
Communication
Association
Sustaining members frequently renew their
[email protected]
memberships at the conference. While
we welcome onsite membership renewals
those renewals make it harder for the SSCA staff to plan the
conference. Our food and beverage orders are due in a month
before the conference and can be influenced by conference registrations at the time the order is due.
Life, Patron, and Sustaining members BE ON THE LOOKOUT for an email from me asking whether you will be attending
the conference. We hope the information the replies we get
back from you will help us with more accurate conference attendance projections.
Executive Director
Book Hotel Rooms Immediately
The Hyatt’s group room block is full unless there has been a
random cancellation. The overflow room block at Home2Suites
by Hilton is limited. If you are attending the Greenville conference please book your room immediately. Check availability on
the SSCA website where the hotels’ reservation links are provided.
4
SPRING 2017
SSCA
JASON
MUNSELL
Second
Vice President
Southern States
Communication
Association
jmunsell@columbiascedu
I have no idea what that title is supposed to mean; I guess that’s the point
and I’ll come to that later…
In April we’ll enjoy the 27th annual
Theodore Clevenger Jr. Undergraduate
Honors Conference (UHC) during our
87th annual SSCA convention. The number of submissions for the UHC exceeded
my expectations and it was only slightly
down from Austin at approximately 120
submissions! I expanded the number
of reviewers this year by about +20%
so reviewers only had to read and comment on four papers as opposed to six. I
asked countless colleagues to review for
the UHC for the first time and had a very
diverse pool of reviewers. I’m amazingly
thankful for their time and effort over the
holiday season; the turnaround for the
UHC is always very tight. I’m also very
thankful to those who have volunteered
to respond to the presentations in Greenville. Responding takes a load of work!
The names of all the UHC reviewers and
of course the respondents will be in the
convention program. In sum, we have
16 panels and thus 75 papers that will be
Again, America Great Make!
presented as well as a performance and
four digital presentations. The first set
of panels will start on Friday, April 7 at
10:15am and the last set will be on Saturday, April 8 at 4:15pm. I want to particularly note the Top Papers Panels. For
the first time in the UHC’s history, we
have designated the Top Paper Panels as
Clevenger Panels and each student presenting on those panels are designated
as Clevenger Scholars. This honors the
student scholars as well as the legacy of
Theodore Clevenger, Jr. There’s a Top Papers in Media and Popular Communication on Saturday at 9:30am; Top Papers in
Survey and Applied Research on Saturday at 11am; and Top Papers in Rhetorical Theory and Criticism at 2:45pm on
Saturday. We will announce the winner
of the coveted Franklin Shirley Award for
Top Paper at our Saturday morning UHC
Breakfast as well, of course, at the Awards
Luncheon. And at the breakfast Saturday
morning we will have several graduate
programs with tables there recruiting;
so sort of like a graduate school fair with
grits. Thank you to Jennifer Mize-Smith
and those graduate programs for putting
that together. I highly encourage SSCA
members to attend the UHC panels.
The undergraduate students always do a
fabulous job. And please don’t forget to
come to the Osborn Reception on Satur-
Caring Connections at 15
day evening to congratulate our students,
talk with them, recruit them, and the like.
Finally, I used references to popular 80s
bands or songs for the names of the panels—I just thought that would be fun. In
our current political climate, we have to
fight for our right to party. In short, I look
forward to a fantastic UHC in Greenville!
And to now link all this to the stupid article title and the confusion of our current
political (or whatever) climate, I have the
theme (which I announced in Philly) and
the details for our 88th annual convention in Nashville, “Muses and Musings in
the Music City.” The theme “Muses and
Musings in the Music City” (a strategic
tongue twisting alliteration) calls on us all
to consider inspiration, engage in reflection, and to listen to each other. “Muses
and Musings” as a theme invokes kairos
and provokes inspiration. Contemporary
times demand invention and discovery
requires a muse; a telos of passion. This
conference asks us to sustain and stimulate enthusiasm in our craft(s), to offer
motivational research and pedagogy, and
to create art and action. More details and
the full call are forthcoming. And, no,
my own muse for this theme was not my
favorite film; though I do adore Xanadu.
You have to believe it—Nashville will be
magical!
Wouldn’t it be thrilling if at the end of our Greenville conference we could say this award is fully funded?
While you’re welcome to purchase Caring Connections onsite in Greenville, pre-convention purchase ensures that the
CCs will be waiting with your honorees’ name tags for pick-up
at registration. Please consider showing a friend or colleague
how much you care by sending a Caring Connection. To purchase Caring Connections in advance, do so electronically
at http://www.ssca.net/membership. If you prefer the USPS
route, you may fill out the order form on page 6 and mail to
the address listed there by March 21, 2017. And don’t forget,
your Caring Connections purchases, or direct donations to any
of our awards, are tax deductible.
Happy 15th birthday to the Caring Connections program!
Since its inception in 2002, members of SSCA have greeted
first-time attendees and reconnected with long-time friends
and colleagues by purchasing and sharing CCs. The image of
those stitched hands joined together in a warm greeting serve as
a visual reminder of the hospitable environment that is SSCA.
The purpose of the program is to serve as a source of funding for each of the association’s awards, with the goal of funding
all awards at the $10,000 level. This year’s spotlight is on the
Minority Recruitment and Retention Award, which “honors institutions that have demonstrated noteworthy commitment to the recruitment and retention of minority students for
their campuses.” The current balance for this award is $5,819.
Thanks for your support of the association!
The Resource Development Committee
5
SSCA
SPRING 2017
CARING CONNECTIONS PRE-CONVENTION ORDER FORM
(Use this form only if you want to mail your order via USPS)
Please complete this order form and return it to Sherry Ford, Department of Communication,
University of Montevallo, Station 6210, Montevallo, AL 35115, with a check for your order.
Caring Connections are $5 each and you will receive a tax receipt.
Pre-convention orders must be received by March 21, 2017 in order to be processed and waiting
for your honoree when s/he arrives at the convention. You may purchase and deliver additional
Caring Connections at the convention. Please note that Caring Connections are distributed to
convention attendees only. If you wish to honor someone not in attendance, you may mail the
honor yourself.
PURCHASER'S NAME: _________________________ E-mail_______________________
PURCHASER'S INSTITUTION: ________________________________________________
Honoree’s Name
Honoree’s Affiliation
Number of CCs Purchased = __________ x $5 = $_________
Please make all checks payable to the Southern States Communication Association
6
SSCA DIVISIONS AND INTEREST GROUPS
SSCA DIVISIONS
•Applied Communication
•Communication Theory
•Community College
•Freedom of Speech
•Gender Studies
•Instructional
Development
•Intercultural
Communication
•Interpersonal
Communication
•Language and Social
Interaction
•Mass Communication
•Performance Studies
•Political Communication
•Popular Communication
•Public Relations
•Rhetoric and Public
Address
•Southern Argumentation
and Forensics
Don’t forget to visit the SSCA website at www.ssca.net!
Jerold L. Hale, Executive Director
Southern States Communication Association
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
2 Greenway
Charleston, SC 29424
INTEREST GROUPS
•Association for
Communication
Administrators (ACA)
•American Society for the
History of Rhetoric
•Ethnography
•Kenneth Burke Society
•Philosophy & Ethics of
Communication
Click to connect with SSCA.