Wayne State College was well-represented at the special National Communication Association (NCA) Centennial Convention in November in Chicago.

This year’s theme “The Presence of our Past(s): NCA at 100” was a memorable and inspiring conference, attended by WSC Communication Arts faculty Deb and Ron Whitt, Rich Murphy, Randa Garden and student Alyssa Bish.

Communication Arts Professor and Chair, Dr. Deb Whitt, was honored at the Lambda Pi Eta Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony for “Outstanding Lambda Pi Eta Advisor of the Year.” Whitt was also the recipient of this honor in 2004 and 2011.

Bish, a communication major who is part of the 2014 National Student Advisory Board of Lambda Pi Eta, presented Whitt with a special engraved plaque and words of appreciation for her hard work and dedication to Lambda Pi Eta over the years. After Bish presided over the business meeting, elections were held for next year’s officers and she was re-elected to the National Student Advisory Board for another term.

Dr. Garden, an associate professor in the department, presented her paper entitled, “Protecting your older family members from financial elder abuse” on the Roundtables for Research in Progress panel. The study, according to Garden, represents an opportunity “to gather narratives about unique experiences of older family members who have been victims of financial elder abuse, and gain an understanding of how family members can effectively communicate with their elder loved ones to protect them from financial elder abuse.”

Garden said she was shocked to learn that American seniors lose $2.9 billion dollars a year in financial exploitation. She hopes that her interviews will help capture the unique stories and experiences of those individuals who have been victims of fraud and strengthen empathic bonds with others who have suffered in similar experiences.

She also hopes that her new line of research will help enlighten society on financial exploitation and make people be more aware of the wide variety of financial elder predators who often pose as trustworthy helpers.

Dr. Tim McKenna, a 2008 WSC graduate and 2007-2008 National President of Lambda Pi Eta, presented his work, “Great Ideas for Teaching Students.” McKenna, who began presenting his research at NCA as a WSC undergraduate, recently accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana.

“I was so inspired by the exceptional faculty in the WSC Communication Arts Department to pursue my PhD in Communication Studies,” McKenna said.

Dr. Rich Murphy, an assistant professor, presented his paper entitled, “Vets in the Classroom: Military Veteran-Student’s Expectations of Teacher’s Communication in the Classroom.” The paper is based on his dissertation, which he successfully defended at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln the day following the conference.

In addition, Dr. Ron Whitt, a professor in the department, also participated in the conference.

The National Communication Association Convention will be held in Las Vegas next year.

Information courtesy of Communication Arts Department