Registration & Housing is Now Open for the 111th Annual Convention!
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Early bird registration and housing for the 111th Annual Convention is now open! We are excited to welcome you to the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in the Denver Metro for a unique experience filled with learning, networking, and inspiration. Be among the first to register and enjoy exclusive early bird rates! Registering early not only secures your spot but also saves you money. The early bird deadline is Sept. 12, so plan to register soon. Don’t wait, plan ahead and save. For life and retired members, there is no cost to register.
To receive the discounted member rate, your membership must extend through Dec. 1, 2025, or later. Please take a moment to check if your membership is active. If your membership expires prior to Dec. 1, 2025, you will need to renew your membership to sign up for the discounted convention rates.
| | By reserving your hotel room through NCA’s room block, you not only guarantee the best negotiated rates but also foster a sense of community with fellow attendees. This collaboration helps us negotiate better pricing for future conventions, keeping costs low for everyone! | | If you have any convention questions, please reach out to convention@natcom.org. Please direct any membership questions to the member services email provided above. | | Register Now for the July VLO: “Research Cultivation Grant – Stories and Advice for First-Time Grant Recipients” | | |
Research Cultivation Grant – Stories and Advice for First-Time Grant Recipients
We’re excited to announce the incredible lineup of speakers for our upcoming Virtual Learning Opportunity (VLO) on Friday, July 25 at 10 a.m. EDT! This VLO will feature a roundtable interview with previous NCA Research Cultivation Grant recipients:
- Angela Gist-Mackey, University of Kansas
- Sayyed Fawad Shah, Auburn University
- Charee Thompson, University of Illinois
- Andre Johnson, University of Memphis
Panelists will talk about their research projects, discuss the role of the grant in their research and careers, and provide advice to future applicants about how to best position their work for the award. Funded projects to be discussed include Communication as Currency: Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of a Non-Profit Financial Literacy Program for Low Income Families, Using Culture Centered Approach to Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy Among Marginalized Pakhtun Community in Pakistan, Developing and Testing a Communication Skills Training Program to Improve Pediatricians’ Conversations about Medical Uncertainty, and Black Lives Matter: Perspectives from the Ground.
Register today to secure your spot and be part of this important conversation.
For questions about this event, please email Rachael E. Purtell, National Communication Association Research Associate, at: academic@natcom.org
| | Apply for the Communication Pedagogy Grant Today | The NCA’s Teaching and Learning Council supports and promotes disciplinary pedagogy. The Communication Pedagogy Grant (CPG) envisions a space for communication educators to explore innovative pedagogical practices, assessment design, and learning environments. The CPG will fund proposals that are most likely to (a) have a long-term impact on faculty, students, or community environments through the development of learning opportunities; (b) that support, challenge, experiment with, and/or advocate for impactful and enduring change in marginalized spaces inside or outside the classroom, such as (but not limited to) grants that foster critical thinking and deliberative engagement with social discourses; and (c) that support exploration of transferable instructional communication methodologies, practices, content, or models, that if adopted by others will create a meaningful teaching experience. Apply by Sept. 1, 2025. | | Doctoral Honors Seminar Recap | | |
NCA’s Doctoral Honors Seminar, held almost annually for more than 50 years, was held this year at the School of Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, June 18-20. Thirty doctoral students were divided into three mentoring groups, Communication Theory, Rhetoric/Performance Theory, and Media Theory, each led by three senior faculty members from universities around the country.
This year’s DHS was intensively focused not just on dissertation work, but also professional development sessions, which included up to five panelists each addressing the topics of: The Value of Communication as a Discipline, Navigating the Academic Job Market, The Changing Landscape of Higher Education, The Tenure Track: Publishing, Grants, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Community-Based Projects; and We’re All Human Here, Work-Life Balance, Imposter Syndrome, and Making a Difference. Panelists included both DHS mentors and UT faculty.
Both the National Communication Association and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville provided funding for this year’s DHS. NCA’s National Office was represented at the DHS by Dane S. Claussen, NCA’s Director of Research, Publications, and Professional Advancement.
(NOTE: Three students’ reflections on their experiences at the 2025 DHS are being published this month in this month’s Spectra magazine.)
| | NCA Leadership Positions: Nominations Now Open | | |
We are excited to announce that the 2025 Call for Nominations for NCA leadership positions is now open! We are seeking individuals for key leadership roles such as NCA Second Vice President, members of the Legislative Assembly, Councils, Standing Committees, National Award Selection Committees, and more. These positions offer a chance to collaborate with others and support the strategic plan of the Association for advancing communication scholarship and practice.
Nomination deadlines
For Second Vice President, Legislative Assembly, and Leadership Development Committee: Sept. 5, 2025
For Councils, Award Selection Committees, and other Governance Positions: Oct. 1, 2025
If you have any questions, please email nomination@natcom.org.
| | Charles H. Woolbert Research Award Winners Now Online | | |
NCA is proud to celebrate the enduring impact of scholarly work through the Charles H. Woolbert Award, one of the field’s most prestigious honors. Named after one of the discipline’s earliest and most influential scholars, the award recognizes journal articles or book chapters that have made a lasting contribution to the study of communication and continue to inspire new thinking at least a decade after publication.
In collaboration with the Research Council, Publications Council, and our publishing partner Taylor & Francis, the NCA National Office has created a dedicated webpage featuring a full list of Woolbert Award recipients, from 2024 back to 1981. Members can now explore and access these groundbreaking works that have shaped the field and stood the test of time.
| | Institute for Faculty Development Recap | |
For only the second time in more than 50 years, and the first time since the COVID pandemic, this year’s Institute for Faculty Development was held July 7-11 online (Zoom), allowing about 60 faculty members from the USA and other countries to participate. (When the Institute has been held in person, it typically has been capped at 30 attendees.)
The Zoom format allowed and required a different approach to the Institute than in past years, when content was divided into two or more sessions during the week in a “short course” type of arrangement. This year, each short course was contained within one three-hour session, with attendees being able to interact individually both in Q&A time during the session and also in designated “Office Hours” periods.
This year’s Institute organizers were Katherine Thweatt, SUNY Oswego; Janie M. Harden, Duquesne University; and Ryan D’Souza, Chatham University.
The Institute for Faculty Development was, as always, primarily funded by the NCA, with additional support from the organizers’ institutions. The NCA National Office was represented at the Institute by Rachael Purtell, Research Associate; and Dane S. Claussen, NCA’s Director of Research, Publications, and Professional Advancement
| | Communication Currents, Vol. 2; No. 14 |
The latest Communication Currents is out: “Whistleblowing, anonymity, and the Norwegian National Lottery: How to keep a secret identity for 29 months”. Click the button below to read and learn more.
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