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2026 starts mandatory free, immediate, and public access to all federally funded research
By Dane S. Claussen Dec. 31, 2025, is the deadline for all U.S. federal agencies to ensure that publications and their supporting data resulting from federally funded research are publicly accessible without any embargo on their free and public release. Starting in 2013, the White House Office of Science and…
Engaged: Stories of Research that Serves
By Rachael E. Purtell Dr. Sonia Ivancic, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida (USF) after a Visiting Assistant Professorship at the University of Puget Sound, is a critical organizational and health communication scholar who is almost always conducting…
The 2025 TikTok Moment: Possibilities and Perils
TikTok is indeed everywhere— on our phones, in the news, even in our classrooms. Just the other day in my class on global digital cultures, an undergraduate student presented a case for TikTok as a “cultural infrastructure,” a day-to-day, routine app for the younger demographics that surround our scholarly endeavors….
articles from the latest issues
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS ON HIGHER EDUCATION
(This letter (from Jeffrey R. Andrade, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education for Policy, Planning, and Innovation) provides information about the immediate implementation of certain provisions impacting Federal Student Aid Title IV programs under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.) On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful…
Denise Bostdorff Teachers on Teaching 2024 Essay
(Editor’s Note: NCA asked Prof. Bostdorff if we could share her remarks from the 2024 NCA convention’s “Teachers on Teaching” session at which she received the Ecroyd Award. They are below. Future Spectra issues will include others’ talks.) I grew up on a farm in northwest Ohio. When I was…
From the Executive Director: Excited for the fall and what change will bring
I want to take a moment to highlight two seminal sessions: Thursday, November 20 from 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. in Colorado Ballroom A – Level 3 This uplifting, multigenerational opening session will explore the transformative power of mentoring within communication studies, spotlighting a national Ph.D. pipeline initiative designed to…
From the President: The Communicative Nature of Growth
In the spirit of 2025, as a Year of L.I.F.T. (Leading with Imagination and Forward-Thinking), this year’s Presidential Spectra columns have discussed strengths, the calm-chaos dynamic, and now growth—an ideal output and perhaps culmination of our prior conversations. We have engaged in L.I.F.T.-focused discussion that will continue into this year’s…
GEMS, FACETS, and JEWELS: Shining a Bright Light on NCA’s Mentors & Leaders in Denver
Whether you’re a Ph.D. candidate on the job market, a new faculty member accepting the challenge of a first position, a mid-career scholar trying to reach a full professorship, or anyone looking to breathe new life into their classes while navigating the challenges of working in higher education, mentorship matters….
Publications Council investigating open data prospects and associate editor roles
As is surely always the case, NCA’s Publications Council finds itself in a very busy period. Along with keeping up with the regular business of the Council (e.g., recruiting new editors, mediating between journals and our publisher, updating policies, responding to the need for new outlets), we are now having…
Reflections on the 2025 NCA Institute for Faculty Development from two first-time attendees
I am deeply grateful to the National Communication Association for my first international faculty development opportunity through the Institute for Faculty Development (IFD) and Duquesne University. I extend sincere appreciation to program organizers Ryan D’Souza, Janie Fritz, and Katherine Thweatt, for creating such an engaging and inclusive environment. As a…
From the Executive Director: National Office Updates
I feel like I say this every year around this time, but can you believe it’s almost August? That means the fall semester is right around the corner. And though I am writing this column during a time of brutal heat and humidity in Washington, DC, due to climate change…
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From the President: Thoughts on Calm, Chaos, and See-through
The summer months of travel, meetings, loss, writing, heat, and humidity have co-mingled with teaching, sports, family, and service commitments. Embedded in this often-frantic pace are moments of calm and chaos. When times are turbulent and L.I.F.T. (Leading with Imagination and Forward-Thinking) remains a priority, re-centering clarity can be a…
Engaged: Stories of Research that Serves
NCA recently had the opportunity to sit down with national award-winning organizational communication scholar, Dr. Angela Gist-Mackey, to discuss her exemplary career in community-engaged research as part of a new Spectra magazine series highlighting such contributions in and beyond the field. Earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Ohio University…
Communication seeing declines in tenure-track faculty, while undergraduate enrollments boom
By Dane S. Claussen The latest Humanities Departmental Survey by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences reports that only 13% of communication faculty were concerned about academic freedom, the lowest percentage of any of the humanities. (Race/ethic studies departments and women/gender studies departments were notable at 49% of…
Teachers on Teaching With Steven A. Beebe
Steven A. Beebe Recipient of NCA’s 2024 Wallace A. Bacon Lifetime Teaching Excellence Award (Editor’s Note: NCA asked Prof. Beebe if we could share his remarks from the 2024 NCA convention’s “Teachers on Teaching” session at which he received the Bacon Award. They are below. Future Spectra issues will include others’ talks.) …
Doctoral Honors Seminar Recap
Nine distinguished scholars were the dissertation mentors at this year’s NCA Doctoral Honors Seminar, held June 18-20 at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. They were Andrew High, Pennsylvania State University; Charee Thompson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Omedi Ochieng, University of Colorado, Boulder; Kimberlee Perez, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Jennifer…
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 NCA 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…
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2025 convention
Stay up-to -date on the latest updates about our Annual Convention this November in the Denver metro area.