Calls Underway for NCA Awards, Leadership Posts, and Resolutions
Are you ready to lead? The call for nominations for NCA Second Vice President and At-Large members of the Legislative Assembly and Leadership Development Committee has gone out. The deadline for nominations is September 1. NCA Members are also invited to submit resolution proposals for consideration by the Resolutions Committee by June 30. All proposed resolutions submitted by the June deadline shall be published on the NCA website prior to September 1. Click here to learn more about the process and to submit a resolution.
A Roundup of Recent NCA Legislative Assembly and Executive Committee Actions
When it met on June 9, the Executive Committee of the Legislative Assembly approved the formation of a Task Force on Academic Freedom and Tenure in Higher Educations in the U.S. The Association is looking to fill four at-large positions on the Task Force. A call will be issued this month.
NCA President, Walid Afifi, Ph.D., has charged the Task Force with gathering information about current threats to academic freedom and tenure in higher education in the U.S. Members will also propose solutions and actions that NCA can take to play an effective role in advocacy and resistance, both to existing threats and potential future ones. The Task Force on Academic Freedom and Tenure in the U.S. will begin its work by September 15. Learn more about the Task Force’s mission and charge in the “From the President” column.
In its April 21 meeting (virtual), the Legislative Assembly (LA) approved three new journal editors, voted unanimously to affirm the inclusion of the discipline’s foundational Communication course in colleges and universities, and discussed ways the Association’s interest groups and affiliates’ activities can advance the new five-year strategic plan.
New NCA Journal Editors
The LA approved Marina Levina, Ph.D., University of Memphis, as editor-elect of the journal Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies; and Kimberlee Pérez, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Dustin Goltz, Ph.D., DePaul University, as co-editors-elect of the journal Text and Performance Quarterly. As editors-elect, they will begin processing manuscripts early in 2024 and will oversee the journals as editor and co-editors for 2025-2027. Learn more about NCA’s 11 journals (12 in 2024)
Advocating for the Foundational Communication Course Across Higher Education
In a unanimous vote, the LA affirmed the fundamental value, importance, and role of communication theory and the foundational course—central to the teaching of Communication skills and the discipline—and will advocate for including this and other Communication courses in the core curricula of colleges and universities.
“The LA's passage of the resolution reaffirms how central the foundational communication course is in higher education settings, not just for those who major in Communication,” said Vinita Argarwal, Ph.D., who chairs the Teaching and Learning Council and is a professor in the Department of Communication at Salisbury University.
“The course and those like it, underscore the value of learning communication theory and the importance of being taught by faculty trained in the Communication discipline,” added Argarwal, who proposed the resolution.
“As Communication experts, we can empower students to employ Communication as praxis in reflective, ethical, dialogic, and critical deliberation. Knowledge of Communication is a powerful tool students will need to engage impactfully with personal, professional, and global challenges in a rapidly changing and dynamic world.”