Sanford Receives Fred Tewell Outstanding College Communication Educator Award

Sanford Receives Fred Tewell Outstanding College Communication Educator Award

TAHLEQUAH Northeastern State University Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Amy Aldridge Sanford was recently presented with the Fred Tewell Outstanding College Communication Educator Award at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Speech Theatre Communication Association held earlier this month at NSU.

The Fred Tewell Outstanding College Communication Award was established in 1987 and named after Fred Tewell in 1993. Tewell was a long-time professor of communication at Oklahoma State University, where he taught and coached debate for 25 years. Tewell was an active member of OSTCA for many years.

Sanford earned a bachelor of arts in Communication Education in 1999 and a master of education in School Administration in 2001, both from NSU. She also holds a master of arts in Communication and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa Iowa City. She has taught at NSU since 2004.

Nearly 80 communication scholars gathered at NSU on Saturday, Sept. 13, for the OSTCA annual meeting. It was the organizations 79th annual convention and the first time in recent history the group has met at NSU.

The theme of the conference was Pop Culture. The days events included a poster session, panel and paper presentations, a business meeting and luncheon, and a keynote address by Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine.

Because of the significance of Eckfords presentation, the OSTCA members decided to invite participation from the Tahlequah community to the lecture. With the assistance of the NSU Centennial Lectureship Committee and the Tahlequah Branch of the American Association of University Women, over 400 people were able to attend Eckfords presentation.

Five of NSUs students made up the top panel during the conference. The panel was entitled Popular Culture of Reality TV. The panelists were Kathleen McCay, Tahlequah graduate student; Ryan Cannonie, Tahlequah graduate student; Kathryn Golsan, Claremore senior; and Lauren Duncan, Jenks graduate student. The panel was chaired by Joshua Groomer, Siloam Springs, Ark. senior.

Sanford was the convention planner. She will serve as president of OSTCA for 2008-09.

Two other members of the NSU faculty were selected for OSTCA leadership roles. Kristopher Copeland, NSU instructor of Communication Studies, was elected to the awards committee and will also serve as the organizations recording secretary. David Scott, NSU professor of Communication Studies, will continue as the OSTCA web master, and was appointed by the executive committee as the director of public relations.

9/21/2008

Published: 2008-09-21 00:00:00