(Click here to vote)

 

The following candidates are on the official SSCA ballot for the following:

Vice President-elect

 

Candidates for Vice President-elect (to plan the 2013 UHC activities in Louisville, to plan the convention program in 2014 for New Orleans, and to preside over the 2015 convention in Tampa).

 John Haas - University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 
Platform Statement

 

I am honored to be a candidate for Vice-President elect of the Southern States Communication Association. I have been a long-time supporter of SSCA and would like very much to serve an association devoted to advancing the study and practice of communication. SSCA has had a long history of servant leaders who actively engaged with association members and represented the core scholarship and educational values of the membership. As a 30 year member of SSCA, I have had the opportunity to observe how the association works and how its leaders carry out their duties. During that time I have served SSCA in several different capacities including division chair (e.g., Applied Division), standing committee member (e.g., Finance Committee) and awards committee member (e.g., Michael M. Osborn Teacher-Scholar Award). Moreover, I have learned the importance of serving the needs of members of the academic community as a department chair for the past 16 years. My years as department chair have also taught me the importance of building long-term relationships and listening with an open mind to competing points of view. I would welcome this opportunity to use my leadership skills to advance the goals of individual and departmental SSCA members. We live in a time of uncertainty. Support for higher education is mixed at best, and seldom does a day go by without calls for reform of K-12 education. SSCA must adapt to the changing educational landscape while building on its tradition of support for communication education and scholarship. While predicting the future of a turbulent educational environment is problematic, I believe that that key challenges confronting SSCA are as follows:

  

  

Promoting departmental membership and engagement with the association SSCA is an important part of my professional life. I am truly interested in its future. I welcome the possibility of working with the membership to explore new opportunities and address the challenges that confront the association.

 

 

 
Platform Statement

 

I am flattered and honored to be considered for a role in SSCA's leadership, and am happy to run for the position of Vice President Elect. One of the things I like most about Communication in general and about SSCA very much in particular is the way that welcomes and nurtures people. As a transplant to the discipline of Communication, I have always been made to feel very welcome in Communication--both as a member of the Political Communication Division at the national level and as a member of the various incarnations of Public Address. In both cases, I've been an active member and have taken leadership roles in the divisions. And of course, I was honored by serving as Editor of SCJ. Which is to say that I feel very strongly that the most important function of disciplinary associations--especially at the regional level--is the development of young scholar. This, SSCA does very well--from the UHC through the program, and through the journal. I think, however, that we can do more. I'd like very much to see more interaction between junior and senior scholars. This is, I think, all the more important, because it is clear that SSCA, like every professional organization with which I am familiar, is experiencing what appears to be dwindling numbers of senior scholars in attendance at meetings--and an increasing number of them who "parachute in," do a panel or two, and disappear. SSCA can, I think, find ways to make our senior scholars both more present and more available to their junior counterparts--by placing them on mentoring panels, by highlighting their research, by convening workshops in which they offer to mentor others, and so on. So, if given the opportunity to run and to serve the association, my priorities would be to continue and to strengthen the welcoming and nurturing tradition of SSCA and to encourage the participation of senior scholars from across the association to attend and to participate actively in SSCA.

 

 

 Kristen Cockrell - Northwest Rankin High School

 
Platform Statement

 

Being introduced to SSCA, led me to the realization of the breadth of our discipline. I was amazed to see the private sector and academic community—university, community college, and high school professors/instructors—coming together to discuss issues relevant to the communication field. It was fascinating to witness the interaction and collaboration of our colleagues in effort to promote and maintain the integrity of our discipline.

 

Early in my career I was in the Public Relations industry. After dabbling in that and sales, I found my calling in education. My first job in education was a college speech instructor. This was a wonderful and rewarding experience; thus leading me to want to make a difference in the communication world. I had missed the opportunity to express my ideas and concerns, as well as the opportunity to learn new ideas, sample current research, and establish professional relationships with others in the field.

 

Fortunately, as I moved into the area of higher education, I was able to attend the conferences. It was at this time I recognized the decline in attendance of high school instructors and their representation. This underlies my excitement and is a primary reason I consider it such an honor to be nominated to serve as the SSCA K-12 Representative to the NCA Legislative Assembly. As I see it, our regional organization is a part of the whole of our national organization. As such, it is our duty to represent our region completely. I recognize the imperative role these instructors play in our discipline. Their criticism, concern, and overall contribution need to be heard. As I, Kristen L. Cockrell, am dedicated to attending NCA over the next several years, I would consider it a privilege to serve as a liaison between NCA and SSCA and project the voice of this integral part of our whole. Thank you.

 

As I begin my career as a high school public speaking teacher, I welcome the opportunity to serve as SSCA K-12 NCA Legislative Assembly Representative. Although I began in the Public Relations Industry, this is not my first go-round with public speaking. I have taught at Hinds Community College since 2009. During this time I became certified to teach online classes. Each year I have been nominated for teacher of the year within the Honors Institute. It has been a delightful experience.

 

My teaching interests include interpersonal communication and public speaking. Research interests primarily concern interpersonal communication with a focus on young adults in the prison