dot[COMM]

Josh Borger graduated from the Communication, M.S. program in 2023. He currently works within the GVSU Athletic Department as the Marketing and Fan Development Director. We sat down with Josh to talk about his time in the program and how it has helped him in his career.

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Max: Thanks for sitting down with me today, Josh. I know you attended GVSU for your undergrad degree, so what made you choose communication as a Master’s program?

Josh: I did look at all of the grad programs that Grand Valley has, you know, like the MBA program. As a sport manager working in sports its really communications or the MBA program. And I honestly, I thought communications was going to benefit me more in what I do in marketing, and just get a better understanding of what communications is. And it helped me more than I thought, learning about the different mediums of communication and how communication, you know, evolves and works was very beneficial to me.

Max: What classes or ideas that you learned about did you find really helpful to you and your career?

Josh: My favorite class and the most valuable one was the emerging tech class with Dr. Anton, he was absolutely great in that class, I loved it. And we did a deep dive really into AI and all of that the semester. It was really weird chat GPT had just taken off and there’s a bunch of other stuff. And Anton was working on his coffee table book during that semester, as well. So I think that one was because as we’re, you know, in marketing and everything, and people are starting to use Chet GPT and these AI features that are in all of our, like social media, software’s and everything it was really, that one was very nice to have the deep dive into it and learn about like the background and the pros and cons to using artificial intelligence.

Max: How was the jump going from undergraduate to graduate? Was the standard difference difficult at first?

Josh: It definitely was a lot. There was a lot more expected of you in terms of just doing work on your own. In the undergrad, it was easier to kind of get by with just here’s, you know, here’s a study guide, memorize what’s on the study guide, and then reiterate that back to me. Going through the grad program, there weren’t many exams, which I liked, it was a lot more of reflecting on what you’ve actually learned. You had to do your own reading or your own research on things and apply it into your walk of life. And like one thing I appreciated about our classes was, me and athletic marketing, I have a completely different experience than some of my classmates who, you know, worked for the government or own their own food trucks and stuff like that, where I got to see how they interpreted the same message. And they got to see how I interpreted that the readings and stuff like that as well.

Max: What is one piece of advice you would give to a future student in the Master’s program?

Josh: I would say work ahead. Don’t let everything sit till the last minute. Do the readings, participate. You really get out what you put in to it. So if you want I mean, if you want to coast by and not do anything, go for it. But it’s a lot easier and more valuable if you try and get engaged and also, talk to your classmates, meet your classmates. They are a tremendous help in getting through everything.

Emma Roedel graduated from Grand Valley in 2019 with a degree in Communication Studies. She currently works as the Executive Director of the Forest Hills Public Schools Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps schools within the Forest Hills area. Emma sat down with us to talk about her experience at Grand Valley and reflect on her time here!

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Max: Thank you for chatting with me today! To start off, tell us a little bit about your current job.

Emma: Of course! I’m currently the Executive Director of the Forest Hills Public Schools Foundation. A lot of what my role is now is, kind of, the communication and stewardship with our donors. So we give grants to teachers, we provide extra materials for principals. I always joke that I get paid to socialize. So being a School of Com grad definitely worked out there. 

Max: Is that area of work something you knew you wanted to do when you were in college? Or did your job search open to other kinds of jobs?

Emma: I actually found my first job at a Grand Valley Career Fair. So I was fortunate to get connected to Susan Proctor, it was when she was still with the career center, and she was really helpful in like, get yourself to these career fairs. I had a role with Steelcase and actually got connected through Susan as well. I just can’t believe how significant of a difference it has made in my life to have these connections with people like your professors and Grand Valley staff and faculty. They really want you to find a job.

Max: Did you do any internships while at GVSU?

Emma: I worked at Steelcase recruiting for their internship program. I helped kind of do some things like workforce development and professional development for their interns, helping them kind of navigate the waters of your first professional role. And I loved working with students. And I had worked in development at Grand Valley, actually. So my college job was working in our telephone outreach program. I don’t know if you’ve gotten a call yet, but you’ll get a call someday from some kid in a basement on Grand Valley’s campus, asking you for money. So that’s what my job was starting out. And I absolutely loved it,

Max: What were some of the valuable experiences you had that help you today?

Emma: I know, it sounds crazy, but like the earliest level speech class that you can take, those basic public speaking classes have really contributed because I feel like everywhere I turn, there’s some speaking engagement that I have to take part in. And then organizational communication has been so incredibly important. And I guess I didn’t necessarily realize when I was in college, I had never worked for a large organization, not that I am right now, but at Steelcase especially, I think the biggest business breakdown that a company is going to walk up against is being able to effectively and productively disseminate information throughout the company.

Max: How do you feel your experience prepared you for such a process?

Emma: I think that my communication studies degree prepared me really well to be a problem solver, to be somebody who thinks critically about different scenarios, and it also teaches you to use your resources and figure something out if you don’t know it, and ask the right questions. And so I felt that I was prepared to have the inquisitiveness and the like passion for lifelong learning to be able to figure out any jobs. So that’s the thing about comm studies, right is a lot of us didn’t necessarily know what we wanted to do when we graduated. Because it’s such a broad degree. And I personally chose comm studies, because it’s such a broad degree, and it opened a lot of doors for me.

Max: What are some of your favorite memories from Grand Valley?

Emma: I ran track at Grand Valley, just for a year, but it was just really great for me to be connected with other students and kind of already have like a built in group of people that you could rely on. But truthfully, I mean, my best times at Grand Valley were working for Grand Valley’s Office of Development and doing fundraising stuff because it was like, you can just go to the Alumni House and work for three hours shifts at a time, and it’s just a bunch of college kids hanging out. But calling people and earning these like really great communication skills at the same time, because it’s hard work, right? You get on the phone, you build rapport, and it can be really challenging to just create a relationship with a stranger like that.

Max: What is one piece of advice you would give to a current or future Communication Studies student?

Emma: Oh, my gosh, I think it would just be like keeping an open mind, you know, about what you want to come next. And maybe just trying new opportunities. I felt like my career would be very different if I went straight back into development and fundraising immediately after graduating. So I felt like the experience that I gained by trying something different than what I knew was really helpful. And then even just like trying to get involved, you know, I would, I would just say like, it’s not weird to network, I felt so awkward doing it in college, and it’s okay to just be kind of an authentic and genuine person when you’re trying to do that type of professional networking.

Victor Carter graduated from Grand Valley in 2022 with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations. Victor sat down with us to chat about his time and experiences at GV and within the Ad and Pr program!

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Max: Thank you Victor for sitting down with me today! To start, simply tell me about your time in the Ad and Pr program.

Vic: The Ad and Pr program was amazing. I knew I wanted to go into advertising and public relations when I first started at Grand Valley, but I guess I didn’t realize how awesome the program was when I first got there. It didn’t take long, though. You know, I met Adrienne Wallace, who was my advisor, and then also my professor and my mentor for the four years that I was there. I think she represents the PR program, and just the whole School of Com so well. Also, a lot of my peers in the program, even throughout the School of Com, I really enjoyed that we had similar interests. So I mean, the program for itself is incredible.

Max: Speaking of your peers, what opportunities existed outside of class that you were able to connect with your classmates?

Vic: So I was a part of NSAC for one, which was an advertising competition with Robin Spring, who is also incredible. She was my mentor for a number of years while I was part of the National Student Advertising Competition. While I did take that for credits, it was also considered my capstone, but I did it for two years. But I mean, that program gave me so much real world experience. We got to meet with real clients, the judges from the competitions were from real corporate companies who have established themselves, so it was really cool to see them give us perspective on how we ran our campaign and such. But then I was also a part of PRSSA for a few years, too

Max: And how did those opportunities help you set up to graduate and start looking for a career?

Vic: I was actually in kind of a unique situation. I was finishing up my internship in the summer before my senior year, well, I’d actually found a job out of Tennessee. I’d be doing it fully remote and full-time. And I was just a marketing intern, but in just a few short months, they asked me to come on full time. So going into, oh, late first semester, early second semester, of my senior year, I transitioned into a marketing manager with the agency that I was at. So at first, I didn’t really get to experience what it was like searching for a job because I really had one lined up, which was really nice. It gave me the opportunity to focus on school and finish, while also not stressing too much about jobs. But I was at the agency for about a year and a half, and I left. 

Max: You mentioned your internship was what turned out to be your first job out of graduation. How was your experience with internships in the Ad and Pr program?

Vic: I had one at Hello West Michigan. I started out as just a marketing intern and it was a really cool experience. I still have a really great connection with them too so I think that’s really that’s an understatement, about just internships in Grand Rapids and the connections you can get from Grand Valley. Grand Rapids obviously is not a huge city, but it’s big enough that you can find a ton of internships, but it’s also small enough that you can maintain connections and find connections super easy.

Max: What is your current job and how have those internships helped you in it?

Vic: I’m primarily in the marketing space, which is just another branch of advertising and public relations. I’ve actually transitioned primarily to, you know, email marketing and website optimization and doing like updating day to day tasks on the Van Andel Institute website and all of our PI websites as well. So those are my main day to day tasks, sending emails, and we just implemented a new form system for signing up for events. So I’ve been managing those forms and building them.

Max: After such a culminating college experience, what was some of the most valuable things that helped you?

Vic: I think the main thing was just getting myself involved, like I mentioned with PRSSA and NSAC. And really finding, finding that group that you connect with the most. I think that was a big part of it. So I mean, just staying involved, knowing what’s going on around campus, meeting new people and gaining connections. And then I’d also say that the second part of it was really just having really great mentors and an awesome support group because I don’t think I would have made it through the program without my peers and mentors that I had. Also just the friends that I met, like in the dorms, I even met my fiancé in the dorms. I’m so appreciative of my mentors and Grand Valley overall and the support that they they’ve given me.

Sarah Wilson is a 2013 GVSU graduate with two degrees, one in Health Communication and another in Advertising and Public Relations. She currently works for Health Net of West Michigan, a non-profit organization that helps community members connect to social services and healthcare services to improve the health and wellbeing of communities. We sat down with Sarah to reflect on her time at Grand Valley and in the health communication program!

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Max: Thanks for sitting down with me today! When you first came to GVSU, how did you decide to be in the Health Communication program?

Sarah: I came into Grand Valley thinking that I really wanted to do physical therapy, but realized that moving other people’s bodies for them isn’t really for me. I studied both health communication and advertising and public relations, but… health communication really spoke to me and the fact that I’ve always really enjoyed the health aspect and the sciency kinds of pieces behind it, but didn’t ever necessarily see myself in a direct care sort of position. I decided to double major because it just kind of made sense to me to be able to have like all a more well rounded experience once I graduated.

Max: Some people don’t know what Health Communication is, so how would you describe the field and the work you do?

Sarah: I would say that health communication differs from the advertising and public relations perspective, because it’s a more nuanced space. Talking about more of the public health aspect of healthcare, or actually taking healthcare information and boiling that down in a way that is accessible and easier to understand as a patient or as an individual who doesn’t have that specialized knowledge, specifically in healthcare.

Max: So who or what helped you going through your college journey?

Sarah: Lorie Jager will always be held close to my heart, from the perspective of the health communication field. She really took the time to be able to kind of foster the growth and the excitement, enthusiasm of the health communication major. I really appreciated having her as my advisor.

Max: And throughout that journey, what was something you found to be really helpful in regards to your education?

Sarah: Something that I don’t know if I appreciated it as much when I was in the program, but now reflecting back is the ability to take a lot of different courses and to be exposed to a lot of different areas of advertising and public relations. The opportunities to work alongside real organizations and real businesses to be able to support them throughout their, you know, whatever project that was, I think having that real world experience in that connection to those who are truly in the field was really helpful. 

Max: Then after graduation, what did your search for a job look like?

Sarah: Post graduation, I ended up deciding to take on another internship. So, between my time at Grand Valley and post graduation, I took on three different internships to kind of dabble in a variety of different spaces. And then after that, utilized both my health communication degree and my public relations degree to work at the Michigan House of Representatives.

Max: A lot of current students echo the importance of internships, like you said. How would you describe your experience during these internships?

Sarah: My first internship was challenging. I wasn’t able to build that relationship with my supervisor in the way that I would’ve liked. And then my next internship, which I took on, is really like a summer job. I really enjoyed that opportunity because I was able to be an operations intern. So I got to have my hands in some of the internal communication, some of the marketing efforts, being able to do some of that like employee relation piece, which really led me into some of the skills that I still use today in my career. 

Max: You said you still use those skills today, so what is your current position and what does your work look like?

Sarah: Formally, my title is Director of Strategic Communications at Health Net in West Michigan. What I do is help our team and our community by sharing information that supports health equity efforts, and highlighting resources within healthcare systems and social services. Our work is really to be that connector between community members, the resources that they need within the community, and then also advocating at a systems level.

Max: Finally, what piece of advice would you give to current health communication students?

Sarah: I think that the piece of advice that I would give them is now that you’re always learning that there’s always going to be something that you don’t know, but it’s the way that you approach it. So being able to always be open to learning and that lifeline journey is important.

This week the School of Communications is highlighting five outstanding alumni, one from each of our programs. We are beyond proud of the accomplishments of our past students and want to share some of the amazing things they have been doing. These conversations are useful for current students, as they can hear about the experiences of alumni while in the program and after graduating. To start off, we talked with Anthony Clark Jr., a 2023 graduate of the Journalism, Broadcasting, and Digital Media program. (Formerly Multimedia Journalism)

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Max: Thank you for chatting with me today! To start, tell me a little about your current position at Davenport.

Anthony: I am the Assistant Manager of Athletic Communication and my main objective is to be the sports information person for about a dozen teams. What I do is kind of what you see on an athletics page; The student athlete bios, creating and posting the schedule, putting the rosters up, and updating the website. I’m in charge of taking stats for both soccer programs and lacrosse.

Max: And how did it look for you going straight from graduation into the workforce?

Anthony: ​​I certainly was pushing to get a job before I actually walked the stage. Before I was actually here at Davenport, I had a part time job at Wood Radio. I was a part-time news and traffic anchor. So that was a really great experience to be, you know, a professional broadcaster, if you will. I wanted to be full time, and so transitioning to Davenport was great. It was nice to finally be locked into a full-time job and know that I have a little bit more security for sure.

Max: And how did that process look switching jobs so quickly?

Anthony: Unfortunately, [Wood Radio] couldn’t offer anything full time after being there for a summer. So I had to be super persistent on employers, I had to kind of bug them a little bit. I know a lot of people are afraid to turn off a potential employer because they don’t want to seem too persistent or too eager or maybe even desperate to get a job. So I just went out, and said I just got to stay on top of these people.

Max: So what helped you going through something like that?

Anthony: There’s a lot of great professors at Grand Valley and in the journalism program. Having those professors in different areas of multimedia journalism was super beneficial to me, having some guidance, and especially trying to find a job. I know that Harvey and Len helped me out a lot. All the resources certainly prepared me for the different areas that I work with here at Davenport and will benefit me moving forward. It not only expanded my confidence, but gave me the skill set that I really needed to get my foot in the door and the professional realm.

Max: How valuable did you find the student media opportunities, and if so, what did you do within them?

Anthony: It was great! It gave me that confidence I needed and, the most important thing, that experience that I would want going into the career field that I want to be in. [I was] the former sports editor for the Lanthorn and I had my own talk show on WCKS, the Whale. For example, the Lanthorn was a great experience being able to have a more realistic, I guess, feeling of being in a newsroom. It was quite professional.

Max: You’ve said a lot of great things that could help students, but what is the one piece of advice you would give to a current or future journalism student at GVSU?

Anthony: I think just having confidence in yourself. I think that’s the biggest thing. I know I was discouraged many times trying to find a job. And it’s more so again, not even getting a response. It’s like, okay, well, what did I do wrong? Did my resume look sloppy? Was my cover letter, you know, a little weak? Was my follow up email too much like that, I turned them off by trying to be too persistent? I think having too little confidence in yourself and kind of overthinking it can be really challenging for an individual. So just believing in yourself would be the best piece of advice I would give.

Below are titles, locations, and times for School of Communications students presenting at Student Scholars Day! Please come and support them and hear about their interesting research projects!

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Amanda Anka – Exploring Identity through Literature: A Hybridity Analysis of Maame by Jessica Geor

Kirkhof Center, 2266 – Verbal Presentation – 10:00am to 10:30am

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Ruth Yeboah – Communication In The Classroom- African Students In The U.S Midwestern Universities

Kirkhof Center, 2270 – Verbal Presentation – 11:00am to 11:30am

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Amber Beaudry, Calvin Hatcher, Y Hong Nhu Nguyen, & Asante Wilson – Marginalization & the Media: Using Research to Create Inclusive Spaces

Kirkhof Center, 2270 – Panel Presentation – 3:00pm to 4:00pm

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Y Hong Nhu Nguyen – “Home” Is Changing – Vietnamese Locals Voice on the Changing with the Influx of Digital Nomads in Vietnam

Kirkhof Center, 2201 – Verbal Presentation – 12:30pm to 1:00pm

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Y Hong Nhu Nguyen – Japanese Language and Dialogue with English Native Speakers

Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room – Poster Presentation – 9:00pm to 5:00pm with Y attending 10:00am to 12:00pm, 2:00pm to 3:0pm, and 4:00pm to 5:00pm

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Md Sabbir Hossain – Learning to Learn All Over Again: An International Student Autoethnography

Kirhof Center, 2270 – Verbal Presentation – 11:30am to 12:00pm

Registration is open and we want to remind all students of the courses we are offering during the spring and summer semesters! Below you can find the list of classes. To find a course description, click on the title of the class and click “View catalog entry.”

Spring classes are classes that go from May 6th to June 19th. Summer classes start on June 24th and end on August 6th.

Concepts of Communications – 41890 – COM 101

• Spring class
• Taught by Professor Lin Tian
• In-person

Technology in Public Relations and Advertising – 33382 – CAP 105

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Imran Mazid
• Online & asynchronous

Research Basics for Advertising and Public Relations – 36811 – CAP 115

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Fang Yang
• Online & asynchronous

Speech – 41374 – COM 201

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Carl Brown
• In-person

SWS Critical Interpretation – 41373 – COM 202

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Richard Besel
• In-person

Health Communication Systems – 41415 – COM 209

• Spring class
• Taught by Professor Lorie Jager
• Online & synchronous

Fundamentals of Advertising – 30137 – CAP 210

• Summer class
• Taught by Dr. Jin Chen
• Online & synchronous

SWS Story Making – 32243 – COM 215

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Eric Harvey
• In-person

SWS Fund of Public Relations – 30138 – CAP 220

• Summer class
• Taught by Dr. Adrienne Wallace
• Online & synchronous

Foundations of Communication Research – 37521 – COM 275

• Spring class
• Taught by Professor Haiyang Kong
• Hybrid

Communication Theory – 30301 – COM 295

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Peter Zhang
• Online & synchronous

Public Relations Management and Cases – 39806 – CAP 320

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Tim Penning
• Online & asynchronous

Communication Research – 30303 & 41235 – COM 375 (2 Sections)

• Summer classes
• Taught by Professor Haiyang Kong and Dr. Peter Zhang
• One section hybrid and one section to be determined

Intercultural Communication – 41375 – COM 378

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Anthony Spencer
• Hybrid

Readings in Comm and Culture – 41236 – COM 380

• Summer class
• Taught by Dr. Peter Zhang
• Time TBD

Issues in Communication (Capstone) – 30463 – COM 496

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Anthony Spencer
• Hybrid

Advanced Communications Projects – 38102 – COM 680-01

• Spring class
• Taught by Dr. Alex Nesterenko
• Online & asynchronous

Digital Media – 41802 – COM 680-02

• Summer class
• Taught by Dr. Adrienne Wallace
• In-person

Student jobs are now being posted through Workday. With the implementation of the new software, it can be confusing to find where to search for campus jobs. Below is a quick and simple guide to find student jobs, including graduate assistantships.

Navigate to https://www.gvsu.edu/ and find the Workday icon in the top right of the webpage.

Workday will prompt a log in. Use your GVSU network credentials, or the same credentials as Blackboard, to log in.

Once logged in, navigate to the “Student Employment Opportunities” app on the right side of the webpage. If you do not see it, click “View All Apps” and click “Add Apps” in the pop-up window.

Once in the Student Employment Opportunities application, search the vast number of jobs offered at GVSU! To find graduate assistantships, simply search, “graduate” in the search bar.

The School of Communications welcomes Alyssa Hubabib as a student worker! Alyssa is a hard worker and kind person and will be working in our office this semester. We look forward to working with her!

Originally from Livonia, Michigan, she decided to attend Grand Valley for a couple of reasons.

“Grand Valley is close to Grand Rapids and the lake, which gives me a lot of things to do in the area. The campus is awesome too!” 

Her older sister also attended Grand Valley, and she said that played a part in her decision, as well as the distance from home. Alyssa enjoys hanging out with friends, going to the beach and downtown, staying active, and attending events around campus. As a freshman, Alyssa is majoring in nursing and is a member of the Frederik Meijer Honors College. She is interested in working within the realm of pediatric oncology in the future. 

Please stop by the office and introduce yourself to Alyssa! 

We want to welcome our new faculty member Se Ra Choi to the Ad/PR program! She teaches Advertising and Public Relations as well as Research Methods for the entire SOC. She is finishing her Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Public Communication and Technology. We sat down with our new professor to learn more about her!

So, tell us a little bit about yourself, what are some things you like to do for fun?

I love cooking. I love DIY stuff. So, I like crafting, cooking. I also won at the International Food Conference in Chicago once.

That is exciting! What about cooking is so fun to you?

I’ve been interested in tasting different kinds of food, from different cultures. So I like going out to eat sometimes, but also I cook a lot. The reason why I go out to eat is because if I cannot cook that meal, specifically the food, but taste it and then I can I try to mimic those. Yeah. And then I get to test with my husband and then I like walking with my dog.

Do you have any favorite places to go to for walks?

This is my first time living in Michigan, I try to find a very safe trails with my dog. That’s one thing that I’m really interested in these days.

So how long have you been in Michigan, and do you enjoy the Grand Rapids area?

I moved here in July, but so far, I like the weather, even though sometimes it’s gloomy. I realized that the gloomy weather also motivates me to work inside. And when it’s sunny and when it’s nice, I get motivated to work outside, because I like gardening and taking care of my plants.

I also wanted to ask about research as someone in the master’s in communication program here at GVSU, what are some areas of research you do?

So, first of all, broadly speaking I’m interested in strategic communications particularly crisis communications in the areas of artificial intelligence. My recent study is about when AI fails or when AI goes wrong, how the organization should respond. Is it a typical organization’s crisis response strategies or should we go with a different route? Or are there any other routes that we haven’t touched on? That’s like a main area that I’m interested in these days.

Why Crisis Communication?

I realized I want to learn about PR, especially crisis communications because by the time I graduated, that year, there was a national crisis in South Korea. There was a ferry that was carrying 319 students which sank in the ocean, so then the news media reported everybody was rescued and no one got hurt. But eventually it turned out there was some misinformation, I would say disinformation, and how the government tried to respond with the crisis which was a disaster. And that makes me really mad as an individual, as a citizen, also as a scholar.

With all your expertise in that area, did you know you wanted to teach and how did you end up at GVSU?

I met Tim Penning at a conference last year, and then that’s where I learned about Grand Valley State University. Academically, we had a chance to talk about his research and I had a chance to talk about it. And then that’s where I realized that Grand Valley has a very strong PR program as well as advertising and then that got my attention, and in my third year of my PhD I decided to apply for assistant professor positions.

The Ad and PR program here is amazing, and you said that got your attention. How did that factor into your decision to teach here?

I realized that when I’m looking at the PRSSA chapters and around this area, GVSU had been winning a lot. The students have a really strong background and it’ll be cool to work with them and help them. And then also I know that as a scholar and an educator, I have to grow myself as well.

Finally, what do you love about the School of Communications?

First of all, the students. Because I’m teaching CAP 105 and 220, I cannot speak for all the students, but at least the students that I met from my classes are really passionate about advertising, PR, and marketing in general. And those passions, those feelings, actually make me energetic and motivate me to mentor them. That’s the things that I like. And the second is the faculty. I would say 100% of faculty, not just most of them, are very helpful. They’re very approaching and very supportive. Maybe it’s just Michigan, but people really care about other people here.

We appreciate Sera Choi for sitting down and chatting with us! She truly values teaching our AD/PR students and looks forward to seeing everyone again next semester!

Interview conducted by Graduate Student Maxwell Ritchie

Jaiyana Tyler is a junior at GVSU and a student worker in the office of the School of Communications. She grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan before deciding to come to Grand Valley to pursue a degree in business. Jaiyana has worked in the SOC office for three years and has become a familiar face to the faculty, staff, and students. Jaiyana always has a smile on her face, something she says she values dearly.

“You won’t really see me not smiling because at the end of the day we don’t always know what everyone is going through, so I think it’s important to come in with a positive attitude.”

Her amazing attitude and work ethic won her the GVSU Student Employee of the Month in November! We congratulate her for this accomplishment and cannot be prouder! Jaiyana is always helping answer emails and phone calls, aiding professors, assisting students, and much more to help all the programs in the SOC. Her strong work ethic and cheerful personality illustrate how amazing a person she truly is.

You can read more about the award. Just click here and scroll down to November 2023.

“It feels nice to be appreciated. I was really proud of myself for getting that. It is definitely a huge accomplishment for me because I’ve worked in this department for a long time, and it feels good to be acknowledged for the work that I have done. It definitely feels good.”

During her time in the School of Communications, Jaiyana has met many new people and has been able to get close with the faculty and staff she works with, something she says has been extremely enjoyable.

Outside of work, she enjoys blogging, hanging out with family, and fashion. She said her interest in blogging comes from her outgoing personality. Jaiyana is definitely a people person!

Jaiyana will be leaving at the end of this semester. This is a bittersweet feeling, but we wish her the best of luck and are excited for what the future holds for her. Everyone within the School of Communications will miss her and her vibrant personality. She is moving to Texas with her family and will finish her business degree there. Even though she is undecided on post-graduation plans, she is excited to be in a new area surrounded by family.

Make sure to stop by the SOC Office in Lake Superior Hall 290 and wish Jaiyana good luck and let her know how much we appreciate her! Thank you and good luck on this new chapter of your life Jaiyana! 💗

The School of Communications was more than active during this year’s summer. Our faculty were hard at work leading camps for high school students, winning competitions, traveling the world and more. Here are a few of our highlights.

Journalism Camps

Our Journalism, Broadcasting and Digital Media (JBM) program was eager to show high school students a taste of what the broadcasting industry looks like. Associate Professor Len O’Kelly and Assistant Professor James Ford teamed up with The Robert Nelson Foundation to teach high school students the skills required to succeed in broadcasting. Students learned technical skills, industry techniques and much more.

Associate Professor Eric Harvey and Assistant Professor James Ford worked with PBS NewsHour, the College of Education and Community Innovation and WGVU to host the Grand Valley Student Reporting Lab camp. Students learn visual journalism techniques and created broadcast news stories that were reviewed by the GVSRL team for valuable feedback and possible publication.

NSAC Wins Big

GVSU performed exceptionally-well at this year’s National Student Advertising Competition. As the advisor to the group, Associate Professor Robin Spring helped guide the students to a 9th place finish nationally following a first place finish at the district level. GVSU has consistently placed well in the competition, with a 7th place finish in 2021 and a 4th place finish in 2020. Another top ten finish has proven Grand Valley to be one of the toughest competitors in its district and at the national level. Being a part of the NSAC team teaches students the skills to successfully create a campaign as a part of a team. Robin Spring dives deeper into the competition on the GV Advertising and Public Relations Major blog.

London Trip

Professor Peter Zhang and Affiliate Professor Lin Tian traveled across the Atlantic with 13 students to the United Kingdom through the School of Communication’s Study Abroad program. Courses taught on this trip included Communication Research and Special Topics in Communication. As a part of the four and a half week trip, students learned field techniques such as surveying and interviewing while experiencing a new culture and atmosphere.

Universidad Abierta Interamericana Visit

Dr. Anthony Spencer traveled to Argentina for research, as he was awarded a CSCE Grant to conduct research on digital nomads in the country. He also visited The Interamerican Open University, or Universidad Abierta Interamericana. Throughout his month long trip, Dr. Spencer toured the facilities at The Interamerican Open University and spoke with the school about a future relationship with Grand Valley.