Human Communication and Technology Division
New Officers - 2005-06


 
Co-Vice Chairs, Membership and Recruitment:
Shannon VanHorn, Valley City State University

Assistant Professor.
Valley City State University

Greetings! My name is Shannon VanHorn. For the past seven years, I have worked at Valley City State University, Valley City, ND, where I am an Assistant Professor. I live in Fargo, 60 miles east of VC (yes, I commute 120 miles round trip every day). In August 2005, I completed my doctorate at North Dakota State University; my dissertation looked at teacher satisfaction in the online communication course. I was fortunate to have Past NCA President Judy Pearson as my advisor and mentor. I earned my MS in organizational communication and BS in English education, also at NDSU. Since our department at VCSU is small, I teach a variety of communication and writing classes, including online courses in gender, intercultural and interpersonal communication, group dynamics, and media writing. I also teach an online communication theory class of the University of Maryland, University College. I have a husband, two sons, one daughter and a stepson, as well as two dogs, two cats, and a plethora of koi and goldfish for my fish ponds. Plus, I just became a step-grandma in January to a darling baby boy! And no, us people from Fargo do *not* sound anything like those in the movie Fargo…well, most of us don’t J!


Rodney Marshall, Eastern Illinois University

Assistant Professor.
Eastern Illinois University

Rodney is in his fifth year as an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. He received his doctorate from The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. in 2001. His primary area of study was in Information Science with a secondary area in Speech Communication. He has two Master degrees from Texas Tech University and two Bachelor degrees from Lubbock Christian University, both in Lubbock, TX. His areas of study include information competency, course software (such as WebCT, Blackboard, etc.) and how it is used, and online communication (mostly interpersonal communication). He has developed an instrument to measure information competency which covers the skills that an individual needs to become information literate. He is also working on an instrument to determine a student’s comfort in using course software. Rodney was recently married to Nancy Vaughn on November 19, 2005. They live in Urbana, IL. Nancy is a counselor at Centennial High School in Champaign, IL.

Student Representatives:
Daniel McRoberts, Valley City State University

Assistant Professor,
Communication Arts Valley City State University, North Dakota

I teach a variety of online and face-to-face Speech Communication courses for the general education curriculum and an online communication major. As a student, I am nearing completion of a doctorate in Communication at North Dakota State University. I am very interested in pedagogy and the impact technology is having on pedagogy on college campuses and to the discipline. In my free time, I assist my spouse coaching the local high school competitive speech program.

Nicole Laster, University of Texas, Austin

Currently a 2nd year PhD student studying Organizational Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, Nicole received her MA from Kansas State University and her BA from The University of Kansas. Nicole's research interests include a variety of issues surrounding Organizational Change and Contingent Labor. Her focus on Human Communication Technology involves the use and impact of mediated technologies in announcing and facilitating planned change efforts, mediated social networking, and channel selection choices for communicating dark side [organizational betrayal] messages

Co-Information Officer (New Position):
Saman Talib, Rutgers University

Graduate Student,
Department of Communication Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey

After spending her formative years in Nigeria and Pakistan, Ms. Talib now calls New York her home. Here, she has attended the New School University and worked at CNNfn, The UN, FOXNews.com, and PBS. Currently, Ms. Talib is a graduate student at the School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies at Rutgers University, NJ. Her research has focused on the evolution of the global public space as seen through the communication technology lens.