One of the things I like best about teaching is the potential relationship developed between student and teacher.  I enjoy conversing with students in and outside of class about their academic and non-academic interests.  Because I value the development of relationships, I enjoy teaching classes where there are opportunities for students to analyze the application of concepts to their own lives. I try to provide class discussion time for students to share insights learned about themselves related to the academic area of study I'm teaching. Even in upper-division and graduate classes, where there is much more emphasis on theory and research, I make opportunities for the practical application of such ideas for the students' personal and professional lives. In doing so, I find that every semester I learn from the students and get to broaden my own horizons as well.

One of the exciting things I'm currently working on is UNI's First-Year Council (see www.uni.edu/foe/) at UNI. Along with Jon Buse, the Dean of Students, I am co-chairing this important work improving the first-year experience of students at UNI. With approximately 150 people across campus involved in an intensive Foundations of Excellence self-study, we learned a great deal about how we can improve our first year at UNI.

To learn more information about current thinking regarding the Communication field, check out the following website http://www.communicationcurrents.com/.

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