Ohio Communication Assn. to Honor Audrey Wagstaff at October Meeting
The Ohio Communication Association (OCA) recognized Wilmington College’s Dr. Audrey Wagstaff as the recipient of Ohio's Distinguished Teacher Award for 2018.
PICTURED: Dr. Audrey Wagstaff
The associate professor of social sciences will accept this award at OCA's annual state conference in October.
Wagstaff, who joined the faculty in 2015, teaches courses in communication arts, sociology, psychology and general education. Much of her teaching load is dedicated to instructing research methods and statistics courses to social science students.
Her primary area of research centers on scholastic journalism, censorship and political communication. Also, she is a proponent of students gaining hands-on learning experience to complement what is taught in the classroom.
"I am extremely passionate about including my students in my research projects," Wagstaff said. "Quite often, I let the students help to steer the direction of the projects, hence my eclectic mix of publications and presentations. The results of our collaboration embody our mission here at WC, and have been incredibly rewarding."
In fact, a 2017 article published in the Ohio Communication Journal titled "Up in Smoke: Shaping Attitudes Toward Legalizing Marijuana in Ohio," which she co-authored with 2017 WC graduate Theresa Knopf, won the Central States Communication Association's 2018 Manuscript-of-the-Year Award. Officers from the OCA accepted the award on Wagstaff's behalf in Milwaukee last April and will present it to her at the OCA conference in October as well.
In addition to her teaching and research interests, Wagstaff serves the College as area coordinator of the social sciences, clerk of the Assessment Committee and the faculty athletics representative to the Ohio Athletic Conference and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
Also, she is on the Ohio Scholastic Media Association Board and is the secretary of the Wilmington-Clinton County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. At the national level, Wagstaff serves as a member of the Scholastic Press Rights Commission for the Journalism Education Association and the membership and special projects chair for the Scholastic Journalism Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Before coming to Wilmington College, Wagstaff was an associate professor of communication at Hiram College from 2008 to 2015. She holds a Ph.D. in communication studies and a Master of Arts degree in journalism from Kent State University, a Bachelor of Arts in communication from Hiram College, and a Master Journalism Educator Certification from the Journalism Education Association.
