Department of Communication Studies UNL

05/08/2026

Congratulations to MA student Haroon Al Hayder for his teaching excellence as well as the support and leadership he provides to the department community.

05/08/2026

“Amy is an intensely dedicated and passionate researcher… accolades showcase that her output of this important and timely scholarship is high not only in volume, but also in quality.”    
 
“Amy has developed an incredible pipeline of research… is ambitious and has an impeccable CV for someone who so early in their career.”

05/08/2026

For her work and effort in and outside of the classroom, we are proud to recognize Haley Gosch with this award. From her nominations: “Haley has been nothing short of amazing… has brought the most positive energy that lightens my day every Tuesday…you can truly tell she has a passion for what she teaches, as she always goes out of her way to make sure her students and understanding and enjoying the class…Haley is extremely engaging, enthusiastic, and passionate.”

05/08/2026

The Bruce Kendall Teaching Award recognizes instructors for their work and efforts in and outside of the classroom. As one nominee said, “Casey is by far one of the most entertaining, enlightening, and approachable teachers I have ever had in my graduate career. He goes above and beyond for the students he teaches, even going as far as leading an independent study course for the rhetoric first years due to a lack of courses, despite not being sectioned to teach a graduate class that semester… This is to say that Casey has demonstrated a level of care, investment, and willingness to take on extra work if it means that his students succeed.”

05/06/2026

Ashley is a graduating senior who serves on the Student Advisory Board for our department. She has been a consistent, steady presence on the board and has been integral to the success of the board’s initiatives to both build community in the major and to promote professional development for our undergraduate students. As a new member of the advisory board this year, Ashley jumped in right away to be a key part of planning the highly successful Welcome Back Event for the department. She has been a critical voice on the board informing the Options curricular proposal that the department recently adopted - providing important insight from the undergraduate perspective on the importance of these options in both attracting and retaining students in the major. She was also central to informing the development of the recently launched Communication Studies Major Canvas shell. She provided consistent, insightful feedback, particularly in the preparing for careers space, that led to the creation of the transferrable and niche skills tracker and the job search template. Finally, Ashley was the driving force for the LinkedIn Strategy Professional Development event. I have truly valued Ashley’s leadership on the board and it is clear that she has had a profound impact on our undergraduate program through this leadership. She is truly deserving to be honored in this way.

05/06/2026

Sara, also a member of the undergraduate advisory board - recently presented her research at the Midwest Undergraduate Humanities Conference in Madison, WI. She is currently supporting the work of graduate students and faculty in order to get more experience as she prepares for applying to graduate school. She is also actively seeking to submit independent research projects for consideration of acceptance at the 2026 NCA conference. I have seen Sara flourish in classes, but also in the work they do in the department. Sara embodies the leadership we strive our students to take on.

05/06/2026

Ava Glover is actively involved on the Advisory Board despite her numerous campus involvements. She has had an incredible, far-reaching impact on our campus community. As a Communication Studies student, Ava has been on the advisory board for the past 3 years. She was an integral part of planning and hosting last year’s incredibly successful and impactful Alumni Zoom Networking Event. As a CAS student, she has served as a CAS Ambassador, working with the CAS Recruitment team. va has been an NSE leader, a CAS Ambassador - undergraduate students who talk to prospective students, parents, alumni, and the general public about the college. As a student in the Greek system, Ava has served as the Director of Finances and VP of Finances and Housing for her sorority and she is currently serving as the Vice President of the National Panhellenic Conference. In the campus community, Ava has had a significant impact as an New Student Enrollment Orientation Leader, a Huskers Care Peer Educator, a Pre-Health Peer Mentor, an Honors Peer Mentor - just to name a few. In terms of impacting the broader community, Ava has been involved with NHRI Leadership Mentoring on campus - a program that pairs college student leaders with high school students in the community as mentor-mentees. True to form, Ava not only became a mentor in the program, but soon grew into leadership roles within the program, to include serving as Co-Chair and Project Team Leader. I have not mentioned all of Ava’s involvements, but I hope this impressive list demonstrates the degree to which Ava seeks to positively impact her community. There is no doubt that Ava consistently brings her talents to bear on the communities to which she belongs in an effort to improve them.

04/27/2026

Thank you to the Communication Studies Student Advisory Board for your leadership and dedication to our department this year! These students are thoughtful, dedicated leaders who are committed to representing the student perspective and working to support and strengthen our undergraduate program. This year, in response to student feedback, the board focused on building community and improving professional development opportunities for Communication Studies students. They hosted six community building events and one professional development event. They were instrumental in the development of a student resource aimed at setting students up for success early in their time as students in our department - ranging from how to think about courses, how to be intentional about gaining experience, and how to think strategically about translating in and out of class experiences to professional goals. They have begun the work to create a concrete experiential learning framework for the advisory board and have laid out ambitious priorities for next academic year. Thank you to Dr. Kathy Castle for her leadership and mentoring.

04/23/2026

Congratulations to the UNL Speech and Debate team who placed fifth in the nation in Lincoln-Douglas debate of the National Forensics Association National Tournament!

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Nebraska College of Arts and Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln

04/17/2026