Awards Program Overview

The Melissa Beall Award is named after distinguished scholar Melissa Beall and is presented to the contributors to the Top Panel submitted to the Basic Course Interest Group. At the annual convention, the recipient receives a $50 cash award and a certificate. 

The recipient of the Beall Award is recognized at the Basic Course Interest Group business meeting. 

Past recipients are:

The Braithwaite Award for Qualitative Research is named after beloved CSCA member Dr. Dawn O. Braithwaite who was and is a pioneer for interpersonal qualitative research studies. It is presented to the top paper in the Interpersonal and Family Communication Interest Group that exclusively uses qualitative methods and that did not receive the top paper or top student paper award. At the annual convention, the recipient receives a cash award and a certificate. The recipient of the Braithwaite Award is recognized at the Interpersonal and Family Communication Interest Group business meeting.

For more information, contact the officers of the Interpersonal and Family Communication Interest Group. 

The Calloway-Thomas Inclusivity Speaker Series (and fellow program) is named after Dr. Carolyn Calloway-Thomas who has a long history of involvement with the Central States Communication Association and whose scholarship is among the top in the country in the areas of intercultural communication and rhetorical studies. The Calloway-Thomas Inclusivity Speaker Series is sponsored by the Ethnicity, Race, International, and Class Issues (ERIC) Caucus who will sponsor at least one speaker each year to deliver a lecture or serve on a focused discussion panel specifically dedicated to the area of inclusive scholarship. Once speakers have presented as part of the series, they will from that point forward be known as a CSCA Calloway-Thomas Inclusivity Fellow for the organization. The endowment for this award covers costs for this speaker series, including speaker fees/honoraria, refreshments, advertising/publicity, inclusivity fellow ribbons, and/or other items or services when needed or as is appropriate for the series.

Biography for Award Namesake: Dr. Carolyn Calloway-Thomas studies intercultural communication, African American communication, intersections between empathy and conflict, and pedagogy and civic engagement. She is currently the President of the World Communication Association. She has served in many leadership positions, including President of the Bloomington Faculty Council at Indiana University, Communication National Advisory Board, Director of the Interracial Communications Project, and past president of the Central States Communication Association (CSCA). In 2012, she was inducted into the CSCA’s Hall of Fame.

The ComBotLabs Award is named after the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlabs.org) which is a research partnership between Autumn Edwards, Chad Edwards, and Patric Spence. The ComBotLabs Award is presented to the top paper in the Communication and Technology Interest Group of CSCA. The recipient receives a cash award and a certificate.

The Communication and Social Robotics Labs was founded in 2014 and located at Western Michigan University and the University of Central Florida. There are faculty affiliates at North Dakota State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Connecticut.

For more information, contact the officers of the Communication and Technology Interest Group.

The prestigious Cooper Award is named after former CSCA President Pamela J. Cooper and is presented to one M.A. level graduate teaching assistant and one Ph.D. level graduate teaching assistant in recognition of excellent teaching by a graduate student. At the annual convention, the recipients receive a $50 cash award and a certificate.

To be considered for the Cooper Award, nominees must submit materials electronically (not to exceed 12 pages, excluding cover page, index page, and/or divider pages) which must be the original work of the graduate teaching assistant. The electronic packet must include (1) no more than two letters of nomination/support; (2) a one to two-page statement of the nominee's teaching philosophy; (3) a description of the nominee's teaching experiences including courses taught and course responsibilities; (4) evidence of the nominee's teaching effectiveness, including peer/ supervisor evaluations, a narration of a pedagogical challenge you overcame, or other evidence; and (5) teaching materials including syllabi, assignment sheets, handouts, and web pages. In recognition of clear evidence that end-of-semester student evaluations, also known as SETs, show racial, cultural, and gender bias, the Cooper Award committee will not accept student evaluations (SETs) as part of Cooper Award applications. On the application, please note whether the application is for the M.A. award or the Ph.D. award.

Only two candidates can be nominated by one department. Students who were graduate teaching assistants during the past academic year as well as current M.A. and Ph.D. students are eligible. Graduate teaching assistants at colleges and universities in the CSCA region are eligible. In addition, graduate teaching assistants advised by faculty outside of the CSCA region are also eligible, but they, their nominating faculty, or department should be CSCA members. Per association bylaws, all recipients must be CSCA members at the time of the nomination. Cooper Award winners are also expected to attend the 2020 conference in Chicago, IL to receive their award. The recipients of the Cooper Award are recognized at the Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon and Business Meeting.

All materials must be submitted electronically by December 1, 2019. Please reference the Cooper Award in the subject line and whether your application is for the M.A. or PhD award. When the materials are received, you will receive a confirmation email indicating that your submission is under review. Please submit all application materials in a single PDF to:

Ashley Hinck
Cooper Award Committee Chair
Department of Communication
Xavier University hincka@xavier.edu

Co-Chair: Ashley Hinck, Xavier University, hincka@xavier.edu
Co-Chair: Ronald Greene, University of Minnesota, green179@umn.edu

Past recipients include the following:

Proposals for the 2020 Federation Prize are now being accepted.

The Federation Prize promotes intellectual development and communication scholarship by awarding a cash prize of (up to) $5000 to selected research proposals authored by a CSCA member. If there are multiple submitters on a proposal, all authors must be CSCA members. Proposals are evaluated by a selection committee of scholars representing diverse interests in communication and various methods of inquiry. The recipient is expected to provide a presentation of the research project in a special panel at the CSCA convention the year following the award presentation.

To be considered for the Federation Prize, applicants must submit a proposal. The proposal must include the following items:

• A one-page title sheet, including the applicant's name and contact information (name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address), the title of project, and a 200-word abstract. If there are multiple submitters, please list all of their names and contact information.
• A single-spaced, three-page description of the project, including objectives, methods, a proposed timetable, qualifications of the applicant(s) to complete the project, and a rationale describing why the project merits CSCA funding.
• A one-page budget, including the amount of money requested (up to $5000) and how the money will be spent. 
• A brief (two-page) curriculum vita for each applicant.
• Names and contact information of three references

The materials must be received by December 1, 2019. Please make one document file (.docx file or PDF) containing the materials outlined above and submit it via email to Dr. Allison Thorson (athorson@usfca.edu). Please indicate “2020 CSCA Federation Prize Proposal” explicitly in the subject line.

The recipient of the Federation Prize is recognized at the Hall-of-Fame Awards Luncheon and Business Meeting. It is expected that a representative for any winning proposal attend the event to collect the prize.

Please direct any inquiries toward the chair of the 2020 Federation Prize Committee, Dr. Allison Thorson - University of San Francisco -at the email address listed earlier in this call.

All applicants must consult their university grants/awards office when applying for the Federation Prize. The Central States Communication Association does not pay any overhead or administrative fees, nor can applicant salaries be listed as an expense. Any proposal including these items as part of the funding request will be disqualified.

Past recipients include:

The Gustav Friedrich Award is named after former CSCA President Gustav Friedrich and is presented to the author(s) of the Top Student Competitive Paper submitted to the Communication Education Interest Group. At the annual convention, the recipient receives a $100 cash award and a certificate.

The recipient of the Friedrich Award is recognized at the Communication Education Interest Group business meeting.

For more information, contact the officers of the Communication Education Interest Group.

Past recipients are:

The Central States Communication Association (CSCA) is seeking nominees for its 2020 Hall of Fame award. This award and membership in the CSCA Hall of Fame is given to those who have contributed to the discipline of communication through meritorious scholarship, teaching/mentoring, participation at conventions, and service to the association.

In order to be nominated, the potential Hall of Fame recipient must be a current CSCA member and must have joined the association on or before 1994.

To nominate an individual for the Hall of Fame, a packet must be submitted containing (1) a letter of nomination citing the nominee’s accomplishments in light of the selection criteria, (2) a copy of the nominee’s vita, and (3) two additional letters of support.  Nomination packets should be submitted as Word documents.

Nomination packets must be received no later than February 1, 2020.

Queries and submissions should be addressed to the following:

Chad McBride
President, Central States Communication Association
cmcbride@creighton.edu

Past recipients are:

The Jimmie Manning Award is presented to the top paper in the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Caucus. Dr. Manning is the ideal namesake for this award as he founded the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Caucus when he was a graduate student at the University of Kansas. When petitioning to begin the caucus, he and a graduate school colleague had several people refuse to sign the petition based on their personal beliefs – an obstacle that only made him more determined to ensure that the caucus was a success. After re-submitting the petition twice, the caucus was finally approved.

Dr. Manning, then a first-year faculty member, was elected to be the inaugural Chair for the caucus. Since that time, he has served in several other leadership roles for the Central States Communication Association, including the role of Executive Director from 2014-2018. Importantly, Dr. Manning has a considerable scholarly record, has received several awards for teaching and mentoring, and is well-known for service in the discipline.

The Central States Communication Association (CSCA) States Advisory Council will recognize the top journal as well as the top manuscript at the annual CSCA conference in Chicago, O’Hare, IL in April 2020. On behalf of CSCA States Advisory, I invite journal editors of central states journals to consider placing forward your state’s journal as well as a manuscript published in your state’s journal over the past year. We want to recognize the quality of work found in Central States journals.

Specifically, here is what I would like for you to do:

Journal (CSCA STATE JOURNAL AWARD):

Please send me a PDF copy of your 2018 state journal to my e-mail address: anna.wright@ic.edu.

Manuscript (CSCA STATE JOURNAL MANUSCRIPT AWARD):

In the same e-mail that you attach the PDF copy of your state journal, identify one particular article from the publication that you believe exemplifies some of the best work that is published in your state’s journal. Briefly explain in a couple of paragraphs why this article has been selected. Include reasons for the quality in writing, content, connectivity with your organization, and with the discipline. The winner of this award will be forwarded NCA for their manuscript award.

I ask that you submit your entries by Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 5:00 pm CST.

The recipient of the CSCA State Journal Award and the recipient(s) of the CSCA State Journal Manuscript Award will be contacted in early March.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at anna.wright@ic.edu or 217-245-3427.

Past recipients of the Outstanding State Journal and the Outstanding Manuscript are:

Outstanding State Journal Award Recipients

Outstanding Manuscript Award Recipients

The Paul D. Skalski Award (Skalski Award) is named after the late Cleveland State University Associate Professor of Communication Paul D. Skalski, Ph.D.

The Skalski Award is presented to the top paper in the Graduate Student Caucus of CSCA. The recipient receives a cash award and a certificate.

Paul D. Skalski was a 2004 graduate of the Communication doctoral program at Michigan State University and an associate professor at Cleveland State University where he received his B.A. and M.A. Before returning home to Cleveland State University, Paul was an assistant professor of communication at the University of Minnesota at Duluth. His primary areas of research focused on telepresence and media enjoyment. Paul was a fun person and loved by many. He was a recipient of the Graduate Student Caucus Top Paper award in 2003.

We are now accepting nomination applications for the 2019 Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Judith S. Trent Award for Early Career Excellence in Political Communication (Trent Award). This award honors an early career scholar who has an outstanding record of research in the area of political communication. “Early career” is defined as within the first 15 years of receiving a Ph.D. in Communication or a related field.

Nominees must (a) be in their first 15 years of receiving a Ph.D. in Communication or a related field; (b) demonstrate an outstanding record of research in the area of political communication; (c) be a member of CSCA at the time they apply; and (d) attend the conference the year in which the award is presented (2019 in Omaha, Nebraska).

To be considered for the Trent Award, nominees must electronically submit a packet as a single PDF file. This packet should include the following items, arranged in this order: (a) a letter of nomination not to exceed 2 pages (self-nominations are welcome), and up to two additional support letters from established scholars in political communication, each not to exceed 2 pages; (b) a 1-2 page statement summarizing the candidate’s program of scholarship, specifically noting key contributions to the area of political communication; (c) a full curriculum vita; and (d) a single published journal article or book chapter that they believe best showcases their work.

The materials must be received by Thursday, December 1, 2019, 11:59 pm CST. Please submit the materials and any inquiries electronically to: Terri Easley-Giraldo at teasley3@jccc.edu referencing TRENT AWARD in the subject line. An email response confirming receipt of materials will be provided for all nominations submitted by the deadline.

The recipient of the Trent Award will receive a cash award from the endowed fund and a certificate as well as recognition at the 2019 CSCA convention in Omaha, Nebraska.