Traumatic brain injury is often called the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the most common combat-related injury of our time, typically the result of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), and it is often accompanied by severe multiple trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. In past wars, TBI was a non-issue, because soldiers did not survive bombing or terror attacks—they were either killed in the blast, or died later in the emergency room. Today, however, due to improved medical technology and better armor and protection, more U.S. servicemembers are surviving serious attacks. Later, though, many begin to experience symptoms that may include difficulty with concentration, memory and recall, irritabilty, headaches, dizziness, and balance disturbances. As these symptoms may not occur for months or even years following an attack, many do not recognize that they are a result of the initial brain injury. Yet their impact on work, study, and family life may be extremely detrimental.

If you are a veteran, or know a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan, don't miss this IUP-TV special report. It will be televised according to the schedule below:

• Monday, November 9, 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 10, 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 11, 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.
• Thursday, November 12, 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.
• Friday, November 13, 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.
• Saturday, November 15, 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.

"Wounded Warriors: Traumatic Brain Injury" was produced by Kathleen Manion in cooperation with the IUP-TV staff.

The series began as a method of getting current IUP internship or career agency partners’ reflections on personal marketing strategies.

Mark Anthony of the Career Development Center said that the Employer’s Corner series is “an opportunity for students to become more aware of career opportunities that are available to them with the variety of employers that are interested in IUP students.” He went on, saying that the students are given information from the employer’s perspective on how to prepare for job searches and interviews. Anthony feels it is very beneficial to hear directly from the employer as opposed to hearing from just the Career Development Center staff or faculty members.

The series consists of four half-hour-long interview sessions with professionals Jamie Timms, the recruiting supervisor for Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Denise Rosenberger, the manager of Human Resources and Labor Relations for North Side Foods Corporation; Sheana Malyszka, the recruitment specialist for the Summit Academy; and Davie Huddleston, the vice president and director of Strategic College Recruiting for PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

Content by Zachary Salopek.

The purpose of the conference is to promote the sharing of scholarly research and to increase scholarship both within the Department of Communications Media at IUP and among the colleges and universities in the region. Dr. Elzar Camper of East Stroudsburg University presented the keynote luncheon address, “The Importance of Public Policy: Technology, Brain Fitness, and Neuroplasticity.” The general session keynote address was given by Mr. Michael Young, vice president and general manager of CBS Radio, on “The Resilience and Relevance of Radio.” A majority of the seventeen sessions during the day were run by IUP faculty members and students, with other sessions presented by individuals from Robert Morris University and Edinboro University. Dr. Kurt Dudt, Dr. Mary-Beth Leidman, Bradley Wiggins, Jennifer Forrest, Christine Schaeffer, and Matthew McKeague all assisted in planning the LHCC. Attendance totaled more than 150 people.

Content by Zachary Salopek.

After Ryan received his Master of Science in Library Science from Clarion University and his Master of Science in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University, he realized that while he knew a lot about his field, he was never properly taught how to teach what he knew to others. This predicament lead to the creation of the cookbook, with ideas that are easily adaptable to many different subjects. The unique style and layout of the cookbook sets it apart from other educational material. Compared to the first book that Sittler and Cook wrote together, the Library Instruction Cookbook seems to be making record sales. Their first publication, entitled Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructions: 17 Innovative Strategies to Improve Student Learning, sold about 1,000 copies in eighteen months. The Library Instruction Cookbook already sold over 500 copies during the months from June to August.

While writing the cookbook, the authors wanted at least fifty submissions of different activities. They ended up with hundreds of them. Finally publishing the best ninety-seven ideas, they include what the activity is, how long it normally takes, the ACRL standards that they meet, the type of activity, the preparation that needs to take place, and the “Allergy warnings,” or anything that could go wrong with the plan. The great part about the cookbook is that only a skeletal outline is provided, so all of the activities are able to be changed and adapted to fit the curriculum of other subjects.

Ryan was born in Reading, Pa., and grew up just fifteen minutes from there. He is currently an instructional technology/information literacy librarian and an assistant professor at California University of Pennsylvania. His future goals are unclear after realizing the great opportunities that a Communications Media degree from IUP can create.

For more information, you can visit their blog, and you can also purchase the Cookbook.

Content by Zachary Salopek.

This is the first year that IUP-TV and the IUP Athletic Department are able to provide free webcasts of IUP home football games and selected away games.

Last week’s game was a live IUP-TV webcast from Slippery Rock University that had 623 viewers. To tune in this Saturday, go to Penn Atlantic and select the game.

Department of Communications Media

This high-risk sport is captured using more than forty different views of some of the world’s best pilots racing through a low-level aerial track over land and water.

Goodling began as a segment producer for the 230-mph sport in March 2007 and traveled to places such as Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, and Perth, Australia, working on the series. For the 2008 season he was working in the field as a story producer, traveling the globe once again. Part of Goodling’s responsibilities were producing the personal interviews with the pilots immediately after the race and writing the “host wraps” as stories came together on the ground. After a few days of shooting in the field, he would fly back to Los Angeles to help supervise the edit of the program. To wrap it all together, Goodling would produce UFC announcer Mike Goldberg, who would provide race calls from a voiceover booth. Some final sound design and motion graphics completed their award-winning package.

Here is a special intro completed for last season’s finale in Perth.

Goodling recently left GRACE Entertainment (the company that produced the Red Bull Air Race World Series), taking on a new role as a producer at Spike TV. He produces GameTrailers with Geoff Keighley.

Despite the Emmy award, Goodling says that his most rewarding accomplishment thus far is being credited as a full show producer less than five years removed from IUP. While at IUP, Goodling produced a number of shows for WIUP-TV.

By Zachary Salopek

Putt enjoys her radio work, but writing is her passion. She is currently building her resume as a writer and has already gained recognition through several publications in the Tribune- Review’s Focus section, as well an on-line column for the Indiana Gazette. She also is a contributor to Examiner.com. She has extensive experience writing in varied genres, including news stories, editorials, short stories, press releases, and more.

As Putt’s career progresses, she plans on networking with other writers and becoming published on a wider scale, eventually hoping to turn it into a way of earning a living. She also plans on continuing radio broadcasting and wants to help to continue expanding live, local radio in her community.

Putt’s work is available at Examiner.com, and also at the Indiana Gazette.

By Zachary Salopek

Pattnaik graduated from IUP in the summer of 1996 with a degree in Elementary Education and a specialization in Early Childhood Education. By 2004 she had received tenure and promotion to full professor at California State University, Long Beach.

Her scholarly interests include multicultural and global education, education of indigenous children in India, early childhood education, global child advocacy, father/male involvement, cross-cultural research, children’s relationships with animals, and integration of technology in higher education. She is also actively involved with educational organizations such as the Association for Childhood Education International, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Research Council, the American Educational Research Association, the Association of Teacher Educators, and the National Council for the Social Studies.

She has authored or coauthored more than twenty-five publications and served as the guest editor for the 2005 International focus issue Education of Indigenous/Aboriginal Children: Global Perspectives and Practices for the journal Childhood Education, a peer-reviewed journal published by the Association for Childhood Education International. She is also the guest coeditor for the 2010 international focus issue of Childhood Education.

In all of Patnaik’s various roles, she demonstrates an unwavering commitment to children, families, students, colleagues, and her profession and has been recognized as an educator and a scholar who is making a major contribution to her field in teaching, service, and research.

by Zachary Salopek

The media awards were presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Sports Video Group during the College Sports Video Summit in Atlanta, Ga. WIUP-TV’s production was selected as one of the six final nominees.

David Lind of the Communications Media Department was one of the judges for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Global Media Sports Awards entries for media companies, including network and regional broadcasters/content providers for Live Game or Live Event Production, Special Feature, Outstanding Highlight Package, Outstanding Promotional Video, Outstanding Promotional Video, and the College Sports Video of the Year.

Wednesday and Thursday

6:54 p.m.

4:00 p.m. Classic Arts Showcase

6:00 p.m. “Education Today” Armstrong School District

6:30 p.m. “Teach A Man To Cook” — Guest Chef: Ellen Ruddock (repeat)

6:54 p.m. “Humans 101”

7:00 p.m. “Let’s Talk” — Area citizens discuss state and local issues

7:30 p.m. “Best of the Best” — Segments from the Communication Media Department’s “Alumni Perspectives”

8:00 p.m. “High School Game of the Week” — Bedford vs. Richland (tape delay)

10:09 p.m. “The Big Hit” — IUP-TV student produce sports talk show

10:39 p.m. “Classic Arts Showcase”

Friday through Sunday

4:00 p.m. Classic Arts Show case

6:00 p.m. “Education Today” — Armstrong School District

6:30 p.m. “Teach A Man To Cook” — Guest Chef: Ellen Ruddock (repeat)

6:54 p.m. “Humans 101”

7:00 p.m. “Let’s Talk” — Area citizens discuss state and local issues.

7:30 p.m. “Best of the Best” — Segments from Communication Media Department’s “Alumni Perspectives”

8:00 p.m. “Capitol Connection” —Topic: Economic Stimulus Impact on Pennsylvania

8:30 p.m. “Behind the Headlines” — Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy

9:00 p.m. “Education Today” — Armstrong School District

9:30 p.m. “Teach A Man To Cook” — Guest Chef: Ellen Ruddock (repeat)

9:54 p.m. “Humans 101”

10:00 p.m. “Let’s Talk” — Area citizens discuss state and local issues

10:30 p.m. “Best of the Best” — Segments from Communication Media Department’s “Alumni Perspectives”

11:00 p.m. Classic Arts Showcase

Dr. Kanyarusoke was honored in August 2009 for his ongoing work as the senior technical advisor to the Department of Education, Government of Southern Sudan. The Southern Sudan Technical Assistance Program is funded and run by the United States Agency for International Development, the humanitarian arm of the United States government. Dr. Kanyarusoke’s responsibilities include designing a teacher education program, building and rehabilitating schools, and training senior education officials, among many others. The sixty-one-year-old professor left IUP for Sudan in September 2005 and continues to pursue his calling while flying home to Indiana now and then to spend time with his wife and two children.

Dr. Kanyarusoke, formerly of Uganda, began teaching at IUP in 1987 as a professor of several courses: audio production, technology for learning and instruction, and international communications. He completed his undergraduate studies in graphic design at the University of Nairobi in Kenya; earned his post-graduate education diploma at Makerere University in Uganda and his technical certificate in production of educational texts at the International Training Center in Sydney, Australia; and earned his Master of Education and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in educational communications and technology.

Sudan, the tenth-largest country in the world and the largest country in Africa, is still recovering from the twenty-two-year civil war that claimed 1.9 million lives and displaced 4 million people, forcing them to move to neighboring countries. The war ended in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and since then, the new government of Southern Sudan’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has made steady headway in implementing an educational system with the assistance of such international agencies as USAID.

Limited resources such as insufficient budget and the lack of leadership and management experience have lead to Southern Sudan’s low overall enrollment rate for primary education—25 percent, one of the world’s lowest. The GoSS-MoEST strives to increase enrollment to 55 percent by 2011 while improving the quality of education.

By: Sara B. Lamberson
Special Projects Assistant
Department of Communications Media

The theme for this year’s conference is Communications Media and Instructional Technology in Economically Changing Times. We are thrilled to have Mr. Michael Young, vice president of KDKA Radio, present on “The Resiliency and Relevance of Radio” as our general session keynote address. Dr. Elzar Camper, of East Stroudsburg University, will speak on “The Importance of Public Policy: Technology, Brain Fitness, and Neuroplasticity” at the inaugural keynote luncheon address.

Both specials feature Dr. Kevin Bailey, an IUP alumnus and associate vice president of Student Affairs for Tulane University, and are hosted by Dr. Richard Lamberski, professor of Communications Media.

The first special, “The Tulane University Experience with Katrina: Crisis Management and Leadership,” captures Dr. Bailey’s thoughts before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. The second special, “Universities at Risk: Caught in Nature’s Path,” focuses on Katrina’s impact to Tulane University’s crisis management plan. He discusses how to maintain preparedness and awareness before disasters and the actions that take place before, during, and after the event.

The specials will air Wednesday, September 2 through Sunday, September 6, 2009. The first airs at 8 p.m. and the second at 8:30 p.m.

“Universities at Risk: Caught in Nature’s Path” may also be viewed on on IUP's YouTube channel at any time.

Contact:

David Lind
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Department of Communications Media
Davis Hall, Room B-36
570 S. 11th St.
Indiana, Pa. 15705-1058
724-357-7517

WIUP-FM, IUP's volunteer-operated, community/university radio station has openings this summer for DJs and managers. No experience is necessary. Training will be provided by experienced WIUP-FM staff.

Membership in the station is open to all academic majors as well as faculty, staff, and community members.

WIUP-FM broadcasts at 90.1 on the FM dial with 1600 watts of power. Our signal reaches portions of five Western Pennsylvania counties, with a potential audience of more than 300,000 people. In addition, our broadcasts are streamed worldwide on the Internet.

If you are interested in summer membership in WIUP-FM, come to our informational meeting on Wednesday, June 3, at 6:00 p.m. in Room B-23 Davis Hall. Everyone is welcome to attend, learn more about the station, and submit an application for membership. This is a great opportunity to host a music program, present public affairs programming, or gain experience in station operations in one of our management positions.

For more information, contact Dr. Jay Start, faculty advisor, WIUP-FM, at jstart@iup.edu or 724-845-2030.

Mary Beth Leidman, Jeff Fratangeli, Matthew McKeague, David Porter, Sarah Tourtellotte, and Bradley Wiggins presented “Different Approaches to Developing Critical Thinking Skills and Research Skills in Undergraduate Education,” focusing on how to develop higher level critical thinking and research skills in both high school and early college levels. Each of the members of the team presented on a specific component of the topic related to their area of expertise or interest.

Governor Ed Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Education welcomed higher education leaders from across the Commonwealth, including IUP President Tony Atwater, to discuss critical policy issues in regard to college access and student success. The Governor’s Conference on Higher Education: Pathways to College Success was held on March 17 and 18 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, Pennsylvania. The conference is generally for college and university presidents and their leadership teams to come together with teams from other areas in order to discuss the administrative issues within higher education.

Workshop presentations also were given by groups that represented the policy-making and executive level administrative segment of institutions of higher education. Groups present included the U.S. House of Representatives, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, the Educational Testing Service, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Presentations focused on topics such as the current economic situation, the impact that it will have on higher education, and what preparations need to be made to address these issues.

(Content by Zachary Salopek.)

Since she adjusted to the differences of America, specifically IUP, she explained some of the things that bothered her about the changes in her lifestyle. Aside from missing home-cooked meals and her friends, Emebet had to adapt to her new educational surroundings as well. She said that there was much more hand-on interaction between the students and professors in America than she had experienced at home. Emebet said that, academically, American colleges covered similar material as high schools in the Netherlands.

Socially, things are different here as well. She said that colleges in Holland are not made up of campuses; rather, friends live together in the city and travel to school from there. The basic grading scale in Holland differs from the American scale because they do not use letters. Holland’s scale uses numbers between 1 and 10, 1 being a failing grade and 10 being the best a student can do. Anything above a 5.5 is considered passing. The basic student social group is relatively similar in both countries.

Her favorite thing about America is having the ability to learn about another culture by travelling around the country. She misses the food from home the most. Her biggest annoyance in America is the drinking age, because in Holland the drinking age is sixteen.

(Content provided by Zachary Salopek.)

“The program’s budget was determined by predicting the number of students that would be involved and the number of credits that would be taken,” Lenze said. “Both of those numbers have already been surpassed, proof that the Ph.D. is developing quite well. The estimates for the number of students to be recruited for next year have also been exceeded.

“We have really appreciated that the students, in particular, recognize that we are working hard to keep the lines of communication open in all possible ways,” Lenze said. For example, Karl Roeper, a student of the current doctoral cohort, stated that good communication between faculty and students makes the work much more manageable because the schedule is more accommodating to nontraditional students who have to work full time and treat their education as a second job. They must juggle these commitments to their degree with their family lives, and the doctoral professors make this task as simple as they can.

“There is no question that the addition of the doctoral program to the Department of Communications Media is going to change the culture of the department in some ways,” Lenze said. “The department already has a clear focus on good teaching and production skills, but with the addition of the doctoral program, faculty members will be stretched to do more research, but this can only add to the quality of our program for undergraduates as well as our doctoral students.”

As the enrollments grow and develop, the degree will continue to improve in quality as well as quantity, Lenze said. After five years, Dr. Lenze expects to have established a pattern for bringing students into the doctoral program with a stable enrollment of between seventy and eighty students. By then, the first wave of students will have already graduated with their Ph.D.s and the new doctoral students will have more interaction with the undergraduate program. Lenze also hopes to see a longer list of electives offered and every member of the faculty involved and engaged in the degree program in some way.

(Content by Zachary Salopek)

This article, accepted in the Midwest Journal for Educational Communications and Technology, focuses more on the United States than countries overseas, and specifically on the problems that distance education programs have because of their institutional and national boundaries. Konetes explained in detail his feelings after having his articles published:

”I had never thought that I would have two articles published at this point as a first-year Ph.D. student and teaching associate. In fact, I didn’t think I would have two articles published by the time I graduated. In short, it feels very good, but I need to thank and give credit to the entire Communications Media Department for giving me the opportunity and support to be able to do this.”

Even after having two articles published, Konetes is not finished making submissions. He is currently working on two more articles; one about the efficiency between distance education and face to face education, and the other about how the economic instability is effecting distance education.

(Content by Zachary Salopek)

IUP doctoral student and professor Karl Roeper enjoys motorcycle riding, especially when it’s for a great cause.

Roeper has been active with the Fallen Marine Memorial Run, a charity motorcycle event, since it started in 2006. He assisted Joseph Wadlow and Gerald Vanasdale, two former marines, with their idea of honoring marines who were killed or disabled in action and helping their families by holding a motorcycle run to raise money.

Wadlow and Vanasdale came up with the idea after seeing a photo of two-year-old Tyler Miles wearing Marine dress blues and pointing at the flag-covered casket of his father, Marine Sergeant Sean H. Miles, who was killed in Iraq. The photo sparked the first run, but Wadlow and Vanasdale did not want to stop there. They have continued their efforts and have raised money for the families of Lance Corporal Patrick Kenny and Staff Sergeant Jimmy Arroyave, who also died in action while in the Middle East.

The fundraiser starts with motorcyclists registering for a fifty- to sixty-mile ride, making three or four stops along the way, in order to establish a scholarship fund for each child of the deceased. At the end of the ride there is a benefit concert.

Roeper designed the flyer advertisements for the first memorial run and has taken part in all three of the rides to date. He plans to continue with the fourth annual Fallen Marine Memorial Run on September 19.

(Content by Zachary Salopek)

David Lind, WIUP-TV operations manager, has been appointed to the national Sports Video Group’s advisory board for their Sports Video Group University (SVGU) organization. Lind is also WIUP-TV operations manager and the director for the Center for videoconferencing and executive producer for IUP sports broadcasting.

The Sports Video Group (SVG) was formed in 2006 to support the professional community that relies on video, audio and broadband technologies to produce and distribute sports content. Leagues, owners, teams, players, broadcasters, webcasters, and consumer technology providers have joined the SVG to learn from each other, turn vision into reality, and implement innovations while sharing experiences that will lead to advances in the sports-production/distribution process and the overall consumer sports experience. SVG is the producer of the annual Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Lind has been a contributing writer for SVGU’s weekly newsletter, and chronicled the WIUP-TV student sports crew’s production experiences of producing ten IUP football games. Lind was also a participant on a panel discussion for the organization’s College Sports Video’s Digital Summit in New York City on November 16, 2008. The topic of the panel was “Low Cost Productions for Web Streaming.”

Panel members included representatives from ESPN, New York Giants, Horizon League, Major League Baseball, and CBS sports. Lind has also been appointed to the College Sports Video University’s Summit Advisory Board. The 2009 summit is slated for June in Atlanta. Lind will be a member of a panel discussion and part of two workshops.

Lind has been accepted as a member to the Silver Telly Council. The Telly Awards honor the very best in local, regional and cable television programs and segments, on-line videos, films, and commercials. The Silver Telly Council is a membership-based division of the Telly Awards. Members are top advertising and production professionals who have won a Silver Telly in the past, have applied for membership to the council, and have been accepted. The judging panel for the Telly Awards will be chosen from our Council Members.

Lind—along with members of the college’s faculty, staff, and students—has received five Telly Awards over the past six years.

(Content written by Zachary Salopek.)

Chiarelli currently is on-air talent at WRDW-Wired 96.5 radio in Philadelphia. He had worked for the promotions and programming departments at the radio station during an internship, and then was hired after graduation as a board operator and street team member. He worked his way into his current position, eventually taking over the full-time overnight shift with his show “Late Night with JC.”

Chiarelli hopes to move into the afternoon slot and eventually become a music or program director for a contemporary hit radio station.

(Content written by Zachary Salopek.)

Konetes noted in his publication that several controversial issues affect how distance education is implemented. For example, some people rate distance education on how well it compares to traditional education, instead of how much it could benefit those in need. Konetes suggests in his article that we learn to judge the effectiveness of distance education by the standards of the nation we are trying to help, and not by our own. The increased education stimulates the growth of human capital (intelligence) in the developing nation, which can lead to economic improvement and self-sufficiency, he points out.

While there are financial concerns and technological constraints to placing a proper distance education system in a developing nation, it brings about many positive changes and benefits that are worth the effort, his article suggests. Konetes concludes his article by noting that countries in need are not looking for handouts for their educational system, but giving them a small jump-start could go a long way in raising the overall education and economic levels of developing nations.

(Content written by Zachary Salopek.)

Two Communications Media professors and a Communications Media student presented research on commonalities of female politicians at the 2008 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Women’s Consortium Conference.

Professors Mary Beth Leidman and Sarah Tourtellotte and student Jaclyn Emershaw did research on thirty female governors and thirty-five female senators. They studied physical characteristics, including hairstyle, modes of dress, age, body type, marital status, political affiliation, and method of taking office (appointed, elected, or successor to a seat).

Based on their research, they concluded there was no formula for the perfect female politician, noting that among all the women studied, there was no discernable pattern that the women shared.

The presentation drew a great number of comments and discussion, according to Tourtellotte. “It was supposed to be a thirty-minute presentation, but the participants were so interested in the subject that it turned into an almost two-hour discussion, including much debate over why Hilary was not chosen to run for president.”

(Content written by Zachary Salopek.)

Because of Lamberski’s strong values and commitment to education, high standards of performance, and continued scholarly and service work, he was nominated and selected for this award as an individual with an extraordinary record of accomplishment.

Lamberski completed his Bachelor of Science in Government, History, and Social Science at Duquesne University in 1971. He obtained his master’s degree in Instructional Media in 1972 and his doctorate in Instructional Systems in 1980, both at Penn State.

Since 1981, Lamberski has been a professor, advisor, mentor, and researcher at IUP. He has distinguished himself as an educator whose main focus has been the design and implementation of effective and efficient learning systems. Over his career at IUP, Boston University, and Penn State, he has designed and/or taught over thirty different courses. He was among the first at IUP to use the Web for hybrid teaching and the first to develop and maintain a virtual advisor that has become the model for other units at IUP and nationwide. 

Lamberski is also known for his outstanding reputation as a teacher and mentor to his students. Advising is one of his passions. He has developed resources to help students choose a professional position, market themselves, and possibly consider graduate studies. Students—who consider him the “go-to” professor for advising—know that he will take the extra time, care, and patience to help them both personally and professionally.

In 1992, Lamberski was awarded the PSU College of Education Alumni Society Outstanding Teaching Award. In April 2008 he received IUP’s highest award for teaching. This award recognizes IUP professors who have achieved distinction through sustained performance in their fields and have provided outstanding service to IUP.

In his twenty-seven years at IUP, he has made a significant impact on the lives of the students he teaches and mentors. He has developed his own unique style of teaching by sharing, storytelling, and empowering.

In addition to his work at IUP, Lamberski’s significant research work for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the Link-to-Learn project resulted in millions of dollars for Western Pennsylvania schools (K-12) and higher education institutions.

Dr. Lamberski’s most important priority as a professor is to motivate and inspire his students. He strives to instill values that will encourage students to achieve success in their daily lives.

“Richard is highly sought after as an advisor. Faculty members regard him as an esteemed colleague and a mentor who is consistently available for wisdom and guidance. Richard is without peer,” said Kurt Dudt, chair and professor of Communications Media at IUP.

The Alumni Society Awards Banquet will take place on Friday, October 24, at the Nittany Lion Inn, University Park.

Both programs involved intensive, three-day work sessions with industry professionals and executives, including tours on sets and roundtable discussions with television show producers from shows such as Lost, Brothers and Sisters, and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The IUP Communications Media Department will offer a Ph.D. in Communications Media and Instructional Technology beginning in fall 2008 or 2009.

Communications Media is part of the College of Education and Educational Technology. The department currently offers both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the major.

“The program will stress rigorous academics so that graduates of this program are sought out by other universities looking for communications faculty and business and industry searching for leaders in the communications field,” explained Dr. Mary Ann Rafoth, dean of the College of Education and Educational Technology. “It will expand partnerships by adding a new level of professional to the department’s successful relationships with media companies and outlets and enable the department to pursue institutional advancement opportunities through grants only available to programs with a doctoral mission and doctoral students."

The development of the program followed a comprehensive marketing study in which both individuals and businesses indicated a significant need for doctoral programs in the communications media field.