The Kopenhaver Center and the AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women hosted their fifth annual Women Faculty Moving Forward Workshop, with the largest number of fellows yet, at the AEJMC Conference held in Chicago, IL, on Tuesday, August 8, 2017.
This year’s session, Women Faculty Moving Forward: A Pathway to Success in the Academy, featured a keynote speech by Lori Bergen, University of Colorado, and past-president of AEJMC. She was followed by a panel of senior scholars, administrators, and women who have achieved significant leadership roles in their careers.
Panelists included Bey-Ling Sha, San Diego State University; Jean Folkerts, Kansas State University; Laura Casteneda, University of Southern California; and Maria Elizabeth Len-Rios, University of Georgia.. The panel was moderated by Tracy Everbach, University of North Texas. Nancy Green, chair of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication Leadership Council also contributed to the session.
Panelists discussed issues to help women faculty move forward in their careers through mentoring and networking, balancing work and life and research, preparing for tenure and promotion, looking at leadership roles, and surviving early career years. The panel was followed by roundtables discussing similar issues of importance to participants.
Jennifer Greer, University of Alabama, incoming president of AEJMC, keynoted a session for returning Kopenhaver Center Fellows from the previous four years. Her keynote address was titled Women Moving Forward: Cracking All Ceilings.
The Kopenhaver Center Fellows for 2017 follow:
| Adaobi Vivian Duru | University of Louisiana |
| Alysia Steele | University of Mississippi |
| Amanda C. Bright | Eastern Illinois University |
| Amanda J. Weed | Ashland University |
| Amber Roessner | University of Tennessee |
| Andrea L. Guzman | Northern Illinois University |
| Caitlin Ring Carlson | Seattle University |
| Carolyn Kim | Biola University |
| Dunja Antunovic | Bradley University |
| Elizabeth R. Smith | Pepperdine University |
| Emily A. Ehmer | Texas State University |
| Erin Coyle | Louisiana State University |
| Eunice Kim | University of Florida |
| Evangeline W. Robinson | University of Mississippi |
| Ginger E. Blackstone | Harding University |
| Ioana A. Coman | University of Wisconsin |
| Ivanka Pjesivac | University of Georgia |
| Janice Marie Collins | University of Illinois |
| Jennifer G. Ball | Temple University |
| Jennifer Hoewe | University of Alabama |
| Jennifer Sadler | University of Mississippi |
| Jessica Myrick | Penn State University |
| Jill Hopke | DePaul University |
| Jiun-Yi (Jenny) Tsai | Northern Arizona University |
| Kristen Alley Swain | University of Mississippi |
| Kristin Gustafson | University of Washington |
| Kylah J. Hedding | University of North Carolina |
| Lana G. McDonnell | Texas A&M University |
| Laura Crosswell | University of Nevada |
| Lisa Lenoir | Stephens College |
| Loren Saxton Coleman | University of Southern Mississippi |
| Mary Liz Brooks | West Texas A&M University |
| Meg Heckman | Northeastern University |
| Michelle Baum | Metropolitan State University of Denver |
| Monica Chadha | Arizona State University |
| Ngozi Akinro | Texas Wesleyan University |
| Pamela E. Walck | Duquesne University |
| Pearl Gluck | Penn State University |
| Sabrina Habib | Winthrop University |
| Sarah E. Erickson | University of Michigan |
| Sheila Peuchaud | University of Nevada Reno |
| Sheryl Johnson-Ross | Howard University |
| Stephanie Madden | University of Memphis |
| Stephanie Smith | Virginia Tech |
| Summer Harlow | University of Houston |
| Tara Mortensen | University of South Carolina |
| Twange Kasoma | Radford University |
| Valerie K. Jones | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| Vanessa de Macedo Higgins Joyce | Texas State University |
