This article describes a consulting project with an advocacy organization to raise cigarette excise taxes in Kentucky and to improve public health in the state. We describe the theoretical underpinnings of the project, the client, and our consultation process, objectives, products, and results.

This article, designed for both consulting practitioners and academics, reveals what it is like to do a high-level and high-profile client consultancy. This consultancy was highly informed by and assumes a working knowledge of instructional communication theory, research, and methods as well as drawing upon contemporary communication scholarship…

This case study describes a 35-year communication consulting relationship with the Illinois Fire Chiefs' Association. This case explains the fire chiefs' educational problems, the five-step method for creating an educational curriculum for fire officers, and the five-step procedure for continuous evaluation of the curriculum. Finally, an…

This essay describes how we facilitated the design of a campus leadership team. What is particularly interesting about this consultative project is that both authors participated--one as facilitator and the other as participant. The facilitation included a needs assessment prior to the event, the use of structured controversy techniques,…

This is the story of Go Sun Smart, a worksite wellness program endorsed by the North American Ski Area Association and funded by the National Cancer Institute. Between 2000 and 2002 we designed and implemented a large-scale worksite intervention at over 300 ski resorts in North America with the objective of reducing ski area employees and guests…

This paper describes the development and delivery of a complex and large-scale consulting intervention for a national professional association of landscape professionals. My consulting team worked with this professional association and a third partner to develop an online learning center which provided training, professional development, and the…

Using a message interpretation perspective, this study (N = 379) examined how sex of the student, sex of the teacher, and the setting affect the messages students receive from a teacher's excessive use of immediacy. Results reveal that students interpret excessive immediacy from female teachers as caring, but the same behavior from male teachers…

The present study investigated the relationships between college students' perceptions of instructor credibility (competence, character, and caring) and their perceptions of classroom justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice). Results indicate that perceptions of instructor credibility positively predicted perceptions of…

This experimental study examined the effects of teacher self-disclosure via Facebook on anticipated college student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. Participants who accessed the Facebook website of a teacher high in self-disclosure anticipated higher levels of motivation and affective learning and a more positive classroom…

This article discusses one of the most important issues facing anyone who begins their teaching career in a typical institution of higher education in the United States. The term "tenure", in the case of professors, refers to a status that is granted for a faculty member, normally after a probationary period of several years. Tenure protects the…

Although research on computer-assisted and online instruction abounds, researchers have expressed concern about the lack of theoretical frameworks for these studies. While ample research documents learning outcomes in individual courses, few attempts have been made to link computer-assisted or fully computer-mediated instruction with philosophical…

Using Expectancy Violations Theory as a framework, this study examined students' perceptions of how teachers manage compulsive communicators (CCs). College students (N = 265) were given one of three scenarios describing a teacher managing a compulsive communicator. After reading the scenario, students were asked to rate the expectedness of the…

Research investigating public speaking anxiety treatments is subject to demand effects. This study tests the relative effectiveness of systematic desensitization (SD) and multiple treatment method (MT) containing visualization therapy against no-treatment and credible placebo controls. Data (N = 238) were collected at six points in a public…

This interpretive study explored the communicative strategies teachers employ when constructing and presenting course syllabi to overcome challenges teachers face surrounding the syllabus. Data included 13 classroom observations, 19 teacher interviews, and document analysis of the instructors' syllabi. Communication strategies teachers used to…

This study investigated communicative strategies for helping female students cope with "stereotype threat". Participants completed a difficult math test after reading one of three coping messages: a control message encouraging perseverance, a "suppression" message describing stereotype threat and instructing participants to suppress associated…