It’s an exciting time of year for the National Office. Registration for the 110th Annual Convention in New Orleans is open! I want to thank our Director of Convention and Meetings, LaShawn Duckett, for all her hard work ensuring submission notices were sent out and registration opened without a hitch. I also want to thank the entire NCA staff for their commitment to creating a better user experience for members.
Being the Executive Director has its perks. One of them is getting a preview on Convention Central of all the amazing panels and sessions scheduled at this year’s Annual Convention. While reviewing the lineup, I noticed some common themes in the panel and session titles. Below is a glance at some word frequency in these titles that I found interesting.
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294 – Communication
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232 – Regard
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189 – Greater
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63 – Media
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58 – Health
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58 – Rhetoric/Rhetorics/Rhetorical
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51 – Social
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43 – Research
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42 - Student
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36 – AI/Artificial/Intelligence
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36 – Teaching/Pedagogy
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32 – Community
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27 – Exploring
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26 – Communicating
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24 – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access / Diverse
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21 – Justice
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18 – Mentoring/Mentorship
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14 - Resistance
The list barely touches the surface of what our Annual Convention is about. Despite that, I believe it is a good initial representation of where the field of Communication resides on campuses and within our everyday interactions. I am excited for our community to come together in November as we continue to move the Association forward. I hope you will join me as we discuss Communication for Greater Regard.
National Office Updates
Becoming more Data-Driven
Over the last couple of years, the National Office and volunteer leadership have worked to become more data-driven in decisions affecting NCA members and those in the field of Communication.
The Executive Committee took a major step in this direction at its November 2023 meeting when it approved a policy to administer a survey to first/primary authors submitting to an NCA journal and who experienced the review and decision process. With a specific focus on bias, the survey will:
- Assess authors’ perception of the fairness of the review process as it relates specifically to IDEA values.
- Make visible the invisible experiences of bias in the review process.
- Create accountability.
- Allow for assessment of improvements in authors' experience with NCA journals.
- Center IDEA values in our publications process.
I am excited to announce that NCA has partnered with Qualtrics to help create and implement the survey. Qualtrics is a familiar platform among many NCA members in academia and will be invaluable as the National Office works to analyze and store data securely.
Survey construction will begin by the end of summer and be administered starting at the beginning of 2025.
Proposal Submission Process to the Executive Committee
Before taking over as Interim Executive Director at NCA, I was firmly entrenched in the enthralling world of association governance. You may read this as snarky, but I highly enjoy learning about the inner workings of specific processes. For example:
Per Article III, Section 6(A) of the NCA Bylaws:
“The Executive Committee administers the policies of the Legislative Assembly and, between annual meetings of the LA, serves as the chief administrative authority of the Association.”
Riveting, I know. But what does the above mean for members?
The EC has taken a major step towards transparency by approving a proposal that enables members to submit items for EC consideration. Immediate Past President Walid Afifi and I submitted the proposal, which the EC approved in November 2023.
The National Office is working on a webpage that will walk members through the proposal process while clearly defining deadlines, EC purview, and an option to present a proposal directly to the EC.
This new proposal submission process aligns with our commitment to greater transparency, accountability to members, and increased member involvement in EC actions. It's a concrete step towards fulfilling our goals within NCA's Strategic Plan and IDEA Strategic Plan, ensuring that our governance reflects and serves the membership. The webpage is set to launch with the new NCA website in January 2025.
As we move forward with these initiatives—from our upcoming Annual Convention to our new data-driven approach and improved governance processes—I'm optimistic about NCA's future. I want to express my gratitude to all NCA members for your continued engagement and support. Your passion for the field of Communication and your dedication to NCA drives everything we do at the National Office.
Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or ideas. Your input is invaluable as we work together to strengthen NCA and advance the field of Communication.
All my best,
Justin Danowski
Interim Executive Director
Email: jdanowski@natcom.org