Communication Faculty Members Receive Rives Award

Illinois State University’s Steve Hunt and Cheri Simonds are the 2007-08 recipients of the Stan and Sandy Rives Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award. The award, which will be presented at the Founders Day Convocation on Feb. 14 at 1 p.m., recognizes outstanding teaching or a significant contribution to the undergraduate experience.

Stan Rives earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Illinois State and was a member of the Illinois State University faculty and administration. The Stan and Sandy Rives Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award was established in honor of Stan’s commitment to a high quality undergraduate program and for his contributions to Illinois State University as dean of Undergraduate Instruction.

Hunt, who received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, is an associate professor in the School of Communication, co-director of the basic communication course and a Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Political Engagement Scholar.  He has published articles in the areas of instructional communication, persuasion and communication pedagogy, with his major research interests in the areas of pedagogy of political engagement, critical thinking, communication skill assessment and training/mentoring graduate students.

Simonds, who received her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma, is also an associate professor in the School of Communication.  She has co-directed the basic communication course, Communication as a Critical Inquiry, for 11 years and has been integrally involved in general education reform at Illinois State.  Simonds teaches in the area of communication education and has published articles on teacher clarity, challenge behavior, portfolio assessment and evaluation fidelity.  She has co-authored textbooks on classroom communication, intercultural communication and public speaking.