Dr. Cheri J. Simonds, professor of communication, will deliver the second College of Arts and Sciences Fall Lecture on Thursday, October 27 at 5 p.m. in the Old Main Room in the Bone Student Center. Her talk, “Designing General Education Curriculum with Assessment in Mind,” is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.
Simonds is a nationally recognized leader in course development and assessment. “Dr. Simonds is a role model of an outstanding scholar and professor, and she shares her expertise via presentations and publications in the communication discipline and beyond,” said Dr. Steve Hunt, director of Illinois State’s School of Communication. “Indeed, there are a small handful of communication faculty across the world that have made such an indelible mark on the discipline through their work with communication pedagogy and instructional communication. It is not hyperbole to suggest that her scholarship on teaching communication has positively impacted the education of students across the nation.”
For 25 years, she has served as the director of Illinois State’s public speaking course (COM 110: Communication as Critical Inquiry). She assumed that role in 1997, just before the transition from the old University Studies program began. Since then, Simonds has worked closely with course coordinators of other general education courses across campus and library staff, especially in terms of the 2005-2006 implementation of critical thinking and information literacy concepts into COM 110 and related library functions.
After winning a Teaching Initiative Award in 2000, Simonds won the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award in 2005, and in 2006, she was named Outstanding University Teacher. With Dr. Steve Hunt, she was the recipient of the 2008 Stan and Sandy Rives Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award.
For her contributions to the discipline, the National Communication Association’s Basic Course Division recognized her with its inaugural Distinguished Faculty Award in 2013.
In 2014 she was the inaugural recipient of Illinois State’s John Chizmar and Anthony Ostrosky Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.
Simonds, who holds a Ph.D. in instructional communication from the University of Oklahoma, has published numerous book chapters and articles in multiple prestigious journals, including the Basic Communication Course Annual, Communication Education, Communication Research Reports, Communication Studies, Communication Teacher, eJournal of Public Affairs, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Learning, Media and Technology. She has also published several textbooks related to the introductory public speaking course and instructional communication and recently completed her term as editor of Communication Teacher, one of the most important journals in the communication discipline.
Simonds won the Outstanding College Research Award in 2016 and the Outstanding University Researcher Award in 2017.
In 2012 she was the winner of the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Service Award, making her one of only a few professors to win college awards for teaching, research, and service. “I hope that many of you will join me at Dr. Simonds’ Lecture,” said Dr. Heather Dillaway, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Our general education program is vital to the education of our students because of the depth and range of courses it offers. Dr. Simonds’ work is important to all of us.”
Arts and Sciences Lectures were established in 1968 by the College Council as a means of honoring scholars within the college. Professor of Chemistry Dr. Christopher Mulligan will deliver the spring 2023 lecture.
