Awards

Master's Education Section

Interest Group Awards

Listed here are awards given by the Interest Group to its members. Interests Groups are smaller communities within NCA's large membership that provide a range of resources including networking opportunities, Annual Convention programming, leadership opportunities, awards, and specialized information dissemination channels, among others.

Read more about this Interest Group.

Outstanding/Innovative Master’s Degree Program Award

Year Award Winner
2022 University of North Texas
2021 No award given
2020 Syracuse University
2019 San Diego
2018 Texas State University
2017 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
2015 Villanova University
2014 Colorado State University
2013 Illinois State University
2012 Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis

Outstanding Graduate Mentor in Master’s Education Award

Year Award Winner
2023 Heather Woods
2022 Natalie Pennington
2021 Ryan Neville-Shepard
2020 Carolyn Michelle Cunningham 
2018 Dr. Myria Allen
2017 Gust Yep
2015 Andrew Ledbetter
2014 Karrin Vasby Anderson
2013 Sandra Metts
2012 Laura Prividera

Top Master's Paper Award

Year Award Winner
2022 Kirara Nagatsuka, Texas State University, "Nonverbal Decoding Accuracy and Bullying Victimization"
2020 Fatima Albrehi, Wayne State University, "Contemporary Hip Hop Music and Communicative Messages: Co-Cultural Forms of Resistance"
2019 Ben Pettis, Colorado State University, “Finstas, Young Adults, and Stardom: The Construction and Presentation of Identities on Instagram”
2015 Marian L. Houser, Peter T. Ingwersen, Michael Burns, and Melinda Villagran, “Assessing the Behavioral Intent of College Students’ Binge Drinking and Risky Sexual Behavior: A Graduate Student Service Learning Project”
2014 Yuan Wang, "How Do Sports Organizations Use Social Media to Build Relationships? A Content Analysis of NBA Clubs’ Twitter Use" 
2012 Meg Tully, “The Penis Does the Picking’: Courtship on Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker”

Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award

Year Award Winner
2023 Quantitative - Abbey Dilatush, "Health-Oriented Nonprofit Organizations: The Influence of Framing and Altruism on Intention to Donate"
2023 Qualitative - Autumn Buzzetta, "When Work Is Worship: Studying Identification and Faith in Church Workers"
2023 Rhetorical/Critical Analysis - Emily Pollard, "Intersections of Queer and Immigrant Identities in NBC’s Superstore"
2022 Kaleb Turner, “Investigating the Role of Social Capital and Everyday Communication in Campus Community Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic” published in Graduate Theses and Dissertations in 2021.
2021 Danielle Biss,“Bridging Trauma-Informed Organizing and Accessible Practice: A Qualitative Study of Dialectical Tensions”
2021 Jade Larson,“Veracious Verdicts: An Expansion of Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory in Jury Decision-Making Using Attribution Theory”
2020 Qualitative- Timothy Everett Simeon Betts, Texas Christian University, "A Postmodern Narrative Examination of Identification in Christian Megachurches"
2020 Quantitative- Alexis Hubbard, University of Arkansas, "Beauty is not Black and White: A Content Analysis of Balck Women's Body Image in Television Media"
2020 Rhetorical- Laurent Seitz, Colorado State University, "'France Deserves to be Free': Constituting Frenchness in Marine Le Pen's National Front/National Rally"
2019 Qualitative- Elizabeth A. Hintz
2019 Quantitative- Claire Strutzenberg
2019 Rhetorical- Jacob A. Miller
2018 Rhetorical- Ashley Clayborn
2018 Quantitative- Alice Fernari
2018 Qualitative- Courtney Hook
2017 Quantitative - Joy Cherfan, University of Arkansas
2017 Qualitative - William T. Howe, Texas Christian University
2017 Rhetorical - Ryan Bince, Syracuse University
2014 Quantitative - Maura Cherney, Illinois State University
2014 Rhetorical - Sarah Evans, Syracuse University
2013 Anna Wright and Julie Wight
2012 Vince Santilli, “The Effects of Power distance and Gender on the Perceived Use of Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors in Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Power Conditions: A Cross-Cultural Study”
2012 Jenna Hanchey, “A Postcolonial Analysis of Peace Corps Volunteer Narratives: The Political Construction of the Volunteer, Hew Work and Her Relationship to the ‘Host Country National’”

Top Rhetorical Thesis Award

Year Award Winner
2022 Joaquin (Kinny) Torre, “Guåhan: A (de)Colonial Borderland," published by the University of North Texas in 2022.