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Scholarships & Awards

Awards and Scholarships in Communication

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Undergraduate

  1. Application materials are due February 1st. Applications are available online through the Centralized Academic Scholarship Hub (CASH)
  2. Award Recipients will be Recognized at the Annual Award Ceremony of the Department of Communication.
  3. In addition to the scholarships, we also have Lambda Pi Eta, honor society for Communication majors.

There is one recipient, recieving $650.00. Application requirements:

  • Full time enrolled student in good standing.
  • Completed at least 60 hours of coursework.
  •  Communication major.
  •  3.25 GPA.
  •  Is part of the first generation in the student’s family to attend college.
  • Demonstrated financial need  
Dr. Ryan Bisel and Taylor Shipes.

There will be up to two recipients, receiving $400 each. Application requirements:

  • Junior Standing or above;
  • 3.25 GPA;
  • 15 hours of COMM (at least 6 hours of upper-division);
  • Letter of recommendation from a COMM faculty member;
  • Include an unofficial transcript;
  • Include a resume detailing your honors, awards, and involvement in the department, on campus, and in your community.
Dr. Ryan Bisel and Avery Wurzberger.

There will be up to two recipients, receiving $400 each. Application requirements:

  • Junior Standing or above;
  • 3.25 GPA;
  • 15 hours of COMM (at least 6 hours of upper-division);
  • Letter of recommendation from a COMM faculty member;
  • Include an unofficial transcript;
  • Include a resume detailing your honors, awards, and involvement in the department, on campus, and in your community.

Purpose: To recognize an undergraduate who has demonstrated significant work either in cross-cultural or Native-American language study.

Requirements:

  • Must have taken the core Communication courses
  • GPA of 3.00 or above
  • Requires a current resume, an unofficial transcript and a faculty letter of recommendation
Dr. Justin Reedy and Remy Ammor

There will be up to two recipients, receiving $400 each. Application requirements:

  • Junior Standing or above;
  • 3.25 GPA;
  • 15 hours of COMM (at least 6 hours of upper-division);
  • Letter of recommendation from a COMM faculty member;
  • Include an unofficial transcript;
  • Include a resume detailing your honors, awards, and involvement in the department, on campus, and in your community.

There is one recipient, recieving $650.00. Application requirements:

  • Full time enrolled student in good standing.
  • Completed at least 60 hours of coursework.
  •  Communication major.
  •  3.25 GPA.
  •  Is part of the first generation in the student’s family to attend college.
  • Demonstrated financial need  

In addition to the four Communication scholarships, there are scholarships that are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences. The applications for these scholarships can be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences or the Financial Aid Office.

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Graduate

Dr. Ryan Bisel and Katherine Ann Rush.

The Ragan-Kramer-Wieder Dissertation Proposal Award serves two purposes. First, it honors three long-time faculty members in the department. Two of the scholars have retired from the department, Sandy Ragan (1983 to 2006) and Larry Wieder (1977 to 2005). The third, Eric Kramer, has been a faculty member in the department since 1991. We have honored these three qualitative scholars by giving out this award since 1998. Second, it recognizes the accomplishment of one of our current graduate students for an outstanding qualitative dissertation proposal in the past year. Nominees submitted a copy of their approved dissertation proposals to a committee of the department’s current qualitative researchers who selected the most outstanding proposal without seeing the final dissertation.

Dr. Norman Wong and Juhyung Sun.

The Cummings Dissertation Proposal Award serves two purposes. First, it honors Wayland Cummings who served the department from 1970 to 1994. We have honored Wayland by giving out this award since 2004. Second, the award recognizes the accomplishment of one of our current graduate students for an outstanding quantitative dissertation proposal in the past year. Nominees submitted a copy of their approved dissertation proposals to a committee of the department’s current quantitative researchers who selected the most outstanding proposal without seeing the final dissertation.

Dr. Amy Johnson, Ant Woodall, Dr. John Banas and Ryan Beaty.

The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award is the most time-honored award in the department having been given out since 1978. Although the nature of the award changed over time, in recent years it has returned to its original purpose. Each year, this award recognizes two of the graduate teaching assistants who have excelled in teaching their classes during their time in the Department of Communication.

Dr. Ioana Cionea and Ellie Weaver.

This award is named in honor of Kristi D. Wright, who is the department’s financial and operations manager. Kristi joined the department in 1992 and has worked closely with numerous department chairs, faculty, and staff throughout her long tenure in Burton Hall. Her service includes working in the department, for the university, and the Norman community. The award recognizes a graduate student who has engaged in formal or informal outstanding acts of service to the department, the university, and/or the Communication discipline.   

Dr. Elena Bessarabova and Neil Talbert.

The Ralph Cooley Graduate Student Award is also one of the oldest awards in the department. The award is named after Ralph Cooley, who was instrumental in the early development of the International and Intercultural Communication Division of NCA. He taught in the Department of Communication here from the time he earned his Ph.D. in 1972 until his unexpected death in 1982. The award, which has been given since 1991, recognizes outstanding students in the area of intercultural, international, cross-cultural, or Native American studies. The award recognizes two students, a graduate student and an undergraduate student, who excel in one of these areas.

Dr. Justin Reedy and Joseph Trujillo Falcon.

The Josh Lee Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of former Oklahoma State Congressman and U. S. Senator Josh Lee who was associated with the University of Oklahoma from 1917-1934. After his death, his daughter, Mary Louise Symcox, endowed funds to support the Political Communication Center’s bi-annual Josh Lee Lecture Series and the public speaking contest for undergraduate students every semester. Since 2011, the Josh Lee Scholarship has been awarded to honor an outstanding Ph.D. student in the area of political or mass communication.

Ioana Cionea and Anthony Machette.

Ted Beaird had a long association with the University of Oklahoma serving as the Executive Secretary of the University Alumni Association and Director of the Memorial Union Building from 1926-1950. He was instrumental in the organization of the Oklahoma High School Speech League and National Junior College Forensic Association. The original scholarship endowed in 1950 supported students from those two organizations who continued their education at the University of Oklahoma and majored in communication (or speech as it was known as then). When those organizations ceased to exist, the Ted Beaird Scholarship was re-commissioned to honor an outstanding graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in communication. The award has been given out since 2012.

Dr. Norman Wong and Kyle Hammonds.

Dan O’Hair was a long time member of the Department of Communication from 1994 to 2009. He helped establish the Center for Risk and Crisis Management and served as department chair from 1994 to 2000. After taking a position as Dean at the University of Kentucky, he used some of his remaining grant funds to endow the Dan and Mary John O’Hair Outstanding Graduate Student. Since 2012, the award has honored a graduate student who excels in  teaching, research, and service.

Dr. Elena Bessarabova and Juhyung Sun.

Michael Pfau was chair of the Department of Communication from 2001 to 2009. As a scholar, he was especially known for his research on inoculation theory using quantitative experimental designs. After his untimely death, friends and family members donated money to honor him. In 2012, his wife helped establish the Michael Pfau Scholarship to honor and support a graduate student whose teaching and research interests are associated with the social influence and interpersonal communication emphasis within the department. The scholarship has been given out since 2013.

Dr. Ryan Bisel and Da Bi.

Michael Kramer was chair of the Department of Communication from 2010 to 2021. As a scholar, he is known for his research on the socialization/assimilation process in groups and organizations. He uses a range of research methods to explore various topics including a recent focus on volunteers. He and his parents have created this scholarship to support a Ph.D. student whose teaching and research focuses on organizational or group communication.

If you would like to donate to a specific award please list the award name in the comment section. Thank you so much. Your generosity is truly appreciated. 

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