The Pierce College Communications Department won the 2022 Model Communications Program Award at the Western State Communications Association Conference.
Pierce was the first school within the Los Angeles Community College District to win the award.
Professor Robert Loy said the department put together a package that highlighted the department’s productivity and accomplishments throughout the past few years.
“We work together to be one big happy family,” Loy said. “The more happy family we are the better our students learn in that particular environment.”
Communications Department Chair Yeprem Davoodian echoed Loy’s sentiment that the department was worth of consideration for the honor.
“We were doing so many good things putting the pieces together, we realized that it could be an award that we could apply for,” Davoodian said. “We’ve created a sense of community where students believe they belong.”
Loy expressed how important it is for students to be in an environment where they can thrive.
“In communication studies, we are in the business to make sure our students improve upon their communication skills,” Loy said. “That could be listening, organization or even writing. We try to make our classes as fun as possible because we find that it’s good to put students in an environment where there’s trust.”
Professor Barbara Anderson said that seeing the growth of the department and receiving the award has been great.
“I felt so grateful to see the growth of our department through hiring these amazing people. It’s been fantastic to see,” Anderson said. “In 2021, there were only two faculty members, Jenn Rosenberg and I were hired full time. We fantasized and dreamt about a vision for the department with seeing it having a degree and developing courses.”
Anderson said that it was a happy moment to stand beside her colleague and receive the award.
“I was really happy that I flew up there for the conference and was able to stand there with Yeprem and one of our part-time members Michelle Brownlee,” Anderson said. “It felt surreal because envisioning where the department was when we first started and how it’s developed over the years and what we do for students and what we try to do for students, it was super exciting.
Anderson also said that she welled with emotion and felt grateful for having the opportunity to be a part of the Communications Studies Department.
“I was coming home from the airport,” Anderson said. “I kind of got choked up and my thought was that I needed to write a letter to Rocky Young, who hired us, and just tell him that he did the right thing. He picked the right people.”
