Faculty & Staff

CCOM Launches the 2025-2026 Academic Year

CCOM Launches the 2025-2026 Academic Year

“This is a new year. A new beginning.  And things will change.” – Taylor Swift

Last year our students served as ambassadors for Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour stop in Indianapolis, which is why I feel like she and I are now good friends. So much so, her line from above struck a chord as the new academic year began here at Butler. Things will surely change, and many of those changes are exciting! “What are they?,” you might ask—well, let me tell you.

Dean Joe Valenzano addressing the CCOM Class of 2029 on Academic Day.

1,246.  96.  26.  

No, that’s not an IP address. We have 1,246 new Butler first-year students this Fall—the third largest incoming class in school history. Of that group, we welcomed 96 to CCOM, and that number will surely grow over the coming weeks and months as students realize what they are missing out on. On top of that, our inaugural MS in Sports Management cohort consists of a robust 26 students. There is nothing like welcoming new students to campus at the start of the year.

Katie Coby, CCOM’s first professional advisor and student success coordinator.

New Faces in Fairbanks Center  

In addition to the new students, we also welcome some amazing new faculty and staff to CCOM. In the Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media we welcome Professor Kiersten Houser and Professor Peter Matsoukas, both of whom will be teaching our budding filmmakers. In the Department of Communication and Leadership, Professor Todd Logan now oversees our undergraduate online degree completer program, known as BSOL (Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership for students who have earned an associate’s degree). Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences welcomes Dr. Jenna Voss who will be building out the MA in Deaf Education program. Finally, the College added a new staff position, a Professional Advisor and Student Success Coordinator, Katie Coby, who will help our first and second year students navigate the start of their college careers.

“Oh, the Places You’ll Go”  

Pardon my channeling the late, great Dr. Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), but we are off to so many places this year. In the fall, our Department of Communication and Leadership students will take part in our first industry immersive trek to Denver. In the spring, we will have similar trips to New York and Chicago. During Spring Break, Professor Bob Schultz (PBS) will run part deux of his Mediterranean Cruise class, and in the summer, Professor Cutler Armstrong will again accompany students on our Butler in LA program. This says nothing about our tremendous study abroad opportunities available in the spring.

Chris Rose, professional broadcaster and content creator, who will serve as the inaugural Sports Media Residency professional within CCOM.

And oh, the people we will see.  

This year CCOM will hold our inaugural Sports Media Residency with sportscaster extraordinaire, Chris Rose. He will spend a few days on campus to guest lecture in classes, hold workshops, and mentor students. This program will benefit numerous students in the College with hands-on professional training from one of the elite industry talents in the game.

The beginning of the year is always filled with hope, excitement and joy—and this year is no different. At this point, I shouldn’t be amazed at how many first-year students immediately sought out faculty and staff to learn how they could get involved right away. With everything we have going on, there is no doubt in my mind they will find a way. In fact, I bet they already have.  

There’s no magic quite like that found at the start of the academic year.

A Masterful Series Finale

A Masterful Series Finale

Roger Sterling, as portrayed by John Slattery in the former TV series Mad Men, was sharp, smooth, and rocked a well manicured head of white hair. By the way, have any of you met Professor Gary Edgerton? 

Sharp. Check. Smooth. Check. The silver mane. Absolutely (I mean, check out the above photo)!

Gary didn’t star in Mad Men, but has played a leading role in CCOM since 2012 AND he has authored two books about the award winning AMC period drama, featuring the one-liner wonders of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) about advertising on Madison Avenue. But that is just skimming the surface as I quickly share some highlights upon his recent understated retirement from Butler and CCOM.


From left: Howard Schrott, Elaine Hall (founder of The Miracle Project that utilizes the arts to work with autistic children and teens), and Gary Edgerton.

He arrived at Butler as Dean in 2012 from Old Dominion University, where he was Eminent Scholar, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication and Theater Arts. His record of accomplishment at that point was tremendous, and set him up well to help establish the then-newly-formed College of Communication find its footing. He served for five years, not only continuing his scholarly achievements, but also helping to nurture and expand the impact of CCOM. From the behind the scenes work of setting up bylaws, procedures and processes in the college for faculty and students, to securing funding for upgraded student and faculty spaces in the building, Gary set CCOM on the path to distinction. Honestly, you can’t walk around Fairbanks and not see the results of the efforts he put in to set up a brand new college.

Gary Edgerton, a proud Boston Celtics fan since his childhood, with Brad Stevens, a former Bulldogs men’s basketball coach who is currently the general manager of the Celtics.

Following his deanship, Gary returned to the faculty in the Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media, teaching the theory and business side of entertainment and creative media. He also remained engaged in the college and university, often serving on committees that helped provide feedback to faculty on their development, and continued his scholarly output.  

Gary’s scholarly contributions are nothing short of epic.  He has written twelve books on shows from The Sopranos to Ken Burns’ America (with two more books in progress), thirty peer-reviewed articles, twenty-six book chapters, thirty online articles, twenty-two encyclopedia entries, and an astounding 100+ book reviews. Being a professor is sometimes referred to as commitment to “the life of the mind,” and in Gary’s case his commitment has expanded our understanding of media, television and culture in numerous ways through his work. Read more about his work and start your very own library today at the Gary Edgerton Amazon author page.

It’s not advertising in the 1960s, but being a prolific researcher and also a dean who established a new college at Butler might also deserve the moniker “Mad Man.” Don Draper on advertising said to “make it simple, but significant.” Gary’s work has been that of a simple teacher, but with significance beyond measure for his students, fellow scholars, and CCOM. We wish him nothing but the best in this next chapter as he retires from Butler, and rides off into the sunset like a character from the shows and movies he has so deeply studied, invested in, and shared about as the leader he is.

Dean Valenzano’s 2025 CCOM Top 10

Dean Valenzano’s 2025 CCOM Top 10

The academic year can be intense for faculty, staff and students, and so it’s reasonable that there is a lot of pent up energy and emotion this time of year.  Honestly, its what makes things like commencement, our annual Senior Dinner, and the start of summer so hopeful. But an event that has become something people look forward to in a way that surpasses even commencement is……my annual CCOM Top Ten List! 

Without further ado, let’s get started on what is a difficult-to-determine tip of the excellence iceberg from this year in CCOM!

#10 – THE FIRST-EVER CCOM CARNIVAL: From the Elixir de Beans to a “Kiss(ing)” Booth, this year’s Day of Giving celebration in Fairbanks had something fun for everyone. It also continued CCOM’s recent record of leading the way in giving totals and giving by faculty and staff among all of Butler’s colleges.

#9 – MORE AND MORE STUDENT AWARDS: Our students continue to bring home the hardware. The Butler Collegian received Division II Newspaper of the Year for the second straight year from the Collegiate Press Association, as well as numerous other awards for stories and photos. Not to be outdone, our Speech and Debate Team also continued to win tournaments and once again placed at least one student at Nationals.

#8 – BLUE ROLL(ING): The student film production team, BlueRoll Media, took the campus by storm this year under the leadership of Dr. Eric Hahn, doing projects for the College of Liberal Arts, Indiana Sports Corps and more!

#7 – JUST TREKKING ALONG: In addition to another year of successful CCOM treks to Chicago and New York this spring, we also sent 17 students to the Music City, Nashville, TN, in the Fall under the watchful eye of Cutler Armstrong. This new trek served students from Strategic Communication and Music Industry Studies, among other majors.

#6 – A SWIFT EXPERIENCE: 70 students helped bring the North American leg of the historic Taylor Swift Eras Tour to a close here in Indianapolis back in November. This pop-up immersive industry experience saw our students helping thousands of visitors experience some Hoosier Hospitality through a class experience led by Professor Bob Schultz, whom the students affectionately call P.B.S. It was also great to see Butler with 70 students against……13 for a much larger institutional neighbor of ours. 😊

#5 – CCOM GOES CRUISIN’ WITH PBS: Professor Bob Schultz was back at it again in the Spring semester with CCOM’s very first Study Abroad Cruise. 23 students accompanied him on an MSC cruise of the Western Mediterranean, with stops in France, Italy, and Tunisia where students not only learned about hospitality in a variety of different settings, but organized tourism itineraries for each port they visited.

#4 – A NEW MASTER’S DEGREE: This Spring we announced the launch of a new graduate program, in collaboration with the Lacy School of Business and the Department of Athletics—an MS in Sports Management. This unique program builds on the strengths of Indianapolis (aka Sports Town, USA) and our faculty.  It also is the first program at Butler where alumni receive a 20% discount on tuition—talk about a commitment to lifelong learning!

Image from MA in Deaf Education page for Fontbonne University.

#3 – MASTER’S DEGREE PART DEUX:  CCOM also received initial approval to build another new Master’s degree, an MA in Deaf Education, modeled after the founding program at Fontbonne University which is closing this summer.  More details are coming on this program as it is built, but it will be a graduate offering in our amazing SLHS Department when all is said and done.  The best part? Fontbonne alumni, the deaf education community, and Butler friends and alumni all contributed to make this happen in just a seven week period.

#2 – FAIRBANK’S FANTASTIC FACULTY:  Recently, I wrote about four faculty who received promotions this year, but that’s just a small sampling of the amazing work our faculty accomplished this academic year.  In fact, to call out individual faculty, or list all the achievements, would not be possible without much more space than we have.  It’s important to note, though, that in addition to their research, teaching, committee work, and curricular innovations, they also are responsible for being dedicated advisors to our roughly 500 students.

Family and friends of Bill Ney joined students, faculty, and staff in April to share stories about Mr. Ney and celebrate this anonymous gift.

#1 – AN HONOR LIKE NO OTHER:  This year saw the largest gift in CCOM’s history, in honor of a faculty member—William “Bill” Ney—who had such a monumental impact on Butler and CCOM as the founder of what is now the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department. This gift will establish the William Ney Endowed Professorship in SLHS, while also creating an endowed scholarship for students in that field. This is also the very first endowed professorship in CCOM’s 15 years at Butler. Bill Ney’s legacy will never be forgotten, and will always be cherished by faculty and students alike.

There is much more we could celebrate, like the 80 for 80 campaign, our redesign of Butler Bound into a Game Show, or student scholarship on display throughout both semesters, which made this list so hard to create. But don’t just take my word for it. Listen to four of our students—including two May graduates—share their thoughts about CCOM and their Bulldog experience (listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify).

It’s yet another year where CCOM has shown why it is the best college of communication around! I am so proud and humbled to be a part of this community and cannot wait to see what 2025-2026 brings—in the meantime, let’s celebrate our seniors on their graduation. It’s well earned.

Ascending CCOM Faculty

Ascending CCOM Faculty

Dr. Abbey Levenshus at the 2025 “Welcome Back” CCOM faculty and staff meeting.

The journey to associate professor and professor for higher education faculty can be an arduous one. In most cases it starts with earning a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree, and followed by the demanding commitment to a PhD. Then the national search for an assistant professor position to get a foot in the door and begin life as a tenure-track college or university educator. The work is just beginning—and we appreciate the sacrifice and dedication so many of our colleagues have made to pursue these dreams.

The work brings the satisfaction of contributing to something bigger than oneself, especially when helping guide students to find their passion or light bulb moment(s) as they work to understand who they are and what they want to contribute with their future. 

The future for tenure-track faculty members typically boils down to two potential promotions.  After six years as an assistant professor, if you have met expectations in teaching, scholarly production and service, you apply for promotion to associate professor. This stage also is accompanied by tenure. The remaining promotion typically available is that to professor, or as it is sometimes referred to, “full professor.” There is no timeline for this application, and some people choose not to even apply for it. But when an individual achieves this rank, it is an enormous moment in their career, and this spring, CCOM has four faculty members celebrating promotions.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Xiaowen Xu presenting research on campus in 2024.

Dr. Xiaowen Xu of the newly renamed Department of Communication and Leadership was awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, effective with the next academic year.  

An excellent instructor in our Strategic Communication major, Dr. Xu calls her approach to teaching “user-friendly” and thrives on providing students both real world examples and opportunities for hands-on learning. She is also a prolific researcher, winning a Scholarship Star this year for her impactful work in strategic communication.

PROFESSOR (“FULL PROFESSOR”)

Dr. Lee Farquhar watching his students present to FOX Sports University.

Dr. Lee Farquhar, the Director of the Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media, and expert in the burgeoning field of esports and digital culture, is a tremendous classroom instructor and mentor for our students. He also has served important roles and initiated several cutting edge efforts in the college, including a current team of faculty working on the impact of AI on teaching.  

Dr. Abbey Levenshus, a one-time chair in Strategic Communication and faculty member who exhibits tremendous care for her students, also earned promotion to professor.  Her work on social media management and risk management communication represent important contributions to where communication is today, and her service includes dedication to managing curriculum issues across the university while chairing the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.  

Dr. Tonya Bergeson after presenting an SLHS student award at the 2024 Senior Dinner.

Dr. Tonya Bergeson, the current chair of the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department, and Fairbanks Chair, earned promotion to professor. In addition to being known as a phenomenal mentor to students, she also is passionate about research initiatives with her students, including travel to conferences to present their work. Her research focuses on early auditory and linguistic development of infants with and without hearing loss, music perception and production, and audiovisual speech perception and language skills.  

These four faculty members illustrate what is so amazing about our instructors at Butler and in CCOM: they are exemplary teachers, producing high-quality scholarship, while also contributing to the culture of the college and university. 

We are lucky to have them, and cannot wait to see what they do next. Join me in congratulating Dr. Xu, Dr. Farquhar, Dr. Levenshus, and Dr. Bergeson on achieving these career milestones!

The S.S. PBS

The S.S. PBS

Design by “Cruiser” Gwen Hayes ’25

Creativity and nimbleness are hallmarks at Butler and especially within the College of Communication. Utilizing his skills at activating ideas, Professor Bob Schultz, known affectionately as PBS by many of his students, is a leader in many of the recent unique experiential opportunities of note (including NBA All-Star Weekend and Taylor Swift Street Teams with Visit Indy). But Spring Break 2025, and his STR 426 course: Tourism and Hospitality Communication and Cultural Immersion, elevated Bob to “Captain” for 12 days during a Mediterranean Cruise with 23 students.

One of these students was Madison Masek ’25 who will be graduating with a degree in strategic communication in May. Similar to when I’m hosting a tour with perspective students and their parents/guardians, there are times I’m thrilled to let the authenticity of a current student’s voice and experience sweep the audience off their feet—and here I’m doing that with part of Madison’s LinkedIn post about our excursion (please read her entire post too).

“Dress up” night on the cruise for dinner.

“I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible opportunity I had studying abroad with the Butler University College of Communication!” wrote Madison. “Over ten days, 22 Butler students and I traveled the Mediterranean coasts of Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Naples (Pompeii), Palermo, and Tunisia. We explored the tourism and hospitality industries while immersing ourselves in six different cultures.

One of the most eye-opening aspects of the course was analyzing modes of transportation in tourism. From international flights to public transit and a cruise ship, we explored how each method shapes the traveler experience and plays a role in destination marketing. Beyond transportation, we examined tourism industries through the lens of public relations, advertising, destination promotion, sustainability, and consumer relations.”

Class in the streets of Palermo.

There was analyzing and navigating—be it weather, transportation, remembering what floor on the MSC Fantasia cruise ship everyone was meeting on for our evening pre-dinner class discussion, or if WhatsApp or texting was the most efficient way to communicate with the group at any given moment.

The students learned. Bob, his wife Diane, and I learned. All from each other, constantly. The entire group bonded as we overcame obstacles, lifted one another, and port-by-port, celebrated a once in a lifetime journey together. This was something of a going away present for the seniors, while at the same time providing the highest of bars for the first-year students. But it’s safe to say everyone had fun.

Bulldogs at the playground in Barcelona – per my request.

I have the pleasure of working with Butler students in some capacity almost every single day, and consider myself fortunate for that. But this trip was so much more. As an extended family unit over multiple days I saw even more examples of why these young adults are the leaders, dreamers, doers, and critical thinkers of today and the future.

I owe a “thank you” to Captain PBS, CCOM Dean Joe Valenzano, the Study Abroad office at Butler for allowing me to be part of this trip. More importantly, I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to each of the amazing 23 students who let me be a small part of their experience and who shared their enthusiasm for life, travel, and meaningful friendship.

Ross Hollebon – Marketing & Recruitment Manager, CCOM

Casa Batlló by Gaudi in Barcelona—just because. 😉

Butler Bound(less Opportunity)

Butler Bound(less Opportunity)

Proud parents utilizing a photo booth area in Fairbanks during the Butler Bound open house.

Butler and CCOM just wrapped of another successful Day of Giving—thanks to many of you who are reading this. In Fairbanks Center we made an event within the event as engaged members of our college put in some extra effort, and wonderful creativity, to celebrate our students and inspire a generous mood. I’ll likely touch on the CCOM Carnival at Day of Giving in a coming post, but the future is now for younger students readying for their jump to higher ed.

High school seniors across the country are entering the peak of college decision season—likely somewhere between the most stressful and simultaneously exciting moments in their lives. They’ll work with their parents, guardians, guidance counselors, and others to choose where to spend the next four years immersed in the investment of their future and their evolution as friends, citizens, and leaders. Their burgeoning horizon offers positivity and life lessons during the formative years of college—evolving or learning about the passions and interests that will help define who they are. 

As the room was filling, shortly before the official Butler Bound program kicked-off.

In February the College of Communication hosted nearly 70 high school seniors who have been accepted to Butler University this fall with intent to major in one of our excellent programs. This event, more commonly referred to as “Butler Bound,” provides high school students a chance to learn more about us, meet potential future classmates, and imagine themselves in Midtown Indy as Bulldogs. Our CCOM specific program typically includes an informative session on our majors, internship program, and study abroad opportunities. Authentic stories are shared through a variety of voices as a panel of current students and another with alumni from our majors define how “The Butler Way,” set them up for success, fulfillment, and happiness. These tried and true elements remain terrific, but we are always thinking about how to innovate and improve, so this year we made a few tweaks.

The information sessions and the panels planted their foundational roots in our narrative, but we also wanted to have some fun—it’s in the CCOM DNA. One of our very own interns, junior Blake Richmond ’26, spearheaded a unique twist on the recruitment event by designing an interactive game show to perk everyone up after lunch. Corey McPherrin ‘77, alumnus and former nightly news anchor in Chicago, played the role of host—and boy did he have a good time with that task!

Scenes from the trivia segment (left) and cup stacking challenge (right).

Visiting students were offered the opportunity to opt-in to being a contestant (remember, as noted above, this could already be a stressful time, and we recognize that) that put their names into a random drawing—think The Price is Right, and McPherrin indeed told each of the 10 to “come on down, you’re the next contestant on the inaugural CCOM-petition!”

Both teams were anchored by a faculty captain, Prof. Mary Gospel of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences orProf. Amanda Stevenson-Holmes. Their competitive spirit brought energy and fun as they welcomed their new teammates to the stage.

Segment one was a trivia competition (think Family Feud one-to-one, head-to-head) produced from information they learned throughout the day’s programming. Segment two offered a two-part physical challenge. Team Mary vs. Team Amanda, with five brave prospective students on each side, in the cup-stacking AND the Marshmallow Challenge, simultaneously.  

Team Amanda working feverishly on their Marshmallow Challenge structure.

If you’re not familiar with the Marshmallow Challenge, participants work together in a timed-situation to see who can get one full-sized marshmallow to a higher structural point using only marshmallows and dry spaghetti. Suffice it to say, folks had a lot of fun, numerous laughs, and truly got a feel for what we are about in CCOM and at Butler. It was teamwork, creativity, focus, support from faculty, “infotainment,” and a memorable visit. The best part was this all happened thanks to the ingenuity of one of our own students!

Bringing the day to a close—or at least some parting words before faculty and current students shone during a low-pressure open house in our beloved Fairbanks Center—I shared with the prospective students my thoughts on how to navigate the difficult task of choosing a college. I told them whenever they visit a school they are considering to elevate their future, take 10 minutes at the end of the day, before they leave campus, find a quiet place away from their parents, and briefly shut their eyes. If they can see themselves at that school, thriving, smiling, and enjoying it, then that’s where they should go.

From left: Ross Hollebon, marketing and recruitment manager for CCOM, Blake Richmond ’26, and Corey McPherrin ’77.

On the front of Dugan Hall there is a banner that reads “We are changing what it means to be a university.” In CCOM, we are changing what it means to consider what university you want to attend, too.