Communication Centers

A Theory-Based Guide to Training and Management

Kathleen J. Turner and Theodore F. Sheckels - Contributions by Kyle Anne Barnett Love; Marlene M. Preston and Linda Bartlett Hobgood

Communication Centers: A Theory-Based Guide to Training and Management offers advice based on extant research and best practices to both faculty who are asked to develop a communication center and for directors of established centers. Broken into easily understood parts, Turner and Sheckels begin with the development of communication centers, offering guidance on the history of centers, how to start a center, and, in a contribution by Kyle Love, creative approaches to marketing.

They provide a communication perspective on selecting and training tutors, and then address how to train the tutors in their tasks of helping students with invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery as well as presentation aids, including consideration of special situations and diverse populations. The authors explore ways to broaden the vision for communication centers, and conclude with chapters on techniques for assessment by Marlene Preston and on the rich rhetorical roots of communication centers by Linda Hobgood. The volume concludes with appendixes on guidelines for directors and for certification of tutor training programs.

Communication Centers is a valuable resource for scholars in any stage of developing or improving a communication center at their university.

Lexington Books

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7391-9098-2 • Hardback • January 2015 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-0874-2 • Paperback • April 2019 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-0-7391-9099-9 • eBook • January 2015 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Education / Organizations & Institutions, Language Arts & Disciplines / Rhetoric

Communication Centers

A Theory-Based Guide to Training and Management

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Communication Centers: A Theory-Based Guide to Training and Management offers advice based on extant research and best practices to both faculty who are asked to develop a communication center and for directors of established centers. Broken into easily understood parts, Turner and Sheckels begin with the development of communication centers, offering guidance on the history of centers, how to start a center, and, in a contribution by Kyle Love, creative approaches to marketing.

They provide a communication perspective on selecting and training tutors, and then address how to train the tutors in their tasks of helping students with invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery as well as presentation aids, including consideration of special situations and diverse populations. The authors explore ways to broaden the vision for communication centers, and conclude with chapters on techniques for assessment by Marlene Preston and on the rich rhetorical roots of communication centers by Linda Hobgood. The volume concludes with appendixes on guidelines for directors and for certification of tutor training programs.

Communication Centers is a valuable resource for scholars in any stage of developing or improving a communication center at their university.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7391-9098-2 • Hardback • January 2015 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-0874-2 • Paperback • April 2019 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-0-7391-9099-9 • eBook • January 2015 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Education / Organizations & Institutions, Language Arts & Disciplines / Rhetoric

Author

Kathleen J. Turner is professor and chair of communication studies and director of oral communication at Davidson College.

Theodore F. Sheckels is professor of English and professor and chair of communication studies at Randolph-Macon College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: What is a Communication Center?

Part I: Developing a Communication Center
Chapter 1: A Brief History of Communication Centers
Chapter 2: Starting a Communication Center
Chapter 3: Successful Marketing of Communication Centers, Kyle Anne Barnett Love

Part II: Becoming a Communication Center Tutor
Chapter 4: Becoming a Peer Tutor: A Communication Perspective
Chapter 5: Tutoring Tasks: Invention
Chapter 6: Tutoring Tasks: Disposition
Chapter 7: Tutoring Tasks: Style, Memory, and Delivery
Chapter 8: Tutoring Tasks: Presentation Aids

Part III: Taking the Center Farther
Chapter 9: Tutoring Tasks: Special Situations and Diverse Populations
Chapter 10: Considering the Possibilities
Chapter 11: Assessment of Your Communication Center: Anathema or Asset?, Marlene M. Preston

Afterword: The Rhetorical Roots of Communication Centers, Linda Bartlett Hobgood
Appendix A: The Evaluation of Communication Center Directors: Procedures and Criteria
Appendix B: Tutor Training and Certification Programs

Reviews

Finally a resource that addresses the questions people looking to start communication centers must ask! As communication scholars and center directors, Turner and Sheckels eloquently weave theory and practice with the voices of some of the most respected communication center directors in the nation. Anyone looking to learn more about communication centers will treasure this book because it covers history and praxis in ways that set communication centers up for a powerful future in higher education.
— Kimberly M. Cuny, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Turner and Sheckels have created a much-needed handbook for developing communication centers. Not only will new centers find this information invaluable, but established centers will also find some gems that may inspire staffs to be self-reflective and to question long-standing practices. This is a strong addition to the growing communication center literature.
— Wendy Atkins-Sayre, University of Southern Mississippi

This becomes the reference book for current and future communication labs. An intellectually accessible read full of communication lessons for center directors and public speaking tutors alike. It’s like having these happy experts on your office shelf supporting your center!
— Bonnie Wentzel, Arizona State University