Steven Ralston takes reins
of NIU Department of Communication

by Tom Parisi

It's no wonder that Steven Ralston impressed interviewers during a national search for the new chair of communication, one of NIU's largest academic departments.

His research specialty: employment interviewing.

“It's one thing to know all about it, another to be good at it,” Ralston demurred. “The interview process is so full of uncertainty.”

The Department of Communication seems to have landed the ideal candidate to replace Lois Self, who is retiring at the end of this month after nine years as department chair. Ralston starts July 1.

At the University of Michigan-Flint, he served as chair of the Department of Communication for the past four years. In addition, Ralston held the title of interim chair of art for the past three years. The two departments merged last year to become the Department of Communication and Visual Arts.

“We think he's an excellent fit for NIU,” said Mary Larson, a professor of communication who served on the search committee.

“Steve has experience working as a chair in a department with diverse teaching specialties,” Larson said. “We think he will be adept at dealing with the diversity in our department as well, where faculty members have research concentrations in such areas as journalism, rhetoric, film, media studies and corporate communication.”

Ralston was raised in Richmond , Va. , served in the military during the Vietnam era and earned his Ph.D. in communication theory and research from Indiana University in 1986. He has been a member of the faculties at the University of Arkansas , Creighton University , Iowa State University and East Tennessee State University .

Ralston also is the editor of the Journal of Business Communication and serves on several scholarly editorial review boards, including the Journal of Applied Communication Research. Presently, he and a colleague are editing a scholarly book that focuses on business communication pedagogy.

“I'm pleased to be coming to NIU, and my family is looking forward to it as well,” said Ralston, who in addition to his administrative duties will teach two courses per year. “NIU has a great reputation, and I like the people I've met and the energy in the department. Clearly, faculty members have good working relationships.”

NIU's Department of Communication offers bachelor's degrees in journalism and communication studies (with three sub-specialties) and grants more degrees yearly than any other department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. At any one time, the university has more than 1,000 undergraduates seeking degrees in the Department of Communication, which also offers a comprehensive master's degree program.

Ralston said his first year will be mostly a learning experience. He plans to establish a task force to look at space needs within the department and would like to see how faculty members feel about the possibility of establishing a Ph.D. program.

“I'd like to open the discussion,” Ralston said. “One of the things that struck me early on was the fact that we have such high quality faculty members.”

Self, the communication department's outgoing chair, will be around to help smooth the transition of her successor.

Although she is officially retiring after three decades of service to NIU, she will continue to teach one graduate-level course each semester. Self also has volunteered to work in the department on development and alumni relations and will continue to serve as executive secretary of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.

While she wasn't a member of the search team, Self said she is pleased with its selection.

“Steve has a lot of good experience,” she said. “I know he'll pick up the reins and do a great job.”

6-20-05