• Dr. Jim Sernoe
    Department Chair and Associate Professor, Wai-Kun Adviser
    (940) 397-4391 ⨠ D204
    jim.sernoe@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    With the help of jumbo cups of Diet Mountain Dew, Dr. Jim Sernoe has been chair of the Mass Communication Department since 2004, despite threatening to step down on a weekly basis. Before landing at Midwestern State in 1995, he grew up in Wisconsin, completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Wisconsin (Go Badgers!). His doctorate in mass communication is from the University of Iowa, although he’s still not sure how a Cheesehead was even admitted to the program (maybe he said “Go Hawkeyes!” enough times?).

    He enjoys his roles as educator (courses include Mass Communication Law, Media Ethics, Editing, and Mass Communication History, among others), administrator (in addition to serving as department chair, he was interim dean of the College of Fine Arts in 2014), academic adviser (“I see your grades in mass comm. classes are really good, but please just pass math this semester, OK?”) and scholar (his research interests include popular music, the First Amendment, mass communication curriculum and the emerging world of crowd-funding for journalists). However, he is often deterred from these roles due to the constant lines outside of his office (typically including students, faculty and the dean, very few of whom show up with Diet Mountain Dew, or any other form of caffeine). In his copious personal time, he is active with the local community theatre and the Wichita Adult Literacy Council, all while drinking as much as Diet Mountain Dew as possible.


  • Sandra Grant
    Instructor
    (940) 397-4298 ⨠ D206
    sandra.grant@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Sandra Grant teaches public speaking. Polls always show public speaking to be among the top five of people's fears. Grant's goals are to remove that fear, or at least move it from #1 to #5. Other classes have included Debate, Persuasion, Voice and Diction, Interpersonal Communication (which she introduced to MSU), and Murder, Mayhem and the Media (which she also introduced to MSU). She also teaches in the Redwine Honors Program.

    Part of her background for the Murder, Mayhem and the Media course came from cold case re-enactments, which she produced with the Wichita Falls Police Department and KAUZ Television (local CBS affiliate). More than 30 segments were created, filmed, and shown. These segments featured unsolved Wichita Falls murder cases. Segments were filmed on location and featured MSU students in various roles. The series won awards from National Crime Stoppers and International Crime Stoppers.

    Grant earned her Bachelor's degree in Theatre and in English at Wichita State University. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Communication from The Elliot School of Communication at Wichita State University. She did post-graduate work at the University of Oklahoma. She also taught classes at both universities. MSU Mustangs come first. But then it's cheer for the Shockers in basketball, and the Sooners in football... always.

    If she looks familiar, you might have seen her judging at a Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) competition. Since she judges speech competitions set up by various organizations, you might have seen her there. She also presents communication workshops at seminars for high-school juniors and seniors in the summer on different university campuses. She is active with several MSU organizations, enjoys working on projects with students, and is the proud advisor for an MSU sorority.

    Grant's interests include MSU trivia, working on documentaries and music videos, and she is an American Advertising (ADDY) Award winner.

  • Dr. Mitzi Lewis
    Associate Professor
    (940) 397-4375 ⨠ D203
    mary.lewis@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Mitzi Lewis has been teaching in the Mass Communication department since 2008. Before that, she served the Midwestern State University campus through her work as director of MSU's Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment Office.

    Since joining the Mass Communication department, she has received the Midwestern State University Faculty Award and was named the Ginger Rudeseal Carter Miller Teacher of the Year by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Small Programs Interest Group. She also co-founded and is the current design director and production editor of Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication, a peer-reviewed, online, open-access journal focused on teaching journalism and mass communication in small departments. She loves collaboration and has conducted research with students and faculty both in and out of the department. She has presented her research across the United States and internationally.

    Before finding a home in academia, Mitzi worked in the corporate realm, gaining experience that informs her work with students in and out of the classroom. Her corporate adventures include serving as a technical editor for TRW, a trainer for Intel, and a rapporteur for the National Institutes of Health.

    When not in the classroom or conducting research, Mitzi loves to spend time with her husband and dogs, travel, and experience nature—in places so remote that she doesn't even have a connection to email, Facebook, or Twitter. Somehow she survives.

 

  • Jonathon Quam
    Associate Professor, MNG Media Adviser, and The Wichitan Adviser
    (940) 397-4849 ⨠ D105

    Jonathon is an associate professor of media arts in the Mass Communication department at Midwestern State University. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in documentary production and theory from the University of North Texas. Before teaching at Midwestern State, Jonathon taught television, audio, film, and media studies courses at UNT and at Stephen F. Austin State University. In the field, Jonathon has worked on documentary films, in radio stations and newsrooms, and on numerous television shows. He spent two years working for the Southwest's largest production company, AMS Pictures. While at AMS, he logged time as a director of photography, an associate producer, a research analyst, a director, and a development producer, working on established television shows and helping build new ideas.

    Much of his professional work has been focused on the human side of society's most difficult social issues, from the caring environments of LGBTQ churches in the heart of Texas to biographical looks into child abuse. His current documentary takes an observational look at the racial justice movement in Madison, Wisconsin, a city with the widest disparity gap in the country. Jonathon's creative research centers on multimedia production, and his documentaries have screened at film festivals and conferences both nationally and internationally. His recent academic research looks at the topic of ethical documentary filmmaking in an industry that is exploitative by nature.

 

  • Dr. Supriya Karudapuram
    Lecturer
    (940) 397-6608 ⨠ B109
    supriy.karudapuram@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Dr. Supriya Karudapuram has been teaching Intercultural/International Communication and Global Media Studies since 1994 in f2f, hybrid, and asynchronous on-line formats. Dr. Karudapuram has a Ph.D in Speech Communication with emphasis in the Communication Disciplinary area of Rhetoric and Cultural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign following a Bachelor's and 2 Master's from India and the US. Supriya has taught in a range of universities both in the US and China in cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, Austin, Beijing, Washington D.C., and New York City. Supriya is also author of 2 scholarly ethnographies on Indian identity in the diaspora and in postcolonial free India. Supriya was twice fellow in the Center for 20th/21st Century Studies, now C21, housed on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she received tenure in 2004. Dr. Supriya Karudapuram won an Outstanding New Teacher Award from Central States Communication Association.


  • Lisa Thames
    Studio Director
    (940) 397-4394 ⨠ D106
    lisa.moore@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    As a former producer for local CBS affiliate KAUZ and MSU's current studio director, Lisa is applauded for her ability to organize the chaotic, inspire the disillusioned, and her tireless pursuit of perfection. She also live-streams MSU's athletic home games for soccer, basketball, softball, and football. When she doesn't have a camera in her hand, you can probably find her making graphics for the student media in Mass Communication, keeping our equipment up to date and functioning, or teaching students how to use Avid Media Composer and/or Avid Pro Tools, since she is also certified to teach both software programs.

    When she's not busy saving students from a Homer Simpson-inspired nuclear meltdown, you can find her perusing a bookstore for a new historical fiction novel, watching obscene amounts of HGTV without an ounce of shame, or extolling the greatness of her her favorite football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, to anyone who will listen. Caffeine fuels her throughout the day, so it would be no surprise to catch her snacking on sunflower seeds and washing them down with Coca-Cola or Red Bull.

 

  • Sara Conyers
    Secretary
    (940) 397-4670 ⨠ B112
    sara.conyers@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Sara Conyers is the secretary for the Mass Communication and Theatre department. She joined the College of Fain Fine Arts in Summer 2023. Before coming here, she worked at a preschool while earning her Bachelor's degree in Humanities, so she can tell you plenty of stories after working there for over 5 years.

    Sara was born and raised in Wichita Falls along with her sister. At home, she enjoys the company of her cats. When out of the house, you may find her either taking photos or working on something in the ceramics studio. If she isn't doing either of those, then she is probally off traveling somewhere with her camera and one of the many mugs she has made.

 

Adjuncts
  • Annette Bever
    Adjunct
    annette.bever@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Professor Bever has been an adjunct instructor at MSU for more than 10 years. She is a full-time speech and communication instructor at Vernon College.

 

  • Kory Dorman
    Adjunct
    kddorman@gmail.com,     kory.dorman@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Professor Dorman has taught public speaking and Voice and Diction at MSU, where she has been an adjunct instructor for more than 20 years. She has also taught in the Wichita Falls schools and is currently an administrator at Wichita Falls High School.

 

  • Christy Johnson
    Adjunct
    christyjohnson79@gmail.com, christy.johnson@msutexas.edu

    Professor Johnson teaches Mass Media and Society at MSU. She has taught English, journalism and communication courses at the junior high and high school levels. She is currently the instructional coaching specialist for Region 9 Educational Center.

  • Jackie McCartney
    Adjunct
    jackie.mccartney@msutexas.edu
    Profile

    Professor McCartney teaches Mass Media and Society and Film Appreciation at MSU. He has professional experience at KAUZ-TV and the Times Record News. He is currently an administrator at McNiel Junior High School in Wichita Falls.

 

  • Alexandra McClung
    Adjunct
    amcclung@wfisd.net
    Profile

    Professor McClung teaches public speaking and interpersonal communication courses at MSU. She is a former reporter at KAUZ-TV and now teaches math and journalism at Wichita Falls High School, where she is also the tennis coach.

  • Crystal Tate
    Adjunct
    ctate@vernoncollege.edu

    Professor Tate teaches Mass Media and Society and public speaking courses at MSU. She is the director of distance education at Vernon College.

 

  • Ashley Thomas
    Adjunct
    athomas@wfisd.net 

    Professor Thomas teaches Public Relations Writing at MSU. She is the Communications Officer for Wichita Falls ISD.

 

  • Chad Johnson
    Adjunct
    chadejohnson75@gmail.com, chad.johnson@msutexas.edu  

    Professor Johnson teaches Advertising at MSU. He spent the last 4 years teaching video production for the Wichita Falls ISD. Before that, he spent 20 years at KFDX, holding many titles including Creative Services Director. He is currently the multimedia specialist for the WFISD.

 

  • Pam Hughes-Pak
    Adjunct

    Professor Hughes-Pak teaches Integrated Marketing Communication at MSU. She is manager of public affairs at Atmos Energy and former director of marketing and development at The Kitchen.