Tarleton RCI Selects Inaugural Cohort from Across the Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2021

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University’s Rural Communication Institute has chosen 10 scholars and practitioners to join its inaugural group of rural scholars. The group represents colleges and universities from across the United States.

Cohort members:

Ava Francesca Battocchio – Michigan State University (Lansing, Mich.)

Clinton Brown – Marshall University (Huntington, W.Va.)

Courtney Cole – Regis College (Weston, Mass.)

Xuewei Chen – Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)

Subi Gandhi – Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas)

Allison Hahn – City University of New York (New York, N.Y.)

Kevin Hales – University of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.)

Son Mai – McNeese State University (Lake Charles, La.)

Rob Patterson – University of Virginia/McIntire School of Commerce (Crozet, Va.)

Nicola Ritter – Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas)

Ashli Stokes – University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)

Bryce Tellmann – South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (Rapid City, S.D.)

Bradley Wolfe – Ridgewater College (Nicollet, Minn.)

They will focus on rural communication issues and strategies. They are responsible for participating in a monthly research meeting, submitting research for the Rural Communication Journal, and engaging with the Think Rural podcast (https://tinyurl.com/thinkruralpodcast).

Additionally, they will develop reports focused on the future of rural areas and determine best practices for communicating with individuals in rural areas.

Follow @ThinkRuralComm on Twitter and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ThinkRuralComm) for more on the RCI initiative.

Contact Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards, Professor of Communication Studies and Executive Director of the Rural Communication Institute, at [email protected].

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.