Skip to main content

Media-savvy experts with real-world experience

SFA’s mass communication professors bring decades of professional experience into the classroom. They’ve written books and been published in national newspapers and magazines like USA Today, Family Circle, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. They are former political speechwriters and media researchers, award-winning authors and photographers.

As a mass communication student, you’ll work side-by-side with faculty members. You will gain valuable insights and experiences in the classroom and through hands-on work in the student-run radio and TV stations, the campus newspaper and yearbook, and the multimedia labs.

John Allen Hendricks

Dr. John Allen Hendricks has served as chair of the Department of Mass Communication at Stephen F. Austin State University since 2009, and as graduate program coordinator in the department since 2013.

From 1998 to 2003, he served as Chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He has 18 years of experience leading academic departments.

He is the author/editor of more than 10 books about political communication, social media and broadcasting, and is the recipient of two national book awards. His book, “Communicator-in-Chief: How Barack Obama Used New Media Technology to Win the White House,” was awarded the National Communication Association’s Distinguished Book Award in 2011; and his book, “Radio’s Second Century: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives,” was awarded the Broadcast Education Association’s Book Award in 2022.

Hendricks serves as founding editor of the book series, “Studies in New Media” for Lexington Books, the scholarly publishing imprint of Rowman and Littlefield. The series has published 12 books as of 2020.

Hendricks is a past president of the Broadcast Education Association from 2015 to 2016 and served on the Broadcast Education Association executive committee and board of directors from 2009 to 2017.

He is a past fellow of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the International Radio and Television Society three times, and the National Association of Television Program Executives.

He holds a doctorate in communication with an emphasis in advertising/public relations from The University of Southern Mississippi; a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication with a minor in political science from Southern Arkansas University.

He has been married to Dr. Stacy Hendricks, associate dean of the James I. Perkins College of Education, for 30 years and they have two adult children.

Dr. Linda Bond
Adjunct Instructor

Dr. Linda Bond has worked in almost all parts of the communications business and is a former producer, anchor and TV host for KOSA-TV, the CBS affiliate, in Odessa, Texas. Her articles and photographs have appeared in many publications including Women's Wear Daily, W, USA Today, Family Circle, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, Australian Women's Day and Sunset.

She is the author of the book, Women Negotiating Collaborative Learning: Making the Grade. Bond teaches advertising, journalism, strategic communication, public relations and media law. She holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M, a Master of Arts from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin and a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech.

 

Dr. Seth Bradshaw
Assistant Professor

Dr.Seth Bradshaw earned his Ph.D. in 2016 at the University of Arizona from the Department of Communication. He is a social scientist whose expertise resides at the intersection of political communication, media effects and public opinion. He is particularly interested in the ways political elites, the press and the public exercise power through symbolic exchanges to define political reality, shape public opinion and authoritatively allocate values to citizens.

Students are Bradshaw’s first priority in teaching, and he takes special care to provide them with the whole picture of mass communication, emphasizing both theoretical and applied approaches. He has taught a wide range of courses, including advertising and promotion for social media, advanced advertising, communication theory, introduction to mass communication, and argumentation and debate. His hope is that students are able to apply the information, knowledge and skills learned in his courses to help them reach their full potential as students and citizens, wherein the knowledge acquired will improve their immediate well-being, future life outcomes and lifelong learning aspirations.

His program of research examines voter decision-making during campaigns; attempts by political elites to strategically drive media coverage and public opinion; and the effects — or lack thereof — of news media and political discourse on audiences. His research can be found in journals such as Communication Theory and Communication Reports.

Using experimental methods, Bradshaw has examined the effect of climate change coverage on policy preferences about greenhouse gas emissions, the power of religious discourse by politicians to influence public opinion, and the role of media coverage of terrorism to drive support for war. Conducting numerous content analyses in the area of strategic communication, his research has identified determinants of media coverage and changes in the discourse of public figures over time. He has also coupled secondary data analyses with priming experiments to explore ways to increase civic engagement among Hispanic women.

Kasi Dickerson
Adjunct Instructor

Kasi Dickerson is an accomplished writer and photographer who has experience working with newspapers, blogs and magazines. She also works as a senior marketing communications specialist for University Marketing Communications at SFA.

Dickerson holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from SFA, where she was an active member of the university’s award-winning student publications (Axe ‘em, Jacks!).

Cassandra Hayes

Dr. Cassandra Hayes is an author, editor and analyst who studies the communication surrounding infrastructures, institutions and imperilment. Hayes holds a doctorate in media and communication from Texas Tech University, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Central Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.
 
With her research and professional work, Hayes strives to build beneficial, constructive communities around new ideas. She has experience working for a variety of presses and publications, including the Oxford American, Arkana Literary Magazine, Sundress Publications, Texas Tech University Press, and Rhetoric and Public Affairs. She has published research on the importance of narratives to crisis communication efforts in diverse and rural local communities, and on the profession and people surrounding advanced cyberinfrastructure in the United States. In addition, under her pen name, she has published creative nonfiction, fiction and poetry in a variety of literary journals across the country.
 
Hayes teaches a wide array of journalism-based classes, primarily relating to print journalism and writing. She serves as the faculty advisor for SFA’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and as supervisor for the Boynton Building’s Multimedia Journalism Lab.

Al Greule

Ph.D.          1996          Texas A&M University             
M.A.           1979           Ohio University                  
B.A.            1978           State University of New York (Oswego)
A.A.S.        1976           Auburn Community College 

Casey Hart

Dr. Casey Hart is the faculty advisor of SFA-TV2. In this role, he supervises the SFA television station as well as the numerous student-produced television programs produced therein. He teaches courses in field videography and production as well as basic graphic design and layout design. Hart also teaches a host of courses in the department’s online master’s program, including media theory, media and society, media history and research methods.

Hart received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi where he studied media and society. He studied advertising and public relations at the University of North Texas where he received his master’s degree in journalism. His undergraduate degree is in radio, television and film from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

He has extensive experience working in the media with over six years working for NEXTMedia in the North Texas/DFW region. Additionally, he has experience in television production with an emphasis on field shooting, editing and production planning. Hart also has professional experience in the fields of graphic design, public relations, and advertising sales and planning.

Hart’s research focus is primarily on advertising and electronic media, specifically video games. He was the editor of “The Evolution and Social Impact of Video Game Economics,” and wrote chapters in “Rated M for Mature,” “Electronic church in the digital age: Cultural impacts of evangelical mass media,” and “Social media and strategic communications”. In addition to his contributions to books, he also recently published the article “Getting into the Game: An Examination of Player Personality Projection in Videogame Avatars” in the International Journal of Game Studies, and “Motivating minors: A content analysis of social motivations in advertisements targeting pre-teens” in the fall 2014 edition of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism & Mass Communication’s peer-reviewed journal. 

Gary Mayer

Ph.D.         1973          Baylor University
M.J.            1965          University of Texas at Austin
B.J.             1963          University of Texas at Austin
B.A.            1963          University of Texas at Austin
 

Jaclyn Noel Partin
Adjunct Instructor

Jaclyn Partin has experience in the banking industry on social media accounts, website, intranet platform and event and community involvement. She has also worked within the non-profit sector of Nacogdoches with several different organizations. She earned her Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in mass communication, business management and public administration and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from SFA.

Greg Patterson
Adjunct Instructor

Greg Patterson’s teaching interests include photographic journalism, backpack journalism and social media. He is a nationally published photographer with editorial images found in both Texas Parks & Wildlife and Guideposts magazines. He was certified by the Professional Photographers of America in 1998 and re-certified in 2013, a distinction held by less than 180 photographers in Texas and less than 2000 worldwide.

Patterson holds a Master of Interdisciplinary Studies and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from SFA (Axe ‘em, Jacks!).

Amy Roquemore

Amy Roquemore is the current director of student publications and divisional media at SFA, and she oversees the student-produced Stone Fort yearbook and the Pink Log newspaper. Her teaching interests include public speaking, media writing and sports writing. She holds a master’s degree in communication and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from SFA (Axe ‘em, Jacks!).

Joseph Stepniewski

Joseph Stepniewski teaches courses on topics such as mass media, multimedia production, media writing and social media. He holds a master’s degree in mass communication and a bachelor’s degree in radio-television from SFA (Axe ‘em, Jacks!).

Bailey Thompson

Dr. Bailey Thompson is an assistant professor of advertising and public relations. Her primary research focus is the role social media's portrayal of fraternity/sorority membership plays in the development of college students' identity formation and maintenance, including, but not limited to, stereotype reinforcement. Her research can be found in journals such as “Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Sexualization, Media, & Society”, and “The Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors.”

Thompson earned her doctorate in mass communication from Texas Tech University's College of Media and Communication, where she also received her Master of Arts in mass communication with an emphasis in sports media. She received her Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from Southwestern University.

Thompson is currently serving as a virtual scholar with the Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform at Penn State University, where she is working on research pertaining to NPC sororities at minority-serving institutions, as well as social media and identity-based research.

Regina Gilbert
Administrative Assistant

Regina Gilbert serves as the administrative assistant for the Department of Mass Communication. She comes to SFA from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, where she was a financial aid advisor manager. Gilbert was the associate registrar at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and advisor coordinator of the Student Service Center at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Additionally, she has held administrative assistant positions in academic affairs, student affairs and the College of Business at Arkansas State University and the University of Central Arkansas. She holds a Master of Science in secondary education and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Arkansas State University. Gilbert is married to Tony. They have two children, Jacqueline and Tony II.

Stephanie Fontenot  
Adjunct Faculty 

Stephanie Fontenot teaches photojournalism classes at SFA. She holds a Master of Arts in communication studies and a Bachelor of Arts in communication/photojournalism from SFA. She has extensive experience in marketing, and her professional experience includes positions in marketing with the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau and SFA’s Office of University Marketing Communications. 

Sherry Williford

Sherry Williford is a faculty advisor for KSAU, the mass communication department’s student-run radio station. Williford has a Master of Science in mass communication and a Bachelor of Science in communications from Arkansas State University.

Williford’s professional work includes TV commercial writer and production director at an ABC affiliate, 11 years in radio as traffic director, writer-producer and program hosts for various consumer, children and music shows.

Williford taught at Arkansas State University before coming to SFA in 1992. She served as secretary for the SFA Faculty Senate and was the 1988 Applied Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award recipient.

Williford currently teaches courses over the introduction to mass communication, history of radio/television, basic audio production techniques, and radio and television announcing. She also oversees the training of students for the campus radio station, KSAU.

She is co-advisor of the SFA chapter of the National Broadcasting Society and secretary of the Nacogdoches County Child Welfare Board. Williford is a member and past-president of the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators. She also is the education representative to the Texas Broadcast Education Foundation, part of the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

Married to Brinn Williford, the couple have a daughter, Sarah, son, Josh, and daughter-in-law, Gail, plus two precious grandchildren, Jonah and Jesse. They are members of Fredonia Hill Baptist Church.

Philip Anderson

Philip Anderson is an instructor of journalism at SFA. He teaches courses in media writing, convergence journalism, multimedia production and photojournalism.

His research is focused on media sociology and looking at media as an institution. He looks at how media messages are formed and disseminated to audiences. The other area of interest for his research is how the media holds powerful institutions accountable.

Anderson bases his teaching philosophy on practicality and skill development. His classes are project heavy with students creating resume-building projects in every class. His students leave the classroom with work that reflect who they are as media producers.

Anderson is the faculty advisor for the SFA chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. This club allows students to pursue his or her own story ideas without being tied to a specific class or assignment. This club brings together students of all different interests and class standings, and allows them to network and collaborate.

Anderson’s background is in video production. He has a bachelor’s degree in electronic media and a master’s degree in mass communication from Murray State University.

Catherine Huh

Catherine Huh holds an All But Dissertation in communication from the University of California, Davis. Her research interests include relationships between citizens and the news media.

Ghanem Elhersh

Dr. Ghanem Elhersh is an assistant professor of mass communication at Stephen F. Austin State University. His area of expertise centers on studying the entertainment industry, storytelling, stereotypes and new media studies. Context-wise, he investigates the representations of minorities, politics and culture in contemporary media using data from social media and analytics tools from the emerging field of computational social science.

A key strength in Elhersh’s pedagogy is his ability to share multiple perspectives based on his cross-cultural academic journey from Jordan to the United States as an international scholar – a journey marked by incessant intercultural, interlinguistic, and inter-academic adaptations. His teaching encourages collaboration and promotes the idea of diversity.

Elhersh earned his doctorate in mass communication from Ohio University. He attained his Master of Science in mass communication with an emphasis in radio and television from Arkansas State University. In addition, he received a bachelor’s degree in radio and television from Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan..

Elhersh is a recipient of multiple awards during his academic journey, including a graduate grant award, outstanding graduate student, and outstanding graduate thesis award. He is a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, and the National Journalism and Mass Communication Honorary 2018. He is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi by the election of the chapter at Arkansas State University and is hereby granted the honors and privileges pertaining to membership in the society.

He has more than three years of professional experience in the mass media industry and about six years of teaching experience at the university level. Before returning to pursue his doctorate, Elhersh worked for three years as a TV presenter, cameraman, reporter and editor.

 

Contact

Department of Mass Communication
936.468.4001
massmedia@sfasu.edu

Boynton Building 
Room 301

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 13048, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, Texas 75962-3048