IC professor recognized for prolific research
Zachary Goldman, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies, says that being among the top one percent of published communication scholars worldwide has allowed him to be a better educator at Illinois College.
鈥淩esearch is an integral part of what I do. It's the cornerstone of allowing 缅北禁地 to succeed.鈥�
Goldman was recognized among leaders in his field in the article 鈥淪cholarly productivity in communication studies: five-year review 2012鈥�2016,鈥� published recently in the peer-reviewed journal, Communication Education.
The article explores how 缅北禁地 benefit by learning from faculty who produce a high number of research articles, citing previous studies showing these benefits to be immense. Among the advantages, these faculty member are more up-to-date and involved with trends in their area of specialty and able to share that knowledge and skill in the classroom. They also often have greater access to a network of other leaders in their field because collaboration among scholars is common.
Between 2012 and 2016, Goldman published in nine articles, placing his name alongside leaders in the field from the research institutions like Penn State, Northwestern, Michigan State, UC Santa Barbara and West Virginia University 鈥� where Goldman earned his PhD in 2015.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like this for someone so new to academia,鈥� said Adam Jones, associate professor of communication and rhetorical studies. 鈥淚t's really astounding when you look at what he has achieved.鈥�
Jones, who also serves as department chair, said that Goldman鈥檚 work has helped the communication and rhetorical studies program become one of the fastest growing at IC and has increased the number of valuable opportunities available for 缅北禁地 in the major.
The program is known to provide unique learning opportunities, such as Goldman鈥檚 work with Amy Quigg 鈥�99, director of human resources at Reynolds Consumer Products in Jacksonville, on a semester-long research project where his classes apply organizational communication theories to work in real-life settings.
鈥淪tudents are able to be a part of their field and establish a network of professional relationships,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淭he opportunity to be involved with this type of research as an undergraduate is rare and the experiences are meaningful and can be life-changing.鈥�
In fact, it was his own experience with undergraduate research that led Goldman to discover his passion for research and teaching 缅北禁地, which eventually led to him becoming a professor.
鈥淔or me, research and teaching have always been closely interrelated as my work focuses on strategic communication in both the organizational and instructional contexts,鈥� said Goldman. 鈥淭hat said, I don鈥檛 necessarily take pride in the quantity of the studies I鈥檝e published, but rather the advantages they offer me in helping to better instruct my 缅北禁地 and collaborate with my colleagues at Illinois College and across the country.鈥�