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Connections January 2011
Gonzaga Communications Program Honored for Innovation
Professor John Caputo
Gonzaga University

The Gonzaga University Master of Arts Program in Communications and Leadership Studies has earned the prestigious Innovative Program Award from the National Communications Association. Assistant Professor Heather Crandall is chair of the program, and Professor John Caputo, who developed the program in 2004, accepted the award on behalf of Gonzaga and the program at the 2010 NCA convention in San Francisco.

“Every major university in the United States and more globally are eligible for receiving this award so it is quite an honor,” Caputo said. “The reviewers noted that our program had a strong focus and that we are doing some great things with teaching and service. They have also commented on our global outreach through our Cagli (Italy) Project and other international initiatives in Ireland and a possible component in Slovenia.”

As the world grows increasingly connected, the program has never been more relevant, Caputo said, adding the program’s enrollment is robust and growing.

Caputo says the program’s significant online curriculum allows professionals to experience Jesuit education no matter where they live, and gain the skills needed to remain competitive in the marketplace.

“Our online education only works to the extent that there is a first-rate, high quality master’s program on campus,” Caputo said. “Peter Drucker wrote that universities as we know them will not exist in 30 years. I still think what we do on the ground and in the classroom makes everything else possible.”

The National Communications Association (NCA) is the disciplinary home for all communications scholars, and is the largest national organization promoting communications scholarship and education. The nonprofit NCA has more than 8,000 educators, practitioners, and students who work and reside in every state and more than 20 countries. Researchers, educators, and professionals work to understand and improve all forms of human communication. Through publications, resources, conferences, conventions, and services, NCA contributes to the greater good of education and society.

The NCA is based in Washington, DC, near a mixture of embassies, nonprofits and other educational associations including the National Association of Broadcasters and the Middle East Institute.

For more information, please contact Professor Caputo at (509) 313-6656 or caputo@gonzaga.edu.