UND experts pen cover story for national public relations journal

University of North Dakota Communication educators Timothy Pasch and Susan Walton have co-authored an article related to the changing roles of online communication, published in the most recent edition of the national Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) journal, The Public Relations Strategist.

Their article, "Generator, Aggregator, Curator: The Changing Roles of Online Communicators" explores the importance of good writing in all communication forms whether written or online, and delves into the evolution of online communication, especially when it comes to social media.

Pasch, an assistant professor of Communication, and Walton, UND's Vice President for University and Public Affairs, stress that although the social media landscape has evolved, there are essential skills that public relations professionals need to retain to be effective communicators: being flexible, understanding your audience, knowing where to find and how to access information, realizing your objectives, having strong writing skills and being aware of current events.

Their work is featured as the cover article for the Fall 2012 edition of PRSA's The Public Relations Strategist, a quarterly publication featuring commentary and analysis of the strategic performance of public relations at the management level. It is the only journal dedicated exclusively to executive-level public relations professionals, and is considered highly influential in that discipline.

Susan Walton

Susan Walton joined UND this year after serving in the Brigham Young University Department of Communications. There she was a faculty member, and for three years, was the Department's Associate Chair for Student Media. At BYU, Walton was in charge of providing administrative management for student-run labs, including the ElevenNews daily television news broadcast and The Daily Universe, BYU's campus newspaper.

Walton also served as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English & Professional Communications from 1987-1989 at Monroe Community College, part of the State University of New York system. Her published research and writing emphasizes workplace relationships. She has earned a master's in English and a bachelor of independent studies, both from BYU.

Adding to her academic credentials is her more than 20 years' experience as a leader in global corporate communications. She led The Dow Chemical Company's global marketing communications for one of the company's business units in Horgen, Switzerland, and also managed global brand positioning for Dow Plastics.

Walton served as director of corporate communications for Boise Cascade, and in the same position for Harley-Davidson Motor Company, where she learned to develop a customer's perspective of the company's products by riding a motorcycle.

Walton was recently elected to serve her second two-year term on the national Public Relations Society of America Board of Directors. Her new term begins next year.

Timothy Pasch

Timothy Pasch joined UND in 2009 after completing his doctorate in Communication at the University of Washington in Seattle a year earlier. His dissertation work studied intersections of technology and culture in virtual Arctic communities where he proposed policy changes designed to empower language and security on the Arctic Web.

A primary focus of Pasch's research is community building and knowledge enhancement assisted by new communication technologies. These include technologies in the classroom, online portals, immersive distance learning environments, virtual worlds, and security and privacy in social networks.

Pasch is fluent in both French and Japanese, and he enhances his cybercultural scholarly research with the creation and production of digital audio, high dynamic range imaging, and other forms of new media content.

-Kate Menzies, University Relations student writer

Contact:

David L. Dodds, University Relations, 701.777.5529, david.dodds@und.edu