Stephanie Schulte, associate professor of communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, is being honored this week at the 91st Annual Convention of the Southern States Communication Association. Schulte will receive the J. Donald Ragsdale Award for Mentoring during a virtual presentation Thursday, April 8.

Schulte, who is also chair of the Department of Communication, was nominated by her colleagues for her work with junior faculty in the department, for her commitment to institutional change to support underrepresented faculty and for her work with undergraduate and graduate students.

She advises many honors and masters theses and graduate capstones and serves as a Faculty Affiliate in the Department of English's Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies doctoral program. Schulte has maintained this enthusiasm all while also taking on duties as the new chair of the communications department.

The J. Donald Ragsdale Award for Mentoring honors members who demonstrate outstanding achievement in mentoring junior colleagues to foster development within the field.

In recognition of her service to the U of A community, the committee took into account that Schulte has received some of the campus' top awards, including a Faculty Gold-Medal and Outstanding Mentor, the Honors College Distinguished Leadership Award, and was named Fulbright College Master Teacher.