Lindsay McCluskey earns national fellowship supporting teaching, research

Communication studies faculty member Lindsay McCluskey has earned a competitive fellowship that will support her teaching, research, service and leadership.

McCluskey was named a 2020 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Kopenhaver Center Fellow, a designation that will provide training, networking and other support.

"This program brings together diverse and seasoned senior women faculty and administrators as well as approximately 25 junior women faculty fellows from colleges and universities across the country,” McCluskey said. “I look forward to hearing about their experiences navigating the academic landscape and climbing the academic ladder."

McCluskey has a track record of success with AEJMC, earning their first-place Promising Professor Award in 2019. She cited two reasons for applying for the fellowship.

“First, I am always interested in new opportunities for professional development and mentorship,” McCluskey said. “As a junior faculty member, I feel like I have had extensive professional development and mentorship opportunities in teaching and service, but have not had many in research, so I saw this as a potential avenue for that. Second, I think it is important for women in academia to have each other's backs and that is what this program is all about." 

The fellowship includes a workshop, “Women Faculty Moving Forward: 100 Years from Suffrage to Academic Leadership,” designed to assist new assistant professors on the tenure track to navigate hurdles and better learn how to achieve success in the academic world -- and perhaps become one of the leaders of tomorrow. The workshop features top women leaders, researchers and teachers in higher education.

"I hope I will come away from this program with a collaborative support network for research, teaching and service,” McCluskey said. “Our students need educators -- particularly in difficult times -- to listen to each other, learn from each other, and share ideas with each other."

The fellowship is sponsored by the AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women and the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University. Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in activities of those groups and to have reunions around future conferences.

AEJMC is a nonprofit organization serving more than 3,700 members worldwide.