A spring tradition at SC&I, Honors Day is an annual event hosted by the school to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements made by individual faculty members, students, and staff. 

This year, the event was held on May 5, 2023, both in person and virtually.

SC&I congratulates those listed below whose contributions benefitted the university and school communities, students, alumni, and others.

2023 Faculty and Staff Honorees

Awards Given from Academic Departments to Faculty Members

Communication Department Faculty Awards

• Faculty Research Excellence Award
  • Associate Professor Kristina Scharp and Associate Professor Katherine Ognyanova
• Faculty Service Excellence Award
  • Assistant Professor Shawnika Hull and Associate Professor Maria Venetis  
• Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
  • Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Mark Beal
• Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award
  • Tatiana Rodriguez
• TA/Instructional Support Excellence Award
  • Hannah Jones
• Special Mention:
  • Assistant Professor Shawnika Hull, Recipient of the Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence and the Chancellor-Provost Award for Excellence in Community-Engaged Scholarship

Journalism and Media Studies Department Faculty Awards

• Faculty Research Excellence Award
  • Professor John Pavlik
• Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
  • Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Neal Bennett
• Barbara Reed Service Excellence Award
  • Associate Professor Todd Wolfson
• Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award
  • Carol Cassidy
• TA/Instructional Support Excellence Award
  • Holly Avella
• Special Mentions:
  • School of Graduate Studies Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award
  • Vyshali Manivannan
• Chancellor-Provost Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
  • Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies Steve Miller

Library and Information Science Department Faculty Awards

• Faculty Research Excellence Award
  • Assistant Professor Kiran Garimella
• Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
  • Assistant Teaching Professor Suchinthi Fernando
• Faculty Service Excellence Award
  • Assistant Professor Britt Paris
• Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award
  • Pamela Ward
• TA/Instructional Support Excellence Award
  • Yehuda Perry

Continuing and Professional Studies

• Instructor Excellence Award
  • Martha Whitely, Public Relations Certificate Program

Awards given by Departments and Academic Programs to Students

Master of Communication and Master of Health Communication and Information Student Awards

• Anna Masciandaro  
• M.K. Tsui
• Stephanie Olaso
• Pragyan Sharma

Master of Communication and Media Outstanding Faculty Award

• Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Neal Bennet

Master of Information Service Award

• Alisa Kraut
• Victoria Sun

Master of Information Academic Achievement Award

• Des Kidney 
• Mikaela Meza 

Ph.D. Program Awards

2023 Outstanding Student in Communication

• Liesl Broadbridge

2023 Outstanding Student in Library and Information Science

• Kaitlin Montague

2023 Outstanding Student in Media Studies

• Nikhila Natarajan

2023 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Student

• Casey Randazzo

2023 Outstanding Graduating Student

• Omar Hammad

Doctoral Student Association (DSA) Award for Outstanding Faculty Support of Ph.D. Students

• Professor of Communication Jennifer Theiss

School Award to Staff

Staff Service Excellence Award

• Chief of Staff to the New Brunswick Chancellor, and Part-Time Faculty member Jon Oliver

Learn more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.