National Communication Association

• NCA publishes 11 academic journals that provide the latest research in the discipline and showcase diverse perspectives on a range of scholarly topics. All NCA members are provided with complete, full-text access to the current and archived electronic issues of the journals.[2]
• NCA provides its members with data about the Communication discipline.[3]
• In addition to the NCA Annual Convention,[4] NCA hosts programs and other meetings that provide professional development opportunities, such as the opportunity to present cutting-edge research at the NCA Annual Convention or to stay in touch with ongoing changes and issues in theory and research at the NCA Institute for Faculty Development.[5]
• NCA’s Career Center contains job listings relevant to Communication Ph.D.s, including academic positions in Communication.[6]
• NCA organizes public programs to engage public audiences on current and emerging communication-related topics.[7]
• NCA provides Communication scholars with access to teaching and learning tools and expertise related to Communication research and teaching.[8]
• NCA helps spread Communication scholarship broadly through regular media outreach and a robust social media presence.[9]
• NCA advocates for public policy that supports the professional efforts of Communication scholars.[10]

On an unseasonably warm late November day in 1914, at the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English in Chicago, 113 Speech teachers voted to form an independent association of Public Speaking teachers. The vote was close: 57 in favor, 56 opposed. Following this expression of sentiment for a separate Speech organization, a motion to organize a “National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking” was introduced, debated, and tabled, by a vote of 18 to 16. Possibly, 79 of the original rebellious Speech teachers from earlier in the day decided to enjoy the 60-degree weather of that balmy afternoon.[11]

But the next morning, half of the 34 Speech teachers who had tabled the November 27 motion met again. These intrepid 17 represented 13 different colleges and universities of vastly varying sizes and types. NCA was founded as the National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking (NAATPS) in 1914 when the founding 17 members split off from the NCTE, the academic home for speech teachers at the time. The NAATPS continued its focus on teaching and research in the area of public speaking as the National Association of Teachers of Speech (1923-1945) and the Speech Association of America (1946-1969). The expansion of social science research in the post-World War II period left its mark on the association, and the association shifted toward broader communication research, including humanistic and social science research. In 1970, the association changed its name to the Speech Communication Association to reflect these myriad research and teaching areas. In 1997, “speech” was dropped from the Association’s name and it became the National Communication Association.

NCA members stress social relevance in Communication research and teaching, and NCA emphasizes this goal in its strategic plan and work. NCA’s outreach efforts increased significantly when it moved its headquarters to Washington, DC in 2000. The move facilitated NCA’s connection with national humanities and social science associations, educational associations, and funding agencies, and its efforts to bring the scholarship of NCA members to the attention of relevant media.

NCA’s leadership includes a President who is elected each year by the membership, and who works in conjunction with a Legislative Assembly and its Executive Committee.[12] NCA is governed by the Legislative Assembly, which meets during the NCA Annual Convention. Between annual meetings of the Legislative Assembly, the association is governed by the Executive Committee.[12] In accordance with NCA’s bylaws, the members of the Executive Committee are elected by either the general membership or the Legislative Assembly, with the exception of the Executive Director.

In addition, NCA has standing committees and councils: the Convention Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Leadership Development Committee, the Resolutions Committee, the Teaching and Learning Council, the Finance Committee, the Publications Council, the Research Council, and the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Council.[12]  

The day-to-day operations of the association are handled by the NCA National Office, led by the Executive Director of the association who is selected by the Executive Committee.

NCA’s thousands of members take part in communities of 49 divisions, which cover various areas of study; seven sections, which address professional settings; and six caucuses, which represent specific demographic or socially defined segments of the NCA membership.[13] University departments that specialize in Communication and related fields make up the majority of NCA’s departmental membership.

NCA sponsors an annual convention on Communication research and teaching.[4] The NCA Annual Convention has been held every year since 1915, except for 1918, when it was cancelled because of the U.S. involvement in The Great War. The site of the convention changes every year and is determined five to seven years in advance.[14] The convention site rotates among the western, midwestern, and eastern regions of the United States.[14] The NCA Annual Convention is organized around a theme determined by the association’s First Vice President, who serves as primary program planner. The convention includes plenary sessions, such as the Carroll C. Arnold Distinguished Lecture, the Presidential Address and Awards, and the Opening Session, as well as sessions that are organized by divisions, other interest groups, and affiliated organizations. The NCA Annual Convention also includes a job fair and a graduate school open house.

Each year at the NCA Annual Convention, NCA honors the best in Communication, presenting awards for outstanding scholarship, teaching, and professional service. The awards recognize a wide range of contributions to the Communication discipline. The call for nominations for NCA awards is issued in February and recipients are announced in the fall, prior to the Annual Convention.[15]

NCA organizes and participates in a number of programs that engage audiences in current communication issues. NCA organizes fall and spring public programs, which feature Communication scholars and other experts discussing current issues relevant to the discipline.[7] Videos of past public programs are available on NCA’s YouTube page.[21]  

NCA sponsors a host of other events related to Communication research and teaching. The Committee on International Discussion and Debate (CIDD) promotes international understanding and the practice of communication through discussion and debates between students from the United States and other nations. Ongoing since 1922, the CIDD program strives to broaden the scope of international exchange, facilitate the international exchange of information and ideas, and reinforce the value of dialogue as a preferred means for resolving international and intercultural differences. Generally, two students from another nation travel to the United States and visit host campuses throughout the country for discussion and debate with U.S. students.[22]  

NCA's annual Doctoral Honors Seminar (DHS) brings together approximately 30 promising graduate students with distinguished researchers to discuss current topics and research within the discipline. Since 1970, NCA has sponsored the seminars that are held at selected host institutions from around the country.[23]  

NCA’s Institute for Faculty Development is also known as the “Hope Conference.” The event helps Communication faculty stay in touch with ongoing changes and issues in theory and research as they guide curricular development in a variety of areas.[24]  

The NCA Mid-Career Scholars' Writing Retreat (MCSWR) is designed to provide the opportunity for intensive writing time. The goal of the retreat is to support significant progress on the completion of an in-progress project that will help toward promotion to Full Professor.[25]  

The biennial NCA Chairs’ Summer Institute has hosted nearly 100 department chairs since 2012 for discussions regarding successful department and disciplinary leadership.[26]  

The NCA/American Forensic Association Summer Conference on Argumentation is held biennially in the mountains above Salt Lake City. Co-sponsored by the National Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the University of Utah, the Conference brings together a group of international scholars interested in all aspects of argument.[27]  

NCA engages in two types of work related to public policy and advocacy. First, the association advocates for federal funding for social science and humanities research. Second, NCA advocates for issues related to the professional interests of members, such as by signing letters to members of the Senate encouraging support for the federal research and development budget of the National Science Foundation. The association has endorsed many public policy statements on topics relevant to the Communication discipline and higher education more broadly.[10]

NCA provides a wealth of online academic and professional resources. NCA publishes regular C-Briefs, which summarize data about the Communication discipline and higher education.[3] NCA also produces annual reports on academic Communication job listings and maintains a variety of databases about Communication programs.

NCA’s Doctoral Program Guide is designed to provide timely and useful information about doctoral programs in Communication for students, prospective students, and other interested parties.[28]  

NCA's Career Center includes data on the academic job market, advice on the academic job search, and information on professional development for graduate students.[6] The Career Center also features a job board with open career opportunities for Communication Ph.D.s.

The Research and Publishing Resource Center digests and synthesizes the most compelling and relevant information available about conducting and publishing research in Communication. This online resource provides information about research preparation, publishing research, and best practices related to fair use in scholarly research.[29]  

NCA’s website also includes two resource banks. The Anti-Racism Resource Bank provides materials about racism in America and offers information for allies and people of color in the anti-racism movement. The resource bank includes information on organizations that are committed to anti-racism work, mass media, and both academic and professional articles covering topics such as identifying and addressing racism, advocacy work, and dialoging about racism and anti-racism in the classroom.[30]  

The Anti-Bullying Resource Bank strives to foster collaborations between Communication scholars and other stakeholders (such as policy makers, educators, the media, and the general public) in anti–social aggression efforts. The digital repository provides access to the valuable work that Communication scholars have already done to help others understand and stop social aggression.[31]

NCA also offers information on teaching and learning for college and university faculty and K-12 instructors. These resources include information on course and program assessment, a robust collection of Basic Course and General Education materials, over 100 syllabi for more than 20 Communication courses, and the "E-Tools" series, comprising essays designed to inspire and educate faculty about ways to incorporate new technology into the classroom.[8]

NCA's Learning Outcomes in Communication (LOC) project sought to answer the question, “When students complete a program of study in Communication, what should they know, understand, and be able to do?” Supported by a grant from Lumina Foundation, LOC convened a group of 30 faculty leaders from around the nation to engage in a “Tuning” process of the discipline. LOC contributed an enhanced understanding of the place of Communication within general education.[32]

NCA offers annual grant opportunities for Communication research projects and other disciplinary activities, as well as information to help grant seekers prepare their grants.[33] The Research Cultivation Grants support NCA’s efforts to foster professional success in research. The specific goal is to facilitate first-time grant seeking for those without prior grant experience and/or those desiring to build a foundation for future grant pursuits.[34] The Advancing the Discipline Grants are designed to support projects and events that advance the discipline of Communication.[35] All funded activities align with the goals of NCA's strategic plan and have widespread impact that reaches beyond a single department, campus, or NCA unit.[36]   

NCA also funds the Center for Communication, Community Collaboration, and Change (CCCC). The CCCC is a two-year project aimed at facilitating partnerships with community-based organizations that create sustainable change for underrepresented and/or vulnerable communities through the production and application of communication-related scholarship and practice. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Communication was selected to serve as the first host of the CCCC.

NCA supports two national student organizations: Lambda Pi Eta (LPH) and Sigma Chi Eta (SCH). LPH is the National Communication Association’s honor society at four-year colleges and universities. LPH has more than 500 active chapters nationwide. LPH became a part of the National Communication Association in 1988, and the association's honor society in July 1995. It is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS). LPH represents what Aristotle described in Rhetoric as three ingredients of persuasion: logos (Lambda), pathos (Pi), and ethos (Eta).[37]

SCH is the community college honor society of the National Communication Association (NCA). Since 2000, SCH has supported students in the Communication discipline at two-year colleges and universities. Every year, Sigma Chi Eta inducts and rewards new outstanding Communication students while exploring options for community college students to transfer to four-year colleges or universities or enter the work force.[38]

• American Council of Learned Societies
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Coalition on the Academic Workforce
• Coalition for National Science Funding
• Consortium of Social Science Associations
• National Coalition Against Censorship
• National Humanities Alliance
• ScienceDebate.org

• National Communication Association
• NCA Journals Official Homepage