ugmMu JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY. May 3, 2021 ‘Dear Madison, For more than 40 years, the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University has hosted a conference meant to showcase the finest undergraduate scholarly research being developed by our students. We ask that our faculty nominate students whose work they see as particularly exceptional, and then students have the opportunity to accept or decline that nomination. Over the years, this conference has focused on original scholarly work written in our advanced research methods classes (381, 383, 385, 386, and 388), the capstone classes for each of our major concentrations, other 400-level classes whose primary focus is to develop new scholarly research, as well as honors theses. During the conference, students present their research (sometimes in-progress, when nominated for work still underway) either as panel presentations or as poster presentations. Volunteers from our SCOM faculty are designated as audience ‘members who ask the presenters questions and discuss their research projects with them, and then those same faculty vote on the top panel presentations and posters. We also invite a nationally recognized communication scholar to provide a keynote presentation and interact with our student presenters, and in recent years we have also held a reception celebrating the students who present their work at the conference. ‘We describe this unique honor, one that students frequently include on their résumés as evidence of great accomplishment, because your scholarly research would have been recognized and invited to present had there not been a global pandemic not prevented us from having the 42" (Spring 2020) and 43% (Spring 2021) iteration of our conference! In particular, Dr. Jennifer PeeksMease nominated you for research you completed for your Honors Thesis for inclusion in the conference. ‘We regret that we were unable to provide you with this experience that you deserved and earned, Though it is not the equivalent, we want to recognize your research as an accomplishment of which we in the JMU School of Communication Studies are proud and which should be a source of pride for you as well! In addition to this letter, formally recognizing the conference invitation you would have otherwise received, we are also sharing a full list of students recognized for this same distinction on our SCOM social media pages. ‘Thank you for all that you have done for our School of Communication Studies, and while this can in no way fully substitute for what the pandemic took from your college experience, we hope that it serves as one bright spot that reminds you of the caliber of your accomplishments as a student here! Sincerely, Matthew P. Brigham, Ph.D. Associate Professor. Coordinator of the SCOM Annual Undergraduate Research Conference (2020-present) Signed on behalf of: Jennifer J. PecksMease, Ph.D. Associate Professor. Coordinator of the SCOM Annual Undergraduate Research Conference (2015-2020) Lindsey A. Harvell-Bowman, Ph.D. Associate Professor. Chair of the SCOM Research Committee (2020- present) Eric M. Fife, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the School of Communication Studies ‘The School of Communication Studies ‘00 South MainStreet Harizonburg, VA22807 bichamp@imu.eds