The Best

Stephanie K. Shimotsu is well on her way to becoming an accomplished communicator and social science researcher like her faculty mentor at The University of Texas-Pan American – Dr. Timothy Mottet , professor and Henry W. & Margaret Hauser Chair in Communication.

Shimotsu, who earned both undergraduate and master’s degrees in communication studies from UTPA, is now pursuing a Ph.D. in communication studies at West Virginia University and hopes to one day model her professional career after Mottet, who has been rated one of the nation’s top teachers and researchers in the field of communication studies.

“Dr. Mottet is the true exemplar of the ideal professor and is undoubtedly an asset to UTPA,” said Shimotsu, who will co-present on research she conducted with Mottet at the annual National Communication Association convention in November. She is one of 12 students Mottet has inspired to enter graduate school and obtain doctoral degrees. Some are now working at the nation’s finest higher education institutions.

Mottet, who will become chair of the UTPA Department of Communication in fall 2009, earned his Ph.D. in communication studies/educational theory and practice in 1998 from West Virginia University and entered academia following a successful corporate development career in the airline industry. “I could not see myself fulfilled doing that job for a lifetime,” he said, describing the switch from traveling the world in his lucrative former career to eating ramen noodles as a graduate student at Boston University where he earned his master’s degree.

Mottet was hired by UTPA in 2007 from Texas State University in San Marcos. He received two of that university’s top faculty recognitions – the Presidential Award for Excellence in Research and the Presidential Award for Excellence – during his eight years there.

His chosen discipline – communication studies – examines the creation, transmission and analysis of the spoken and body language messages people receive in social situations. At UTPA, Mottet teaches communication studies courses in communication instruction and organization, leadership, training and development and research methods and theory. He said he was attracted to UTPA by the opportunity to fill an endowed chair, which provides funds for programming, travel and research. Mottet calls himself a “research-infused teacher.”

“I do not separate my teaching and research if possible. In my courses students complete research manuscripts that are of conference quality,” he said. “If students are interested in my programs of research, I immediately involve them and make them a part of the research team. They help me review literature, develop the research instruments, collect and process the data and then prepare drafts of manuscripts for conferences and publications.”

Mottet has authored or co-authored three books on his specialty, two of which are best selling textbooks. Both are also used in corporate training and in higher education professional development. His newest co-authored book to be published in 2010 is on the principles and skills required for leadership in business and professional communication.

Of his 35 peer-reviewed academic journal publications, 31 percent were co-authored with students and 29 percent of his peer-reviewed conference presentations were co-authored and presented with students. Shimotsu said she was looking forward to their presentation based on her thesis research. “Dr. Mottet is both supporting and encouraging and has continued to help me as I have moved forward in my studies. His presentations are interesting and thought provoking and seek to elicit the pursuit of new research,” she said.

In his role as a social scientist and researcher, Mottet studies communication competency – the ability to use verbal and nonverbal messages effectively and appropriately.

“America is a country of talkers. Our democracy is rooted in communication and the freedom to express one’s opinion. Communication competent people have a clear advantage in the U.S. culture,” Mottet said.

Although his research is across several contexts of communication, Mottet is most known and cited for his work in instructional communication, particularly in teacher and faculty development.

“I’ve worked with K-12 grade educators, college faculty members and corporate training development professionals. Regardless of what level of instruction you are involved in and regardless of what your content is the process of how we learn is ultimately a communication process – how teachers and students are using messages to create a culture of learning,” he said. “I tell university faculty, for example, that as a person with a Ph.D. you have the best mind in the business. But, if you cannot convey your brilliance you are somewhat limited.”

Using experiential and survey methodologies in his research, Mottet has not only examined how learning is affected by a teacher’s delivery or communication style but more recently on how student nonverbal responsiveness impacts teachers and their teaching.

“Passive students can suck the marrow from your bones as a teacher – if students are lethargic, then the teacher becomes lethargic. My research suggests that if you have responsive students in a classroom and give them an essay exam a teacher will evaluate them a letter grade higher than the group of unresponsive students who take the same exam,” said Mottet, who explained the unresponsive class was marked down more for things like inappropriate sentence structure, punctuation and unclear thoughts. “I do not perceive this as favoritism as some might think but rather the result of effective communication behavior.” Mottet has since developed workshops for students on how to improve themselves by implementing responsive behavior like head nods, note taking, eye contact, forward body leaning and paying attention while in the classroom.

“It is putting the ownership on the students – and helping them take responsibility for the quality of instruction they are getting. It makes a teacher feel more valued, a reason many educators are in that profession,” he said.

Mottet is also currently investigating instructor communication behaviors as predictors of the reported math and science learning deficit of American high school students; the changes in communication style of brain-injured people and the effects on interpersonal relationships; and the proper assessment instrument to measure the communication competence of pediatric trauma team members who work in hospital emergency rooms. Another area of interest is using cognitive neuroscience on how the brain works to better communicate a course’s content in a more brain compatible way.

Mottet wants to continue to ensure the wishes of the late Henry W. and Margaret Hauser, Winter Texans who were his endowed chair benefactors. In making their gift to UTPA, they asked that the funds be used to help students graduate with excellent oral proficiency – the top quality an employer looks for in a college graduate, according to the 2009 Job Outlook Survey of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

“I learned that Mrs. Hauser was a former speech teacher with no patience for ‘mush mouths,’” Mottet said.

With funds from the endowment, he has established the Hauser Lecture Series, which brings in top researchers from across the country to speak to students. He also will open the Hauser Communication Research Lab in fall 2009 to expand the culture of research within the department for students and faculty, as well as develop and assess students’ speaking and presentation skills. This multipurpose center located in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building will contain transcription software, videotaping equipment to record and code natural conversation behavior, and one way mirrors for use in experimental trials.

The UTPA Department of Communication, which employs 25 faculty members, offers undergraduate degrees in communication studies, journalism and theatre/TV/film and graduate programs in communication and theatre. As chair, he said he would like to position the department as number one nationally in increasing the number of Hispanic graduate students in communication Ph.D. programs.

“Currently, Hispanics with communication Ph.D.’s are grossly underrepresented in the discipline at three percent,” he said.

Mottet also wants to develop new graduate programs that enhance the skills of working professionals in the Rio Grande Valley. Currently the department is planning for an upper division business and professional communication course with no prerequisites to support the sciences.

“My top goal is to position the department as the number one department of communication in South Texas, from El Paso to San Antonio to Houston, in terms of research and creative productivity, teaching quality and a 21st century communication curricula that prepares students to be communication professionals and academics,” Mottet said.

For more information on the Department of Communication, call 956/381-3583 or go to http://utpa.edu/communication