Dean Kazoleas (left) and Jackie Moe (Right) were named distinguished faculty members
The Department of Communications is recognizing two faculty members with distinguished faculty awards this year.
Dr. Dean Kazoleas
Distinguished Faculty Member, Full-Time
Dr. Dean Kazoleas has been selected as the 2020 Distinguished Faculty Member (full-time) for the Department of Communications.
Dr. Kazoleas is a full professor in the Department of Communications. He joined the Department in 2006. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in communications from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
During his 14 years in the Department, Dr. Kazoleas has demonstrated passion and commitment to his commitment to his students, the Department of Communications, the College of Communications and to California State University, Fullerton.
Passion for teaching has always driven Dr. Kazoleas to work to develop student’s abilities both inside and outside of the classroom. In the classroom he has developed new ways to help students understand communications and public relations, to build more effective public relations campaigns, to connect with stakeholders globally, and to develop effective and usable crisis management plans for organizations. For example, while teaching the PR capstone, Dr. Kazoleas has always strived to bring in high profile clients such as Nissan, G & L Guitars, and Mitsubishi Motors, to help motivate and provide networking opportunities for students.
Outside of the classroom, Dr. Kazoleas served for 21 years as a PRSSA advisor, nine of those years at California State University, Fullerton. During that time, he led three teams to the Bateman National Campaign Competition finals, with CSUF finishing second in the U.S. in 2007, and served as the faculty advisor to a joint CSUF/SDSU team that hosted the PRSSA national conference in San Diego in 2010. He has served as the advisor for the CSUF College Republicans since 2017.
While he is committed to teaching, many on campus know Dr. Kazoleas for his efforts to globalize our department, college, and campus. Kazoleas is the founding Director of the Maxwell Center for International Communications, and in that role, he has helped the Department and College of Communications become recognized campus leaders in international education. He has also served as chair of the Academic Senate’s International Education Committee. Dr. Kazoleas developed programs with universities in Austria, China, Cuba, South Korea, Mexico, and Norway. From a national perspective, Dr. Kazoleas has received recognition first while serving as a Fulbright Senior Specialist and assisted in developing a new institutional communications (PR) and journalism program at the Universidad Argentinas de San Juan in Argentina, and later for building a program to develop journalism in Cuba, which was funded by a grant from the Knight Foundation.
As a scholar, Dr. Kazoleas has authored over 20 articles and book chapters in the areas of public relations and communications. He has won a number of top paper awards from international and national communications associations.
Professionally, he has been an active member of PRSA (The Public Relations Society of America), where he holds APR accreditation status. He has served PRSA as a Chapter President, Mid-West District Chair, as Chair of the Educator’s Academy, and as a member of the Educational Affairs and International Relations committees. Additionally, Dr. Kazoleas has experience as a communications and public relations consultant and has worked with over 30 companies and organizations globally on a wide variety of projects including communication and public relations management, organizational image, and crisis management.
Jackie Moe
Distinguished Faculty Member, Part-Time
Jackie Moe has been selected as the 2020 Distinguished Faculty Member (part-time) for the Department of Communications.
Professor Moe has proven herself to be an outstanding member of the Department of Communications’ faculty in her three years as a part-time instructor. She was initially brought in to teach COMM 410: Principles of Communications Research, to fill a last-minute need. She flourished in that class and received both high SOQ scores and rave reviews from her students, who praised her for her ability to make research “fun.” The following year, Professor Moe willingly took on new classes to fill temporary vacancies, and she worked hard to make all of these courses relevant to her students by drawing on her own experience and bringing in guest speakers who could share their knowledge of the industry. As a result, she was a hit with students who appreciated her caring approach and her commitment to the course.
Last fall when the Department was in need of instructors to teach COMM 317: Digital Foundations, Professor Moe stepped up once again. She worked closely with Ron Romain throughout the semester to master the skills needed to teach the class, so she could effectively ensure her students completed the course with a firm grip on digital skills.
Professor Moe has also contributed to the department in the way of service. She has participated in Welcome to Cal State Fullerton Day, helping to recruit students to our program. She also was involved in the assessment effort for COMM 410 during her first year at CSUF and attended meetings with full-time faculty to discuss what needed to be done to assess the course. Now she is involved with the assessment of COMM 317. She goes out of her way to participate in many efforts beyond what’s required for part-time faculty.
Professor Moe has accomplished all of this while holding down a full-time job outside of CSUF. She is hard-working and committed to her students, and she has shown herself to be a tremendous asset to the Department of Communications.
Professor Moe has worked as a reporter for newspaper publications Orange County Register, Press-Enterprise, and Los Angeles Times, and editor of Parenting OC and Inland Empire Magazine. She also founded the OC entertainment website Backstage SoCal, named Best Blog at OC Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Awards, and has featured CSUF student contributions looking to earn a portfolio byline and experience in entertainment journalism.
