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June 2014



Professor Spotlight: Todd Chambers, Ph.D.
by Candace Trevino, photo by David Vaughn
Todd Chambers, Ph.D.

Todd Chambers, Ph.D.

Once a Red Raider, always a Red Raider.

Todd Chambers, Ph.D., began his Red Raider career in the fall of 1984 and currently serves as the department chairperson for the Department of Journalism and Electronic Media. A graduate of the College of Media & Communication, formerly a department within the College of Arts and Sciences, Chambers earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas Tech before pursuing his doctorate from The University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

While earning his undergraduate degree in journalism, Chambers got an early start in the media industry by working part-time for a radio station in Brownfield, Texas.

Although no longer reaching audiences via air waves, Chambers uses his communications expertise to reach his students both in and out of the classroom.

"We've got a tremendous pool of talented students," Chambers said. "It is a pleasure to work with students on a daily basis."

A native of West Texas, Chambers said it is important for students to recognize the global aspect of the communications realm.

"Media companies are global and they have a global footprint," Chambers said. "It is important to be able to understand audience behavior from a multi-cultural perspective. It's not going to be one audience or one platform. As a professional, you'll be engaging multicultural audiences."

In his advice to prospective, current and recent graduates, Chambers said it is necessary to get involved.

"We've created some academic experiences to help students get involved. We can only go so far as a faculty, but we desperately try to provide opportunities and put them right in front of students," Chambers said.

Chambers advises graduating seniors to look under rocks in the hunt for the perfect job.

"We have fantastic students who are getting cool gigs with journalism degrees," Chambers said. "But the students getting their dream jobs? Those are the students who looked under rocks and turned over stones to find them."





Candace Trevino is a senior public relations major from Houston. David Vaughn is a senior university studies major from Spur, Texas, and works as a photographer for the college's marketing department.



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Get to Know Your Ambassador: Dylan George

Dylan George is a senior public relations major from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.


What do you love about the College of Media & Communication?

The biggest thing I love about the College of Media & Communication is my personal success story within the college. I'm originally from New Jersey, and when I found out I had to go to a Texas school, I didn't really know a lot about the colleges in Texas. I got into the College of Media & Communication the spring of my sophomore year, and I've enjoyed the journey so far. I've done my best to get involved with student organizations like Tech PR and Student Ambassadors. The experiences I've had in the college are what keep me here.


What are you involved with within the College of Media & Communication and on campus?

I'm a part of Tech PR and was involved with the College of Media & Communication Student Ambassadors last year. Next year, I'm fortunate enough to serve as president of the organization. This summer I'll start my internship with Texas Tech's Office of Communications & Marketing working with their social media team. I've been a Red Raider Orientation crew member twice, and I've been working with University Student Housing for about two years as a student assistant.


Dylan George

Dylan George

What are your hobbies?

Definitely social media. I'm a big user of Twitter, so I live tweet basically any big event that is going on in the entertainment world. I like to cook and I also like to take time to read. Saturday morning it's usually me and an iced coffee and the latest edition of GQ or the novel that I'm currently reading.


What do you enjoy most about being a student ambassador for the College of Media & Communication?

When I'm able to tell the incoming students how far you can go within the college.


What is your favorite Texas Tech tradition?

My favorite Texas Tech tradition is the first football game of the fall. I'm from New Jersey and I didn't know how serious Texas football was until I got to Texas.


What is your advice for prospective students?

It's all up to you. If you want to be super active, that is your choice. If you want take a back-burner position, that's up to you. No one is really going to hold your hand through your experience. Every choice you make, class you take, effort and time you give to projects – it's all up to you.


What is your dream job?

I would love to handle public relations for a form of entertainment. It could be print, like GQ or Esquire, or multimedia, like FOX. Anywhere in entertainment.






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College of Media & Communication Learning Community
video by Ben Jarvis

College of Media & Communication undergraduate students discuss the perks of living in the media and communication learning community.





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