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February 2015



Professor Spotlight: Andy King, Ph.D.
by Burklee Berry

Andy King, Ph.D.

Andy King, Ph.D.

Dr. Andy King has been teaching at the university level now for eight years. He has taught Media Literacy, Research Methods, Applied Public Relations Research, and a variety of graduate course.

King said he enjoys teaching Media Literacy because it offers interesting skills for students to learn.

“Every year that I've done this, the students are more technologically savvy than I am. And this year's students are less technologically savvy then next year's students,” King said.

King said the dynamic in the classroom is interesting to watch unfold in the classroom because there are certain things that transcend technological innovations.

“Teaching people how to use media in ways that they can benefit most clearly from and what will help them take advantage of the messages they are presented with everyday. I think it's very beneficial and that's why I enjoy teaching it,” King explained.

King said he loves interacting with students and seeing how his teaching feeds into his research more often than not. He said he constantly learns from students about what's common practice in the use of media and communication, and how interaction patterns are constantly changing.

King said he finds it interesting to see the ways students are coming together are changing based on communication technologies.

“I enjoy those conversations with students about their media use and about what they do on the weekends when they're communicating back and forth trying to get together,” he said. “To me that's really fascinating and it's one of my favorite parts of teaching because it intersects with my research.”

Throughout his professional career, King's main focus was working on several state health campaigns in Michigan, Kentucky and Illinois, where he promoted organ donation registries. He has also worked with community organizations, non-profits and various funding agencies.

King began his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, where he earned his undergraduate degree in English education with a minor in Speech Communication.

Later moving on to earn his doctorate from Purdue University, he also spent a summer living in Spokane, Wash. working for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

King was then a visiting assistant professor at the University of Illinois for a year and shortly after landed in Lubbock, Texas, as a professor in the College of Media & Communication.




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Get to Know Your Ambassador: Preston Derrick

Preston Derrick

Preston Derrick

Preston Derrick is a junior Journalism major from Lubbock, Texas.


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

I love that there are so many ways to get involved and get your hands on stuff. Between the “Double T Insider”, MCTV, and The Outpost, you really get to practice what you're potentially going into after graduation. That was probably the biggest selling point when I was coming to college here. I love that you're able to be so involved.


What are you involved with in the college and around campus?

I am a student recruiter and a student ambassador for the college. And I'm also an active member of the IFC Greek fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha.


What are your hobbies?

I really keep in close touch with college football, and that's really what I want to cover with my journalism degree after I graduate.


What have you enjoyed most about being an ambassador?

The kind of people you get to meet here. You get to know people from all walks of life who all want to do different kinds of things with their specific major. Everybody has different goals and it's interesting to see how different people are and what they want to do once they graduate.


What is your advice to prospective students?

Get involved and stay involved. College can be pretty boring without being involved. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't in my fraternity or a student ambassador. I would probably just be sitting around doing homework all the time. Being involved just makes college so much more enjoyable, and you get to meet a lot of new people that way. With being a student ambassador, I've been able to meet and interact with many prospective new students, parents and transfers.


What is your favorite Texas Tech tradition?

Football games generally, but specifically would probably be the Masked Rider running out across the field. I've been coming to Tech football games for as long as I can remember and that has always been one of my favorite parts. No other school in the country really does anything close to that. The Masked Rider and the football games are probably my favorite part of the tradition here.


What are your future career goals?

I want to stay really focused on college football so anything in that area. If I have to start out covering weather to get to sports than that's what I'll do. I have a huge passion for college football and the NFL just because it was so big for me growing up, especially here in small town like Lubbock. It's what you grow up watching and it's what you grow up playing and it was the practices and principles of the game that were preached to me ever since I was little. I love football, and I would love to cover it for a living.




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