Communication studies is not just newspapers and rhetoric; Matthew Bancroft-Smithe’s work in the Interpreters Theatre is walking proof of otherwise. Bancroft-Smithe is a second-year graduate student in UNI’s Communication and Media program. In Fall 2022 he began a unique new graduate assistantship in the Interpreter’s Theatre, which is the black box theater residing in Lang Hall. Part of the Communication and Media Department, the Interpreters Theatre is a performance laboratory for performance studies class, workshops, and full-length productions.
This semester, University of Northern Iowa students in the clinical mental health counseling graduate program had the opportunity to put their skills to work by facilitating support groups for caregivers of people with dementia.
Much of librarian Anne Marie Gruber’s job is spent aiding students. Her favorite memories are ones where the library helps students overcome learning barriers. For instance, one graduate student never learned to type and was not meeting due dates. Gruber taught them about “speech to text” programs so the student could get their ideas on the page. “When I was able to identify some of the barriers for them and say, ‘hey, try this, this will make your life easier,’ and then they were able to succeed — that's what is gratifying for me.
Amy Garrett moved from Mumbai, India to Shanghai, China in 2014 while enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Northern Iowa. Garrett achieved a job as a technology coach at Hong Kong International School because she strengthened her skills in the University of Northern Iowa’s teacher leadership for international educator’s master’s program, which is designed to help current teachers working in international schools advance into non-administrative leadership roles.
Projected on the wall is a slightly fuzzy video recording of a figure whose steadiness is palpable through the static of the technology. It is the first sight one views upon entering the Hearst Center. Across the video projection is a plum-colored mural announcing “Eddie Bowles’s Blues.”
Kelsey Wren stands before a group of student senators arranged in a horseshoe shape, providing updates about graduate programs to the Northern Iowa Student Government.What differentiates her from other students in the room is that she is not an elected undergraduate student government representative, but a graduate student. Wren, a social work master’s candidate specializing in trauma informed care, has taken on the position of the Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG) Director of Graduate Life. This position is a new graduate assistantship funded by the Graduate College.
Describe how your educational background and employment experience led you to UNI.
I've worked in libraries since I was in high school and throughout college so becoming a librarian just made sense. My first professional position was in South Carolina for a couple of years and for twelve years I was in Wisconsin. At both places I gained a lot of experience as a general reference and instruction librarian teaching a lot of "one-shot" library instruction classes.
