Thirteen West Virginia Wesleyan College students are presenting their work at the Eastern Communication Association (ECA) Annual Meeting in New York City, April 25th-28th.

Students, competitively selected by ECA, are: Stacy Bachelder, Erin Bryan, Andrea DiPietro, Katie Dunleavy, Ashley Durkin, Megan Geib, Daniel Hayle, Jaclyn Knopp, Miranda Krack, Meridith Lett, Cody Phillips, Jennifer Sines, and Kirk Wilson. All of the students are communication studies or public relations majors at West Virginia Wesleyan and will be presenting in the Undergraduate/Master's Student Poster Session. "Participating in the ECA meeting will be an excellent opportunity for the students to share their work, learn about the latest research in communication, and develop professional contacts," commented Kristi R. Lawrence, Visiting Instructor in Communication.

Students submitted their papers for consideration in December. Two readers who did not know the identity of the student authors read the papers and selected the top papers for presentation at the poster session. Wesleyan students' papers were based on work they had completed in their Public Address, Communication Theory, or Communication Research Methods courses during the fall semester. Kathleen M. Long, Chair of the Department of Communication, states, "This is the first time our department has had this many students participating in the ECA annual meeting. All of the Wesleyan students who submitted papers were accepted and we're pleased that the quality of our students' work has been recognized by one of the major and the oldest communication organization in the United States."

Five Wesleyan students were also named as Student Ambassadors for the convention. These students will assist the Executive Director and First Vice President with operation of the convention. Four faculty members from the Communication Department will accompany the students to New York: Kristi R. Lawrence, Kathleen M.Long, Phyl Charnes, and Danette I. Johnson.

The Eastern Communication Association, founded in 1910, is one of four regional associations in the United States. Its membership consists primarily of communication scholars and teachers from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia.