Initiative to hone public communication skills, promote community wellbeing

March 27, 2023 – DENTON – Graduate students at Texas Woman’s are the university’s emerging scholars and are critical to its research endeavors. Beginning this fall, they'll participate in a five-year initiative aimed at empowering them to leverage their research through public forms of communication to influence community wellbeing.

The initiative, Amplify Your Impact, will create a bridge between scholarly inquiry and public understanding and trust – all in an effort to improve collective wellbeing.

As part of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), the program will sharpen graduate students’ communication and leadership skills while at the same time fostering healthier environments (personal wellbeing, safety, education and healthcare) for communities in and around Texas Woman’s campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston.

“Our graduate students are future scholars, practitioners, teachers and leaders in their respective fields,” said Gretchen Busl, an associate professor and co-chair of the QEP Development committee. “Whether their studies are grounded in health, social equity, education or community change, this initiative will help them learn communication skills critical to educating communities and engaging in informed advocacy, which is a true hallmark of leadership.”

The initiative will focus on public-facing methods of communication for the graduate students, which may include op-eds, podcasts, lectures, workshops, videos, blogs, essays or policy document development.

By fostering the communication techniques and strategies of our graduate students, Amplify Your Impact aspires to develop equitable and thriving communities through the advancement of evidence-based, publicly available information.

Faculty, staff, and, eventually, other graduate students, will serve as student mentors, and the short-term focus of the initiative will be geared toward faculty training, graduate scholarship opportunities and the creation of technology and equipment hubs.

For more information, visit twu.edu/QEP/, or watch this video.

Page last updated 11:52 AM, April 20, 2023