Organizational Communication Analysis (but a little organizational recruiting first)

One of the classes that I’m teaching this summer is Organizational Communication Analysis. Basically, it’s how to conduct a communication audit in an organization. I’m kind of excited about this class—when I interviewed, this was one of the classes they said I would be teaching. And there’s certainly opportunity to slip in some of my research into the data collection, which is kind of nice. Historically, the class has been taught as a service learning experience for students, where students are analyzing communication in a nonprofit organization. This benefits the students with an experience much better than any classroom exercise and with something they can put on a resume. It benefits the community by improving communication in a nonprofit organization that is providing services to the community. Lots of good things happening through this class project. The problem is that means that I have to recruit a nonprofit. I’ve already blogged about how much I like recruiting organizations for research. (I’m still working on that project, so available CEOs are still welcomed to email me.) Fortunately, I’ve connected with a professor who has a lot of contacts in the nonprofit industry, and she has helped me. I’ve got one nonprofit on board. Still, I’d really like to split the class into two groups and have each group study a different nonprofit. I think the comparisons would provide incredible fodder for discussions. So I’m trying to get one more nonprofit organization to buy-in.