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Department of Communication Studies College of Arts & Letters

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Communication Studies Department Scholarships & Awards

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Department Scholarships

BMG Scholarship

The BMG Scholarship is intended to award students in Communication Studies.


Donald R. Gerth Forensics Program Memorial Scholarship

Donald R. Gerth Forensics Program Memorial Scholarship is intended to support students in the Department of Communication Studies within the College of Arts and Letters. Applicant must be enrolled in Coms 110 or 111.


Jamie Gonzales Memorial Scholarship

The Jaime Gonzales Memorial Scholarship is intended to support student Journalists or students who plan to pursue a career in journalism or mass media.

JoAnne McDougal Robinson Scholarship for Journalistic Excellence

The JoAnne McDougal Robinson Scholarship for Journalistic Excellence is intended to support CSUS students majoring in Journalism.


Joseph Harvey Harris, M.D. and Margaret Alice Harris Memorial Communications

The Joseph Harvey Harris, M.D. and Margaret Alice Harris Memorial Communications Studies Endowed Scholarship is intended to support students majoring in the Department of Communication Studies within the College of Arts and Letters.

Leah Vande Berg Graduate Scholarship in Communication Studies

Leah Vande Berg earned her B.A. and M.A. in English and her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. She was a professor at Northwestern University and Southern Methodist University before coming to CSUS in 1990. Leah authored or co-authored five books, and over forty articles on media and culture, in addition to serving as the Editor of Western Journal of Communication, and First Vice President of the Western States Communication Association. She was an active member of the CSUS campus community, serving in various capacities on campus committees, as well as, Assessment Coordinator for Academic Affairs. Deeply committed to graduate students, Leah served as Graduate Director for her departments at Northwestern, SMU, and CSUS; was the sponsor of three recipients of Doctoral Forgivable Loans at CSUS; and was the advisor of almost twenty M.A. and Ph.D. students at Northwestern, SMU, and CSUS.The Leah Vande Berg Graduate Scholarship in Communication Studies Scholarship is intended to support CSUS graduate students majoring in Communications Studies.


Miller/Zanze Scholarship

The Miller/Zanze Scholarship is intended to encourage students who exemplify excellence and commitment to the study of Journalism at California State University, Sacramento.


Nancy Kincaid Goldberg Memorial Communication Studies Endowed Scholarship

The Nancy Kincaid Goldberg Memorial Communication Studies Endowed Scholarship has been created in honor of Ms. Nancy Kincaid Goldberg, beloved professor and an alumna of 1987 and 2004. The scholarship is intended to support students in the department of Communication Studies within the College of Arts and Letters.

Patrick Marsh Scholarship in Rhetoric and Message Design Scholarship

The Patrick Marsh Scholarship in Rhetoric and Message Design Scholarship is intended to honor the memory of Patrick O. Marsh, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Communication Studies, and to encourage future students by providing financial assistance.

Robert T. Forsyth Scholarship

The Robert T. Forsyth Scholarship is intended to support undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Communication Studies, Journalism and Government Journalism.

Department Awards

The Wilson Communication Research Award

The Department of Communication Studies invites undergraduate students to submit polished and completed research papers to be considered for the Wilson Communication Research Award. Competitive papers may be theoretical, empirical, and/or methodological in nature. All methodological approaches and metatheoretical perspectives are welcomed.

Finalists will be invited and asked to give a research presentation during a spring research colloquium (date and location to be announced at a later time). Finalists must present their research in order to be considered to win the award. Finalists will be contacted individually with more details about the research colloquium presentation component.

Paper Guidelines:

All submitted papers must follow these submission rules:

  1. Papers must include a title page and an abstract that is no more than 250 words.
  2. Papers must use 12-point Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins.
  3. Papers may be a maximum of 25 double-spaced pages of text (not including the title page, abstract, tables, figures, references, and appendices). Please stay within the page limit as a matter of fairness to both the reviews and other submitters.
  4. Papers must be either in Microsoft Word or PDF format. No other formats will be accepted.
  5. Submitted documents must follow the following naming convention:
    [Your last name]-[Your first name initial]-Wilson Communication Research Award
    • Example: Woo-N-Wilson Communication Research Award

Submission Instructions And Deadline:

Submitters must email Dr. Nate Woo (woo@csus.edu) their completed research paper with the following email subject line: Wilson Communication Research Award Submission 2024. Completed submissions must be in Dr. Woo’s inbox by Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. All submissions must be delivered electronically. Please do not deliver a physical copy of your research paper to the Department of Communication Studies.


For questions, please contact:
Dr. Nate Woo
Assistant Professor of Communication
Department of Communication Studies
woo@csus.edu