CURRICULUM
VITAE
James Lawrence
Simon
EDUCATION
Doctoral: School of Public Affairs,
Arizona
State University, Tempe, Arizona, 1992-1993. Doctor
of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree received in Public Administration,
December 1993. Dissertation director: Bruce
Merrill;
committee members, David Altheide, Nicholas Alozie, Jon Hall. Dissertation title: Revisiting
"Limited Effects": Impact of the News Media on Turnout in the 1992 Presidential
Election
Graduate:
Cronkite
School of Journalism
and Telecommunication, Arizona State
University,
Tempe, Arizona, 1990-1992. Master of Mass Communication degree
received, May 1992. Master’s Project
title: Declining Newspaper Use and the Vanishing Voter
Fellow, Eagleton
Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, 1976-1977
Undergraduate: Rutgers
University, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, 1970-1974. Bachelor of Arts degree
received, May 1974. Major: Community Development (urban
journalism concentration); course
requirements
also completed for majors in political science and urban
teacher education
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Professor (tenured),
Department of English, Fairfield University,
Fairfield, Connecticut, 2006—present; associate professor, 2001-2006; assistant
professor,
1997-2001. Coordinator of journalism
concentration. Taught courses in Environmental
Reporting, Political and Government Reporting,
News Writing, Contemporary Journalism, Independent Writing
Project, Composition and Prose Literature (freshman
comp), Interdisciplinary Inquiry:
Media Literacy, Internships, Business
Writing. Adviser, The Mirror
student newspaper, 1997--present
Assistant Professor,
Department of Communication, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, 1994-1997. Tenure-track position. Directed
print journalism
program
for the oldest chartered
college in California. Taught courses in News Writing,
Introduction to Mass Communication,
Effective Business Writing,
Communication Research Methods, Introduction to Graduate
Study. Adviser, The Pacifican
student newspaper, 1994-1997
Adjunct Professor
of Journalism, Rutgers University,
1977-1978 (part time), 1978-1979
(full time). In first year, taught News Writing
while working as an AP reporter and editor.
In second year, carried a
full time teaching load including courses
in News Writing, Mass Media and
Society, Senior Seminar. Adviser,
The Medium student newspaper
TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
News reporting,
writing and editing
Environmental
journalism; risk
communication
Political Communication
/ Public opinion
Technological innovation
in the classroom
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Associate Director, Cactus State
Poll, Arizona State University, 1990-1993. Co-founder
and manager of best known public
opinion survey in Arizona, conducted by the Cronkite School of Journalism
and KAET-TV in Phoenix.
Supervised questionnaire construction,
data collection and data entry for more
than 30 statewide surveys. Marketed the poll through
writing press
releases, year-end
reports
and maintaining regular contact with political reporters.
Extensive experience with SPSS, exit
interviews, focus groups. ASU representative, National Network
of State Polls, University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill, 1992-93
Reporter and
editor, The Associated Press, 1974-1978, 1979-1987
Statehouse bureau
chief, Boston, Massachusetts, 1983-1987. Senior
AP political reporter in
the state. Directed coverage of Massachusetts
government for
state and national wires. Managed a
staff of three reporters and supervised
coverage of Governor's
office, Legislature, Supreme Court
and the state bureaucracy. Directed
Massachusetts
coverage of presidential
and state election campaigns. Covered
both national political conventions, 1984
Political reporter,
Massachusetts Statehouse, 1981-1983. Specialized in court
and legislative coverage, plus environmental stories
involving hazardous, solid and
low-level radioactive waste
Political reporter,
Rhode Island Statehouse, Providence,
Rhode Island, 1979-1980. Political reporter, New Jersey
Statehouse, Trenton, New Jersey, 1976-1977
New Jersey State News Editor, Newark,
New Jersey, 1977-1978. Directed daily news of AP bureaus
in Newark,
Trenton
and Atlantic City.
Directed news assignments,
scheduling and personnel decisions;
served as liaison with national news
desk, 25 member N.J. newspapers and 40 radio
stations
Broadcast
desk supervisor
and broadcast writer,
general assignment reporter, news desk supervisor, Newark
and Boston bureaus, 1974; 1975-1976; 1980
National Entertainment
Writer,
AP Weekend Entertainment Package,
1976-1978. Wrote weekly column on pop music trends
and entertainment world celebrities
for state and national weekend entertainment packages
President,
Massachusetts
Statehouse Press Association, 1986
Assistant Secretary of
the Environment, Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1987-1989. Senior staff position. Headed team of 30 legislative, press and constituency specialists in the Executive
Office and in five state environmental
agencies. Dealt with issues ranging
from open space and water conservation
to hazardous waste management and recycling.
Managed speech writing,
scheduling and creation of environmental events involving the Secretary
(John DeVillars, future EPA Region 1 administrator) and the Governor (Michael S. Dukakis)
Director of Public Relations, Massachusetts
Hospital Association, Burlington,
Massachusetts, 1990. Developed marketing and media strategies
for statewide association of
teaching/research
and community hospitals
Member, Environmental
Issues Group, Dukakis for President
Committee, 1987-1988. Developed briefings
and position papers for candidate on environmental
issues ranging from wildlife protection
and drinking water quality to offshore
oil and gas exploration and handling
of solid waste
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
Published
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles,
quarterly
journals
1.
Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. & Valenti,
J.M. Regional Issues, National Norms:
A Four-Region Analysis of U.S. Environment Reporters. Science
Communication, 28:1, 93-121.
2.
Simon,
J. and Sapp, D. Learning inside and
outside the classroom: The civic journalism approach and complex learning
outcomes. Accepted by Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, November 2005; publication date not yet set
3. Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti, J.M. (2005). Wrestling
with objectivity and fairness: U.S.
environment reporters and
the business community. Applied
Environmental Education and
Communication: An International Journal, 4:4, 363-373
4. Sapp, D., & Simon,
J. (2005). Comparing Grades in Online and Face-to-Face Writing Courses:
Interpersonal Accountability and Institutional Commitment. Computers and
Composition, 22.4: 471-489.
5. Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. & Valenti, J.M. (2004). Risk and the environment
reporters: A four-region analysis. Public Understanding of Science, 13:399-416
6. Simon, J. & Hayes,
S. (2004). Juvenile crime stories use police blotter
without comment from suspects. Newspaper
Research Journal,
25:4, 89-94
7. Simon, J. and
Schlichting, K. (2003, November/December). The college connection: Using academic support to conduct public library surveys.
Public Libraries, 42:6, 375-378
8.
Alozie, N., Simon, J. & Merrill, B.
D. (2003). Gender
and political orientation in
childhood. The Social Science Journal,
40, 1-18
9.
Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. & Valenti,
J.M. (2002). The environment reporters of New England. Science Communication, 23:4, 410-441
10.
Schlichting, K. & Simon, J. (2001).
Using GIS to identify clusters of potential donors
to colleges and universities. The
CASE International Journal of Educational Advancement, 2:1, 25-36
11.
Simon, J. and Merrill, B. D. (1998). Political socialization in the
classroom revisited:
The Kids Voting program. The Social Science Journal,
35, 29-42
12.
Simon, J., Merrill, B. & Alozie, N. (1998). Nurturing
democracy, citizenship and civic virtue: The Kids Voting program revisited.
Journal of Social Studies Research, 22:1, 19-27
13.
Valdivia, C. & Simon, J. (1996). Elitism revisited:
Efforts to increase
diversity on college forensics teams. National Forensics
Journal, 15, 1-22
14.
Simon, J. (1997). Media use and voter turnout
in a presidential election. Newspaper Research
Journal, 17, 25-34. (Based on
doctoral dissertation.)
15. Simon,
J. and Merrill,
B. D. (1997). The next generation of
news consumers: Children’s news media choices in an election campaign. Political
Communication, 14, 307-321
16. Simon, J., Smith, T. U. and Merrill, B.
D. (1996). Telling the truth:
Respondent accuracy in mass media
polling. Southwestern Mass
Communication Journal, 12, 3-12
17. Merrill, B. D., Simon, J. and Adrian,
E. (1994). Boosting turnout: The Kids Voting program, 1990. Journal
of Social Studies Research, 18,
3-7
18. Simon, J. and Merrill, B. D. (1993). Revisiting media choice and
election turnout. Southwestern
Mass Communication Journal, 9,
106-115
Published
Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Articles,
annual editions
19. Simon, J. (August 2005). “As easy as 1-2-3: Building student
confidence and experience in the
basic news writing course.” GIFT 2005
(Great Ideas for Teachers),
published as special issue of The Journalist.
Columbia SC:
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
20. Simon,
J. (August 2002). “Now I get it: How to use reflective
memos in news writing.” GIFT
2002 Journal (Great Ideas for
Teachers), 72-73. Columbia SC:
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Peer-Reviewed
Conference Papers
1.
Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti,
J.M. (2005, August). “Wrestling
with objectivity and fairness: U.S.
environment reporters and
the business community.” Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, San Antonio
TX. (Revised version
published by Applied Environmental
Education and Communication: An International
Journal, 2005.)
2. Simon,
J. (August 2005). “As easy as 1-2-3:
Building student confidence and experience
in the basic news writing course.” Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, San Antonio,
TX (Revised version of paper
included in annual GIFT
2005 Journal) (Great Ideas for Teachers)
3.
Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti,
J.M. (2005, May). “Regional issues, national norms:
A four-region
analysis of U.S.
environment reporters.”
International Communication
Association convention, New York.
(Revised version accepted for publication by Science
Communication, January 2006.)
4. Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti, J.M. (2004, December). “Risk assessment and
the environment reporters of California and the Pacific
Northwest: A comparative study.” Society for
Risk Analysis annual meeting, Palm Springs, California. (Revised version published by Public Understanding of Science, 2004)
5.
Simon,
J. and Hayes, S. (2004, August). “Revisiting the police blotter: Public service
stories … or
assembly line journalism at its worst.” Association
for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication convention, Toronto CN.
(Revised version published by
Newspaper Research Journal,
Winter 2004)
6. Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti, J.M. (2003, December). “Risk and environment
reporters: A three-region analysis.” Society for
Risk Analysis annual meeting, Baltimore, MD.
(Revised version published by Public
Understanding of Science, 2004)
7. Sachsman, D.B., Simon, J. and Valenti, J.M. (2002, December). “Risk assessment and the environment reporter.”
Society for Risk Analysis annual
meeting, New Orleans,
LA. (Revised version published by Public Understanding of Science, 2004)
8. Simon,
J. (2002, August). “Now I get it!” How to use reflective
memos in news writing.” Association
for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication convention, Miami, FL. (Revised version of paper
included in annual GIFT
2002 Journal) (Great Ideas for Teachers.)
9. Schlichting,
K. and Simon, J. (2000, April).
"GIS as a tool to evaluate current
giving and to plan for future." AIR/CASE
Research Colloquium: New Demographics of Philanthropy.
St. Louis, MO. (Revised version
published by The CASE International
Journal of Educational Advancement,
2001
10. Simon,
J. and Dong, Q. (1997, August).”Influence of self-concepts on news media use
and voter turnout.” Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, Chicago,
IL
11. Simon,
J. and Merrill,
B. D. (1997, March). “Putting civics
education to work: Using schoolchildren to boost parents’
turnout.” Western
Political Science Association meeting, Tucson,
AZ. (Revised version published by Journal of Social Studies Research,
1998.)
12. Simon,
J. and Merrill,
B. D. (1996, August). “Selecting their sources:
Patterns of news media usage among primary
and secondary school students.” Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, Anaheim,
CA. (Revised version published by Political
Communication, 1997.)
13. Simon,
J., Smith, T. U. and Merrill, B. D. (1995, August). “Telling the truth:
Respondent accuracy in mass media
polling.” Association for Education
in Journalism and Mass Communication
convention, Washington D.C.
(Revised version published by
Southwestern Mass Communication
Journal, 1996.)
14. Merrill, B. D., Simon, J. and Adrian,
E. (1991, March). “Boosting turnout: The Kids Voting program in Arizona.” Western Political Science Association meeting, Seattle, Washington.
(Revised version published by Journal of Social Studies Research,
1994.)
Book
Review
“The Environmental Communication
Yearbook 2,” Susan Senecah (ed.), 2005. Review solicited by Science
Communication journal; submitted and accepted January 2006
Invited
Conference Papers / Conference
Presentations
1.
Simon, J. (accepted for August 2006).
“Thrive or dive: Helping students – and professors – cope with the switch to
online classes.” Panel presentation accepted for delivery at the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, San Francisco,
CA
2.
Simon, J. (accepted for August 2006).
Presentation on panel entitled, “Where does journalism belong? Finding a happy
home in a liberal arts setting.” Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, San Francisco,
CA
3.
Simon, J. (March 2006). “Avoiding
burnout.” Presentation to professional development section of the Spring
College Media Advisers annual convention, NYC
4.
Simon, J. (March 2006). “Avoiding
burnout.” Presentation as part of the professional development section of the
Spring College Media Advisers annual convention, NYC
5.
Simon, J. (March 2006). “Who’s reading?
Who’s watching or listening? Studying your audience.” Presentation as
part of the research section of the Spring College Media Advisers annual
convention, NYC
6.
Simon, J. (March 2006). “Advising on the
tenure track.” Presentation as part of the professional development section of
College Media Advisers annual convention, NYC
7.
Simon, J. (2005, August). “Tips from the top: Journalism
teaching from award-winning teachers.”
Panel discussion in which
journalism professors who have won national teaching awards share their
ideas. Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication convention, San Antonio,
TX