*CFP* "CHANGES IN COMMUNICATION IN, FROM, AND ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS", THEMATIC SECTION, STUDIES IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCES JOURNAL

We are seeking contributions for a thematic section of Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) exploring changes in communication of higher education institutions. SComS is a peer-reviewed journal of communication and media research with platinum open-access (no article processing charges).

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are pivotal organizations in modern societies (Schäfer & Fähnrich, 2020). In past decades, the higher education sector has expanded considerably in many countries, with rapid increases in research output, growing student enrollment, and newly founded colleges and universities. New public management reforms and a growing need for societal legitimation have led many HEIs to prioritize communication, i.e., to establish communication offices, pursue branding, marketing, and reputation management, and to professionalize their communication efforts on traditional channels, websites, and social media (Davies & Horst, 2016; Elken, Stensaker, & Dedze, 2018; Marcinkowski, Kohring, Fürst, & Friedrichsmeier, 2014; Raupp & Osterheider, 2019; Schwetje, Hauser, Böschen, & Leßmöllmann, 2020; Vogler & Schäfer, 2020). This has resulted in competition for public visibility, involving researchers, HEI leadership, and professional communicators at central levels, research centers, and departments (Crettaz von Roten & Entradas, 2018; Entradas et al., 2020; Friedrichsmeier & Fürst, 2012; Koivumäki & Wilkinson, 2020; McKinnon, Black, Bobillier, Hood, & Parker, 2019; Rödder, 2020; Watermeyer & Lewis, 2018). 

This competition could fuel the mediatization of scientific organizations (Peters, Heinrichs, Jung, Kallfass, & Petersen, 2008; Scheu, Volpers, Summ, & Blöbaum, 2014) and poses new risks and challenges, from unintended and potentially dysfunctional effects to scandals and crises (Fähnrich, Danyi, & Nothhaft, 2015; Schwarz & Büker, 2019). However, scant research has been conducted on how communication in, from, and about HEIs has developed over time and changed as a result of transformations in higher education and the media landscape. The Covid-19 pandemic has also had an impact on higher education communication that has yet to be explored. Moreover, several studies have focused on practices and structures of communication offices, whereas little attention has been paid to members of the administrative board (rectorate) and their changing perceptions and strategies regarding the public communication and representation of their particular organizations.

While communication offices at HEIs have expanded, journalism has suffered from reductions in staff and resources, resulting in an increasing imbalance between science journalism and university public relations (Göpfert, 2007; Guenther, 2019; Vogler & Schäfer, 2020). Researchers argue that this development poses a risk that fact-based, independent, and critical reporting on science could decline while the dissemination of strategic, affirmative, and sometimes even misleading information could increase (Bauer & Howard, 2009; Göpfert, 2007; Weingart, 2017; Wormer, 2017), thereby jeopardizing trust in science and HEIs in the mid-to-long term (Weingart & Joubert, 2019). However, we know little about these interrelations, about the quality and ethics of HEIs’ communication as well as about news coverage and public perceptions of HEIs and their changes over the past years and decades.

Existing studies indicate a growing diversity of communication formats and media channels addressing various stakeholders, including the proliferation of events and media releases as well as the increasing use of online channels (Lo, Huang, & Peters, 2019; Metag & Schäfer, 2017; Raupp & Osterheider, 2019; Vogler, 2020). While communication on social media allows for direct and visible interactions with stakeholders, more research on its actual importance and influence is needed. First results show that many universities use social media but fall short of utilizing them fully and only tend to engage in minimal dialogue with stakeholders (Entradas et al., 2020; McAllister, 2012; Metag & Schäfer, 2017; VanDyke & Lee, 2020). However, the role of social media communication – and online channels in general – may have undergone transformations in recent years and in relation to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We invite the submission of empirical analyses and theoretical / conceptual contributions from scholars of organizational communication, communication management, strategic communication, science communication and journalism, higher education studies, organizational sociology, sociology of science, and other related fields and disciplines. We welcome submissions related (but not limited) to the following areas and topics:

• Changes in the resources, practices, strategies, and influences of communication offices at HEIs 
• The professionalization of HEI communication and communicators, e.g., with respect to professional training, evaluations of communication processes and practices or in terms of ethical standards and reflections 
• Changing representations of HEIs in media / public / online discourses 
• The uses, perceptions, and effects of HEI communication and coverage among various target groups / stakeholders 
• The transformation of relationships between different actors involved in HEI communication, e.g., communication professionals, rectorates of HEIs, policy makers, scientists, journalists, students, citizens 
• Changes in HEI communication resulting from digitization 
• The shifting importance of crisis communication and Covid-19-related changes in HEIs’ communication 
• Communication in, from, and about HEIs in light of the mediatization of science 
• The evolving role of public visibility for the legitimation of HEIs

 

Submission guidelines

The journal welcomes submissions in English, German, French, or Italian, but the abstracts must be in English. All submissions should be uploaded on the SComS platform.

Paper submissions will be due 12 December 2021. Final acceptance depends on a double-blind peer review process. The expected publishing date of this special issue is November 2022. However, early submissions that successfully pass the review process will also be immediately published online first. Contributions that receive positive reviews but are not accepted for the Thematic Section may be considered for publication in a subsequent SComS issue within the General Section.

For any further information please contact Silke Fürst (s.fuerst@ikmz.uzh.ch).

 

Timeline:

Full papers are required no later than December 12, 2021

1st review will be provided by March 15, 2022

2nd submission should be submitted by May 15, 2022

2nd review and notification of acceptance will be provided by July 31, 2022

Final papers should be submitted by September 15, 2022

Publication of the Thematic Section is scheduled for November 2022