Becoming a Better Communicator: A Basic Course in Interpersonal and Public Communication

Rhonda Gallagher is a regular full-time faculty member of ORU, teaching COM 101 (Oral Communication) and COM 203 (Interpersonal Communication), and has in the past taught TVF 317 (Media Analysis). Her career in teaching began with a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Missouri State University. She began to truly find her calling in the field of adult education when she worked as a corporate trainer for Staples, Inc. and West TeleServices.

A graduate degree in Adult and Occupational Education seemed the next logical step, so she secured a master's degree in that field from Oklahoma State University. She taught COM 101 as an adjunct for three semesters before she was hired full time in fall 2001. In addition to the role of teacher, she also serves as the ePortfolio Assessment Coordinator for the department of Communication, Arts, and Media.

Her goals for teaching are focused on helping her students learn basic skills in communication which will enable them to function better not only in the work place, but in home and church life, as well. She believes that it is no accident that God has placed us in community and intends to form us in that context. Our communication skills are the tools by which we learn those life lessons.

Mrs. Gallagher is the winner of several awards for communication and instruction, including 2016 Fred Tewell Outstanding College Communicator from Oklahoma Speech, Theatre and Communication Association (OSTCA), 2015 OSTCA Top Paper, 2008-2009 ORU Outstanding Honors Faculty, 2005-2006 ORU ePortfolio Award.

Dr. Farmer's love for the University began when watching Oral Roberts on television. It was still there through her years of attending Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in education.  She taught six years of high school in the public school system in Missouri and then, when looking for a change in career, began teaching on the University level at Drury University in Springfield.

The call of ORU was growing stronger and though friends and family still lived in Missouri, Farmer made the move to Tulsa to teach Organizational/Interpersonal Communication here. She said that when she came for the interview, she felt like she was coming home.

Helping students to develop creative ideas and learn to express them well has always been a driving force in her teaching. She is able to do what she knows God has called her to do: be a positive influence on the students here. Through the funding of alumni, she has been able to organize a debate team. They have received numerous awards including winning the Junior Varsity NPDA National Championship with a novice team, a National Championship in IPDA, and the team has won numerous Sweepstakes trophies at tournaments in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

If she listed her other loves they would include attending Church on the Move in Tulsa where she volunteers in the productions department.

When it comes down to it, Farmer watched God take her from a simpler life in a small town in Missouri and bring her to the big city of Tulsa, Oklahoma where she is very happy.  “This is what I have to share with students here:  God is on your side and He will take you to places that are exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think.”

Originally from Colorado, Susan McMurray came to Tulsa to attend ORU and graduated with a degree in Organizational/Interpersonal Communications in 1991. After graduation, Susan decided to stay in Tulsa and went on to start her professional career in the field of human resources, serving as a human resource practitioner in the medical industry. During that time, she also received her master's in Communication Consultancy at Oklahoma State University. After teaching for a year at Oklahoma State University, Susan became a full time faculty member at ORU in 1997. Susan teaches the following classes: Advanced Public Speaking, Business & Professional Speech, Interpersonal Communications, Principles of Leadership, Interviewing, Oral Communications, Organizational Communications, Senior Paper Preparation, Senior Paper Research and Training & Development. She also facilitates several online communication courses.

McMurray considers her area of specialty to be in the field of training and development. She serves on the Board of the Northeast Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). She has recently presented at the Oklahoma state ASTD conference as well as other professional meetings for ASTD. Susan is also a member of The Tulsa Area Human Resource Association (TAHRA) and The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She has served as the Faculty Advisor for both the ORU student chapters of SHRM and ASTD. Under Susan’s leadership, the ORU student chapter of SHRM has won the superior merit award for 14 consecutive years, putting the ORU chapter in the top 20% of student chapters. She was also awarded the Outstanding Communications Faculty Member in 2005. In 2016, Susan McMurray was the winner of ORU’s Innovation in Online Teaching Award.

Susan McMurray received her B.A. in Communications from Oral Roberts University and her M.A. in Speech Communications from Oklahoma State University. 

Denise Miller, Assistant Professor, graduated from ORU in 1981 as Student of the Year for Communication Arts Education and taught secondary speech, drama and stagecraft, along with extracurricular activities, for 10 years. She co-founded the annual speech festival (which continues today as the annual theatre festival), won the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Teacher of the Year award and began her master’s at the University of Oklahoma. In 1996 she began teaching ORU communication classes as she completed her master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language with high honors and then taught undergraduates and graduates in ORU's College of Education.

In 2005, Denise began advising ORU Communication Arts Education majors and coordinating the general education portion of the ORU Communication, Arts and Media Department. The State Department of Education contracted Denise to mentor first-year teachers across northeastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation contracted Denise to evaluate the teacher education programs for English, as well as speech, drama and debate, of seven different universities across Oklahoma. Denise adjudicates a variety of academic, speech and theater events for secondary schools, performs voice-overs and serves as Master of Ceremonies at religious events, award ceremonies and ORU commencement. 

In 2012, Denise won Faculty of the Year for her college. In 2015 she was selected as the Outstanding College Communication Educator by the Oklahoma Speech, Communication and Theater Association. Denise presents at state and regional conventions such as Central States Communication Association. Topics she teaches on include activism, textbook writing, assessment, electronic portfolios and manipulation. Denise teaches both online and residential Oral Communication, Organizational Communication, Oral Interpretation of Literature and Methods of Teaching Speech, Drama and Debate. The textbook she has co-authored was published in 2016. Denise is one of five members of ORU’s general education re-envisioning steering committee. With a technology firm, Denise is creating a virtual reality phone application for the Honors Program to increase the quality and quantity of rehearsal for public presentations and to increase ORU grads’ technological savvy. Currently she is pursuing an online Certificate of Strategic Communication from Purdue.