Biography
Tamera Valentine Cole began her teaching career in 1980 as a Public Speaking instructor
at Louisiana State University where she earned her M.A. in Communication. Before attending
LSU, she completed her undergraduate work at Auburn University, graduating summa cum
laude with degrees in Communication, Political Science, and Secondary Education. Both
universities provided rich experiences including performing in television productions,
like a British Literary Series for Educational Television, serving as coordinator
for collegiate Model United Nations, and competing in speech and debate tournaments.
Honors for Tamera include Triple Speech National Champion – DSR-TKA, Phi Kappa Phi,
and Lambda Sigma.<br><br>Tamera has diversified and extensive instructional experience,
serving student populations across multiple academic levels and classroom models including
public, private and home education milieus. With a National Teacher Certification,
she earned Highly Qualified Status Professional Educator's Licenses/Certifications
in Speech Communication, English, Language Arts, and Social Studies in both Florida
and North Carolina. <br><br>Memorable highlights include teaching Intercultural Communication
and ACA College Success in Cherokee for Southwestern Community College. Currently
teaching Foundations of Communication here at WCU, Tamera enjoys challenging students
to reach their greatest potential in critical thinking and communication skills. Her
passion and dedication for working with students in an interdisciplinary approach
to Human Communication creates an exciting learning environment. Tamera was honored
to be recognized as a WCU First Year Advocate.<br><br>Department of Communication<br>Instructor
- Human Communication<br>Phone: 828-227-2389<br>Email: tjcole@wcu.edu<br>Office Address:
Stillwell 245<br><br>Education:<br>•M.A., Louisiana State University<br>•B.A., Auburn
University
Teaching Interests
Essential to an interdisciplinary approach to teaching the foundations of communication
class is to incorporate as many of the liberal arts disciplines as possible, especially
political science, history, and various social sciences. Cultural competency is also
fundamental to the communication process.
Research Interests
Continued study in intercultural comm., perception, interpersonal comm., group comm.,
verbal and non-verbal comm., and persuasion are key.
