Kara Shultz

Kara Shultz (Ph.D., University of Denver) is a Professor of Communication Studies at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania. She has worked in higher education for over 35 years as faculty member in the Communication Studies Department at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shultz worked in higher education administration as a Department Chairperson, Director of the First Year Experience, and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education. As a first-generation college student, Dr. Shultz has been committed to assisting first-generation students with navigating higher education. As an administration, Dr. Shultz was responsible for the implementation of the early alert system, developing a first-year experience program, and coordinating the shift from developmental courses to a model of co-requisite course support. Upon her return to faculty, Dr. Shultz, focused on teaching first-year student courses such as First Year Seminar and Public Speaking. As an applied communication scholar, Dr. Shultz has focused on building communicative processes that support broad engagement to help organizations and communities develop shared understandings across competing perspectives to strengthen collaborative action. She has published in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, The Howard Journal of Communications, Conflict and Diversity, The Rhetoric of Food, and Handbook of Communication and People with Disabilities.