Matthew Sanders

Communication & Media

Full Professor

Contact Information

Office Location: Logan (OM 211)
Phone: +1 435 797 8409
Email: matt.sanders@usu.edu
Additional Information:

Curriculum Vitae

Educational Background

Ph.D., University of Colorado
M.A., University of Colorado
B.A., Brigham Young University

Emphasis

Communication Studies

Biography

Matt Sanders holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Matt conducts research in the areas of nonprofit organizations, organizational communication, and student learning. He is the author of Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education, which is used in first-year experience courses at many colleges and universities. He is also the co-author (with John McClellan) of Studying Communication: An Invitation to Purposeful Learning. Awards recognizing Matt’s work with students include the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Western States Communication Association and being named Teacher of the Year for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University.

Interpersonal Communication
Organizational Communication
Communication and Leadership
Organizations and Social Change

Exploring how the distinct characteristics of nonprofit organizations are maintained in the
face of a pervasive for-profit business model.

Understanding how popular representations of social entrepreneurship and the nonprofit sector construct cultural understandings about nonprofit work

Examining how pedagogical innovations can increase student learning and empowerment

Recent Publications

Sanders, M. L., & McClellan, J. G. (2019). Studying communication: An invitation to purposeful learning. Plymouth, MI: Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions.

Seiter, J. S., Peeples, J. A., Sanders, M. L. (Eds.). (2018). Communication in the Classroom: A Collection of G.I.F.T.S. New York: Bedford/St. Martins.

Sanders, M. L. (2018). Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education (2^nd Edition). Plymouth, MI: Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions.

Sanders, M. L. (2015). Being nonprofit-like in a market economy: Understanding the mission-market tension in nonprofit organizing. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44, 205-222.

Presentations

Sanders, M. L. (2019, May). Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education. Featured presentation at the Gateway Seminar Training, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Sanders, M. L. (2019, March). Becoming a Learner: Framing the Purpose of a College Education. Keynote presentation to Dixie State University Teaching and Learning Conference. St. George, Utah.

Sanders, M. L., Kleiner, H., & Kesler, H. B. (2019, February). Becoming a Learner: Aligning Student Expectations with Institutional Mission. Featured Presentation at the 38^th Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sanders, M. L. (2018, March). From What to Why: Rethinking How We Frame Higher Education. Keynote presentation for the Tri-Institutional Spring Faculty Forum – Metropolitan State University, University of Colorado at Denver, Community College of Denver. Denver Colorado.

Kleiner, H., & Sanders, M. L., Kesler, H. B., & Colver, M. (2019, February). Integrating General Education Outcomes into First Year Experiences: Communicating General Education’s Value from Day One. Presentation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ Creating a 21^st Century General Education Conference. San Francisco, CA.

Sanders, M. L., & Kleiner, H., (2018, February). Becoming a Learner: Framing the Purpose of a College Education. Presented at the 37th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience, San Antonio, Texas.

Western States Communication Association, Distinguished Teaching Award, February 2018.

Utah State University Student Association, Extraordinary Service Award, April 2019. (Given for extended and impactful service to USU students.)

Utah Campus Compact – Utah State University Presidential Award, Community Engaged Faculty Member, April 2017.

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Utah State University, Teacher of the Year, April 2010.