Emily (Dobbs) Keilback

Emily Keilback, who up until recently worked as a grant proposal specialist here at CSS, is a 2004 graduate of the Communications department. After graduating from CSS with a double major in Communication and Theatre Arts and English, she went to graduate school, which was highly encouraged to her by the department. Emily graduated from Washington State University in 2005 with a Masters of Arts in Communication and Environmental Studies.

            Emily found a number of the Communications courses she took highly valuable. She really liked Persuasion because she really felt like it prepared her for graduate school. She also liked Julie Ahasay’s Advertising and Public Relations course, which at the time was combined into one. She said that the skills proved to be invaluable and very useful in the real workplace. The course also helped build a portfolio and taught Emily what the Advertising and Public Relations field is really like. Emily also valued Newswriting and Reporting (at the time the course was taught by Ed Smith; it is now taught by Steve Erickson) because she learned the importance of accuracy and gained useful skills such as writing press releases. She believes that it is an excellent course that all Communications majors should take.

            As an undergrad at CSS, Emily was highly involved in The Cable. She started out as a staff writer, progressed to Jr. Assistant Editor, and eventually moved up to a position as Editor-in-Chief throughout her years in school. From her experiences with The Cable, Emily was able to improve her writing skills and learn the importance of discipline and meeting deadlines. Because of her experience with the newspaper, Emily was offered the unique opportunity to teach a media writing graduate course while she was in graduate school.

            While Emily still has good relationships with many of the department members, she especially values her relationships with a few particular professors including Tammy Ostrander, Julie Ahasay, and Ed Smith. Emily really valued the relationship she formed with Tammy, because she was her McNair mentor, she helped her focus her research for her research for the program, and gave her good career connections. Emily also liked Julie a lot because she was a very down-to-earth mentor to her and taught her what the workplace is really like. Emily also has a good relationship with Ed because they are both very strong liberals and sometimes still get together and talk about politics.