Hannah Shikle

This award recognizes faculty, staff and student organizations whose contributions best exemplify the college’s access, engagement, and inclusive excellence commitments and objectives. 

Hannah Shikle received this award in recognition of her exceptional contributions as both an undergraduate academic advisor and an instructor in the College of Information and Communications. Her work reflects sustained leadership in expanding access, strengthening interdisciplinary engagement, and advancing the college’s commitments to equity, fairness, and inclusive excellence.

Through thoughtful program development, cross-department collaboration, and a student-centered advising approach, she has created meaningful pathways that enable a broader and more diverse group of students to fully engage in academic opportunities. In particular, her impact is evident in three key areas: she has promoted equity by removing structural barriers to participation, championed recruitment and retention by expanding access to high-impact practices, and fostered a supportive, collaborative environment where students from all majors and backgrounds can thrive together. These efforts collectively demonstrate her lasting impact and make her a deserving recipient of this award.

Haley R. Hatfield, Ph.D.

This faculty award is for a record of research, creative and/or scholarly work that exceeds expectations in the field, demonstrates exceptional potential, and makes clear contributions to research and scholarship during a short time at USC. This award acknowledges contribution to the CIC and university.

Haley Hatfield earned this award in recognition of her outstanding scholarly and community contributions to the field of communication. She has published high-quality research in leading journals, demonstrating both rigor and influence in her work. Beyond her publications, she is deeply committed to community-engaged scholarship, ensuring her research has meaningful impact beyond academia.

She is also an active collaborator in the New Information Technology Lab, where she contributes to innovative, interdisciplinary initiatives and actively pursues external funding. Her efforts have been recognized through the receipt of a Provost’s funding award. In addition, she is a dedicated mentor, supporting students at all levels—from high school to undergraduate and graduate—helping them achieve their goals and realize their aspirations. Together, these accomplishments reflect her excellence, leadership, and commitment, making her a deserving recipient of this award.

Nicole A. Cooke, Ph.D.

This award recognizes a faculty member who excels in research and scholarship and utilizes a synergistic approach to promote and inspire excellence in research or creative scholarship and perform these activities beyond the scope of their expected duties. 

Nicole Cooke received the award for her far-reaching and sustained impact on both families and students, demonstrated through her leadership, scholarship, and service. Her work spans local, national, and international contexts, reflecting both depth and breadth in her contributions. As principal investigator on multiple federally funded grants, she has advanced important research agendas, particularly in critical pedagogy, diversity within the profession, and misinformation — areas she has meaningfully developed over more than 14 years. In addition to her scholarly achievements, she has shown a strong commitment to program sustainability, successfully raising over $14,000 to support the Augusta Baker Chair program. Together, these accomplishments highlight her lasting influence and dedication, making her a deserving recipient of this award.

Ellyn Domanico

This award recognizes a staff member who demonstrates excellence in innovation that has had a meaningful and significant impact on a process, program, or initiative within the college and/or schools. 

Ellyn Domanico received the CIC Innovation Excellence Award specifically for her work in creating an online orientation for CIC graduate students that supports four master’s programs and graduate certificates. This past year, she voluntarily participated in the USC organizational change leadership program designed to build capacity in change management. Through the program Ellyn conceptualized and designed a comprehensive online orientation experience for graduate students - a resource that had not previously existed. What makes this contribution particularly notable is that she engaged the entire college graduate advising staff in the development and rollout process, rather than just focusing on the iSchool. Her decision ensures that orientation reflects diverse advising perspectives and meets the real needs of incoming students for all CIC graduate programs. 

This initiative demonstrates several dimensions of excellence. It reflects a genuine commitment to learning and applying new methods. It produced a tangible, lasting program where none existed before. And it meaningfully removed barriers for graduate students navigating a complex onboarding process, improving the experience of a population that benefits enormously from early, clear guidance. Ellyn’s work resulted in a program that will serve CIC students and staff for years to come. This is precisely the kind of initiative-driven, student-centered innovation this award was created to recognize.

Matilda Ferguson

This award recognizes a staff member whose innovative spirit and commitment to service has enhanced the CIC's impact. 

Nina Brook
Margaret Cook Jackson, MFA

Sabrina McClure
Matilda Ferguson
Margaret Vess