Riforgiate, Sarah

Director, Associate Professor in Communication
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Sarah E. Riforgiate (B.A., University of Illinois, M.A. and Ph.D., Arizona State University) strives to create learning experiences that persist well beyond the classroom by developing tight learning communities and leveraging experiential-based opportunities. She teaches numerous undergraduate and graduate courses including Leadership Communication, Communication and Conflict, Communication Internship, Organizational Communication, Work-Life Communication Intersections, Communication of Emotions in Organizations, and Qualitative Research Methods among others. Her passion for developing innovative educational practices goes beyond the classroom and is evident in her pedagogy-based research and publications appearing in Communication Education, Communication Teacher, The Journal of Communication Speech & Theatre Association of North Dakota, and numerous book chapters. As a lifelong learner, she regularly participates in educational training, earning year-long certifications including the Certificate in Effective College Instruction through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) and the Certified Canvas Educator designation through Instructure. Additionally, she was selected and participated as a scholar in the 2020-2022 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholar Program. Sarah consistently leads pedagogical workshops including facilitating a week-long workshop for the National Communication Association (NCA) Faculty Development Institute in 2021 and directing the Peer Review of Teaching year-long program at Kansas State University in 2017-2018. Sarah’s teaching excellence has been recognized with six different awards including the 2022 Joanne Lazirko Teaching Award (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), the 2018 Global Campus Excellence in Online Teaching Award (Kansas-State University), and the 2015 Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (Kansas State University).