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Pamela Gibbs Bourjaily

Frank Business Communication Center Affiliate and Associate Professor of Instruction

Introduction

Pamela Bourjaily is an Associate Professor of Instruction and former Director of the Frank Business Communication Center at the Tippie College of Business. As Frank Center director, she designed and oversaw the required core undergraduate course, BUS 3000: Business Communication and Protocol, as well as other undergraduate business communication electives and college business communication programming, including the Ph.D. Writing Program initiative. Prior to directing the Frank Center, Pam built and expanded the college’s Department of Accounting writing program, one of the first business departmental writing initiatives in the country. An early adopter of incorporating generative AI in business communication teaching, she encourages critical thinking approaches to collaborating with gen AI chatbots and is especially interested in helping students to more effectively use gen AI to meet their communication goals.

Current Positions

  • Frank Business Communication Center Affiliate, Dean's Office
  • Associate Professor of Instruction, Accounting

Education

  • MA in English, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • BA in English and Philosophy, University of Virginia

Research Interests

  • Feminist literary critical theory
  • 18th century literary and medical constructions of sensibility and the female body

Selected Awards & Honors

  • Freda Dixon Malone Scholar - University of Iowa, 1991
  • Finalist, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Competition in Women's Studies, 1991
  • Honor Award Scholar - University of Virginia, 1980
  • Echols Scholar - University of Virginia, 1976 - 1980
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2024
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2023
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2022
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2021
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2020
  • Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2019

Professional Memberships

  • Association for Business Communication, 2010
  • Phi Kappa Phi, 1983

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations

  • "AI x IA: Artificial Intelligence and Instructional Approaches Innovation Roundtable," Guest/Invited Speaker at University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, September 2024. (With Bell, T, Cosner, J., Nelson, E, & Van Auken, N.)
  • ""What's Happening Now in Incorporating Gen AI in the Classroom"," Panelist at Association for Business Communication, Fayetteville, Arkansas, September 2024.
  • "Student Perception of Gen AI Effectiveness in Drafting Business Communication Writing Assignments," Panelist at University of Iowa Institute for Teaching with Writing, Iowa City, Iowa, August 2024.
  • "How Your Business Communication Centers Can Speak to Gen Z," Panelist at Association for Business Communication, October 2023. (With Gerst, K., Miller, J. & Sheets, R.)
  • "Scaffold, Sounding Board, or Springboard? Examining ChatGPT's Role in our Classrooms," Accepted Speaker at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, October 2023. (With Sheets, R., Follmer, C., & Gerst, K.)
  • "Training Tutors to Work in Business Communication Centers," Panelist at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, October 2021.
  • "Innovating without overstuffing: Keeping up with trends in the business communication classroom," Accepted Speaker at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, October 2020.
  • "Center in a Crisis: Challenges Created by Covid-19," Panelist at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, October 2020.
  • "Not 'One and Done": Engaging in ongoing diversity discussion through semester blogging," Accepted Speaker at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan, October 2019.
  • "The Center as Coach," Panelist at Association for Business Communication Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan, October 2019.

Selected Grants & Contracts

  • Bourjaily, P. (Co-Director). Instructional Videos for Graduate Students on Communicating to Professional Audiences. Tippie College of Business. Funded. February 2020.
  • Bourjaily, P. (Co-Director). Storytelling with Data: Visual Communication in the Tippie Core Curriculum. Tippie College of Business. Funded. August 2019 - May 2020.
  • Bourjaily, P. (Director), Principal Investigator(s): Follmer, C. Standardizing Writing Instruction in ACCT 2200 Managerial Accounting. Tippie College of Business. Funded. August 2018 - May 2020.
  • Bourjaily, P. (Co-Director). Providing Frank Center Summer Tutoring Support. Tippie College of Business. Funded. June 2018.
  • Bourjaily, P. (Co-Principal), Principal Investigator(s): Sheets, R. TILE-training for Adjunct Lecturers to facilitate BUS 3000 Business Communication and Protocol course innovation. Tippie College of Business. Completed. June 2016 - December 2017.
  • Bourjaily, P. (Co-Principal), Principal Investigator(s): Keegan, T. Analytical Business Writing: Pedagogy and Practice. Tippie College of Business. Completed. May 2014 - August 2014.

Editorial & Review Activities

  • Referee/Reviewer, Business Communication and Character, 2024-25.
  • Referee/Reviewer, Managerial Communication, 2022-23.
  • Advisory/Consulting Editor, Mc Graw Hill Business Communication: Developing Leaders for a Networked World, June 2017 - July 2017.