SALISBURY, N.C. — Cathy Cook, a communications instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, received a prestigious award at the recent annual convention of the Carolinas Communication Association.

            Cook received the Mary E. Jarrard Award for a graduate research paper she presented at the convention. The Jarrard Award recognizes the top graduate student and undergraduate student papers presented during the convention. Cook’s paper explained her use of content analysis to study gendered language in song lyrics and litanies of speech communities during worship.

            The award is named for Mary Jarrard, a longtime member of the association who was devoted to working with students.

            The Carolinas Communication Association exists to promote communication studies in the Carolinas. Its members are primarily instructors and scholars of communication studies at colleges and universities throughout North and South Carolina. The theme of this year’s convention held in Boone, N.C., was “Local and Global Issues in Communication: New Possibilities for Connections and Communities.”

            Cook joined the RCCC faculty in 2005. She holds a bachelor’s degree from  Pfeiffer University, a master’s degree from Duke University, and a doctor of ministry degree from Drew University. She is completing work on a master’s degree in communication studies at UNC Charlotte.

           Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is a comprehensive, community-based institution of higher learning, serving the citizens of Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. RCCC offers approximately 40 programs of study in business, health and human services and engineering technologies at multiple campus locations. RCCC annually provides more than 2,000 course offerings, serving an enrollment of approximately 20,000 adult students. RCCC programs include an associate degree in arts and sciences, an associate degree in applied science, and diploma and certificate programs focusing on workforce training, continuing education and basic skills education.

           In addition, RCCC provides the education and job-training programs needed to meet many of the workforce demands of the North Carolina Research Campus, under construction in Kannapolis, N.C.

           For complete details, see the RCCC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu.