Faculty

Our faculty seek to make a difference professionally, academically, and spiritually in the lives of our students. With their broad range of experience and backgrounds, our professors’ primary motivation is to be in the classroom with their students or in a lab working on real-world projects.



Nancy Semotiuk

Chair, Strategic Communication
(509) 527-2060 | nancy.semotiuk@okjiaju.net 
Canaday Technology Center 116 


Education: Ph.D., Union Institute and University, 2019; Certificate in Creative Writing, Union Institute and University, 2019; M.A., Journalism Norwich University, 1992; B.A., Walla Walla College, 1979. Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis; M.A., Washington University in St. Louis 

Research Interests: Creativity; the social and cultural factors that influence women writers; the science of self-care.


Linda Potter Crumley

Professor of Communication 
(509) 527-2520 |  linda.crumley@okjiaju.net 


Education: Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, 2002; M.A., University of California, Davis, 1991; B.A., Pacific Union College, 1988.

Research Interests: The experience of Adventist pastors, ex-pastors, rural pastors, and women pastors


Lynelle Ellis

Associate Professor of Communication 
(509) 527-2843 | lynelle.ellis@okjiaju.net 


Education: Ph.D., Regent University, 2019; M.A., Spring Arbor University, 2009; B.A., Walla Walla University, 1990. 

Research Interests: Seventh-day Adventists and the Movies,
Media Effects, Media Literacy, and Redemptive Cinema