Dr. Nick Tatum
Kevin Stoker
So Nick, we were going back and forth on the name for this podcast. And you offered a really good idea at least, you didn't think it was a good idea when you offered it.
Nick Tatum
In my defense, compared to the normal human being, I think my tolerance for cheesiness is a little lower. I forwarded the idea that we could call it COMversations And just saying that makes me a little nauseous. But I do think it is an appropriate title for the podcast. So that's why I brought it forward.
Kevin Stoker
And so we'd like to welcome you to COMversations with faculty from the Department of Communication Studies at UNLV. We're grateful to have you here and we're grateful to have our first person to talk to our first interviewee is Nick Tatum. Nick, thanks for joining us.
Nick Tatum
Honored to be number one, I feel bad for everyone else who has to follow up this incredible conversation we're about to have.
Kevin Stoker
Dr. Nick Tatum is the basic course director and undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Communication Studies. He joined us about a year ago. And, Nick, tell us a little bit about yourself, where are you? Where are you from originally? And tell us whether you you know, when did you ever get get this passion for communication.
Nick Tatum
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, technically, Plano, Texas. But you know, that's such a huge area of the state, you just say Dallas, I went to Abilene Christian University, and right in the middle of Texas for my undergrad and Master's. I never took a single comm class in my undergrad. And I looked to get my master's and looked down the list and saw calm and thought that would be easy. So started loved every second of it quickly knew I wanted to keep going on, pursued my PhD at the University of Kentucky and finished in 2019. And my area of research is instructional communication. So I focus on teaching learning in the college classroom. And that has led me to have jobs all over the country. So I got a job back at Abilene Christian, as their basic course director. Then I took a job at George Mason University outside of DC where I was their comm lab director. And then UNLV begged me to come and join the team here, right after the pandemic, and been talking to UNLV for a long time and glad that I finally ended up in the desert. So I have been a little bit of everywhere. But all that has led me to joining the faculty here in the comp department.
Kevin Stoker
Well, what was interesting about this, our recruiting process for you is that we recruited Nick for a position, and he had already accepted the position with us. And then the pandemic hit. And all bets were off. Essentially, we had we had to cancel every search and everything. And so then we came back a year later to try to persuade Nick to join us and he was a little reluctant. So I gave him a phone call and said, Nick, we really need you and you really want this job.
Nick Tatum
And I think what I said was I just moved my cat and a car across the country seven months ago. And I don't know if she will tolerate that again. But then I drove across the country in a moving truck for four days to move to Las Vegas. So I really you were convincing is your is your cat. Okay? She doesn't love the hot weather. This is a big change from DC. But I think she's adjusted now.
Kevin Stoker
That's good to know.
Dave Nourse
So So can I ask, we've got Nick Tatum here. And while we're on a podcast, we can't appreciate that. But the shirt I think says something about your personality. Nick, maybe you could describe the shirt for a minute. What are you wearing tonight, which kind of sounds weird on the podcast, but maybe incorporate that into who is Nick Tatum.
Nick Tatum
I'll give you a vivid description as vivid as I can imagine that a 40 year old dad is attending a soccer game with a cooler full of Capri Suns wearing a red Hawaiian buttoned down. Now mix that with a overpriced UNLV polo from the bookstore. But wrapped that in a $30 target Polo. That's what I'm wearing. So I try to be professional, fun and get by with as casual clothing as I can and if there's a UNLV on it, who can complain?
Dave Nourse
So tell me how that leads into who is Nick Tatum. How does this shirt embody kind of who you are my friend?
Nick Tatum
It's a good question. I like how things look. I like aesthetic. My office. I like to think it looks like it's from a magazine care about my house but I'm very organized, very strategic and analytical when it comes to How things are organized and visualized. So, I would say that if you looked at any of the courses I teach, or any of the things I do, you know, my life is run by spreadsheets and tables, and they're all color coded. And I think that's in every area of my life, my personal life, work life, things like that. And I think that helps me in all my areas of UNLV. You know, Kevin mentioned that I'm the undergrad coordinator, and the basic course director. I'm also the director of the Khan lab. So I think that being organized and on top of things, helps me balance all those different responsibilities, while making it a little fun to
Kevin Stoker
and you do a great job of it, I'll tell you I am I marveled at how well you use Excel, and your spreadsheets and everything else, and how many stats you've come up with. Fe always been this way, Nick, what when would when did you very first start organizing things this way and creating an you know, basically, data visualization.
Nick Tatum
I distinctly remember getting a trampoline, when I was eight years old, and telling my parents, if you don't mind, before anyone gets on, I'd like to draft a list of rules for everyone to follow. And ask my mom to take it up to school, she was a third grade teacher and laminate them in case it rains outside. So the rules could be easily accessible. So I think this has been something that's been with me for a long time. I was really involved in undergrad and my master's. And I think that just kind of forced me to further develop those skills to be efficient. I also worked a lot with summer camps, when I was in college and was the director of several. And so many crazy kids just continued, continued to force me to keep things organized. So I think it was both birth and necessity that I have turned into this XML monster.
Dave Nourse
So what is the basic course director? What do you do at UNLV? And I think, more importantly, how did Kevin beg you to drive across the country with your cat in a truck for many days, in order to take the job of said course director.
Nick Tatum
So the thing about being a basic course director in communication is that at every institution that looks a little different. So we would describe the basic course, as any course that's offered to students at large at the university. That's typically a lower level course, that teaches students some fundamental components of communication. So many times, that's a public speaking course, which is one of our basic courses at UNLV. Other times, it might be more of a survey course, where you learn about all different types of communication, or an interpersonal course, where you're learning about relationships. So a basic course itself is just any kind of general education course, that's a communication level. Here at UNLV, we would consider three courses, our basic courses, which is common one, oral communication, which is public speaking, common oh four, which is based off public arguments, and reasoning, kimono to see my strategic self as mad that I went out of order. Now, I skipped some 102102 is interpersonal communication, which is about building relationships. So basically, what that means is, I'm the one who is planning the curriculum for those courses, making sure they're consistent, and also making sure they're fun, right? We would love for students to enjoy our courses and consider being a Comm major after taking one of
Dave Nourse
the basic courses. So how did he get you to come here? And take this job knowing what it would look like?
Nick Tatum
It's a great question. So there's not a lot of PhDs in the United States that offer degrees in instructional communication. In fact, there's only two right now, where I went to University of Kentucky, and then West Virginia University. So we're a pretty small community. And I am very involved in research when it comes to the basic course and instructional comment large so I knew about UNLV for a long time, because you know, V's for a long time had a very successful basic course program. That's my academic answer. The second answer is Las Vegas seemed like a lot of fun. And when I saw a job opening, I'm someone who loves entertainment, my background in music and production, and to get to be able to do the basic course. And go see shows every weekend seemed like a great fit.
Kevin Stoker
And I know you are a music major, tell me about your background in music.
Nick Tatum
So I started college as a music major, and quickly got bored because there's something about doing music for fun, and then also doing music for your job. But I stayed very involved. I was in choir and musicals growing up and, you know, continue to do that in college. So much so that I'm halfway through my PhD, which again was at Kentucky, my alma mater, Abilene Christian called and said, hey, the director of our productions is leaving, would you come take over? And I said, I am getting a PhD. And I don't know if you've know what that's like, but I don't sleep now. I'll come if you make me a great offer, and they did. So, halfway through my PhD, I continued online. I was just writing my dissertation, which you could really write from anywhere, right? The beach, the mountains. Or if you're a poor grad student, your 400 square foot apartment, and I moved to Abilene, where I was teaching full time in the comm department, finishing my PhD and I also was the director of all of our productions while I was there, for the four years. That involved acapella groups. I write and arrange acapella music still, to this day. Everyone needs a good side hustle. I do a lot of consulting for music groups. Things like that. So it's a hobby that now pays. And it's fun to continue to get to do things like that, while I'm getting to fulfill my dream of being a basic course director,
Dave Nourse
do you have perfect pitch?
Nick Tatum
I wish no, honestly, perfect pitch, not very common. I have relative pitch, which relative pitches, I can get kind of close, and I can make an educated guess. But I'm not someone who you could say, send me this exact note. And I'd be able to or hear it and tell you what it was.
Kevin Stoker
I'm jealous. But you play piano as well.
Nick Tatum
I play piano, I used to accompany people, I've taught voice lessons. So I mean, don't ask me to play now, it'd be pretty crusty at this point. But in my heyday, I was pretty good.
Kevin Stoker
What is it that you love about teaching, you know, in you didn't, you could teach advanced classes, you could teach a lot of different things. But you actually choose to teach the class that really is very inclusive, all students can take it. And actually, I know that this the, as you've redeveloped the course you've, you've made it even more inclusive, more of an emphasis on making sure everybody can succeed in this class. What is it that inspires you, and causes you to have a passion to do this?
Nick Tatum
You know, I have always been a good student. But it's not because I loved to learn, it's because I didn't want to lose. And I think because of that I really understand and see where most students are coming from. In a way, I feel like I'm an anti PhD in the sense that I didn't want to get a PhD. It just kind of happened by accident. It wasn't because I was the one who studied the hardest, or the one who always knew they wanted to write a book someday. Not that I've done that. But I think that gives me a different perspective, right? I see the classroom like I saw the classroom as a student, what's the easiest thing I can do? What's the way I can get around this? Why should I come to class? Right? I'm looking at it from a glass half full. But I think that helps me design courses for the student that I was and then all my friends were. And I think that makes me want to really focus on how can I make students want to engage in this? How can I create something that students see value in so even if they don't love school, that they still want to contribute and participate, because they see that this is going to benefit them in some way. So I think, you know, I can think of a time I studied during my undergrad degree. And so I want to force students to want to study, to want to participate in activities to do good work. And I think that takes a different approach than, you know, a lot of professors who come into the classroom and say that you should want to be in my class and do my work. I try to make it more of a persuasive strategy. I want to try to convince students that this is important for them.
Dave Nourse
But gets you most excited about communications in the field. Like, if you could teach any class about any, any particular subject within the discipline. What are you most jazzed about?
Nick Tatum
One thing that I hate and love about communication is that it really doesn't mean anything and means everything at the same time. Now that I'm you know, have two degrees in calm. I always say, if I had known this is what we did as an undergrad, this is what I would have done. So one of the classes I love to teach is like a survey course, where you're you're giving students a list of options, right? It's like the shark who to reach array of communication. Give them a taste of all the really cool stuff that we study that they may have not have ever considered, and really jazz their interests and get them focused on areas that they are interested in. I think that's one of the courses I love to teach because it builds excitement and interest.
Dave Nourse
And we're just gonna say for the record that Nick did knock over water bottle, and it spilled on me. But he is such a pro, that he did not pause the calm versation podcast,
Nick Tatum
but for the record, I don't see that much water on your shorts. So I think it was a success. For the
Dave Nourse
wind, Nick.
Kevin Stoker
You know, Nick, one of the things I was interested in hearing about too was, you know, outside the classroom and everything else and outside of, you know, academia. What are your passions? What what is it that you kind of hobbies, and what's what interests you.
Nick Tatum
So we've talked about one, love music, acapella music in particular, like I said, I still, to this day, arrange acapella music for groups across the country. It's a way to use a talent, a gift that I have, but not make it a burden. But with music, I love to go to shows in Vegas, it feels like I'm going to a show once a week. Now, I've only been here for a year. So in a couple years, maybe you'll ask me and I won't be on the strip that often. But right now, it's super fun and exciting. I love to cook. I unfortunately, or fortunately have lots of food allergies. So it forces me to be creative with what I eat. And I did a lot of exploring during the pandemic. And that's just kept over cooking lots of weird things that you might not order on a menu. And then I like to come home and sit on the couch and watch garbage television. Because I find that it's one of the best ways to rewind, my stress. And also to look at communication in action that's probably not going well. So love the TV show survivor, big survivor fan. I love the TV show drag race. It's kind of a mix of music and competition reality shows. So I'd say if you call me at any point in the day, chances are I'll be doing something with calm, doing something with music, or sitting on my couch drinking wine and watching survivor, which is still on by the way. It's been a long time we're on season 40 something Yeah.
Kevin Stoker
What? You know, Nick, the other aspect that impresses me about you is how much research you do, even though you're in a professor in residence position. You still produce an extensive amount of research, travel to conferences, present a lot of papers, I can see you later writing a book on teaching and learning. I mean, that's really your focus is not isn't that right. Yeah, absolutely
Nick Tatum
a goldmine. I love research. You know, initially, when I got my PhD, I always imagined that I would be doing research full time. But I feel like I've kind of cheated the system and my current job, I'm getting to do things. I also love being an administrator, organizing, creating curriculum development. And I've still found time to try to publish several articles this semester. I just got a really exciting article that I think is descriptive of a lot of my teaching philosophy about instructor strictness. Basically, I asked myself the question, if I'm inflexible and strict with students, what impact does that have? So I think an instructional calm, which again, is the field I study, we're in an interesting place in the sense that I'm doing what I study on an everyday basis. Most researchers, you know, if you're researching health, communication, maybe you're talking about vaccines. Maybe you've gotten a vaccine once or twice, but you're not getting vaccinated every day. I study teaching, and I teach every day. So it's, in many ways, killing two birds with one stone. I'm researching the thing I'm doing, which in turn, I think makes me a better educator. Now, I'm not saying I'm strict, but maybe I will be after I continue doing research on strictness.
Dave Nourse
Nick, where do you see yourself moving forward with your research agenda with the basic coursework that you're doing with kind of some of the opportunities at UNLV? What would you like to do? And I do understand the boss is here. But
Nick Tatum
why do I want to be the boss one day? Obviously, that's the answer. No, that's a good question. No, I feel like I've been here for a year. And I feel like I have my feet solidly underneath me. And I'm just to a point where I can start looking at the horizon. Things I want to accomplish. I love developing curriculum, I would say that if I were to rank the things I enjoy about my job, developing new courses and creating assignments is something that gives me energy so I would love to continue to slowly redevelop and develop courses in the department and really continue to make our calm degree, both face to face and on Online, interesting, engaging, modern. So I see that in my future for the next handful of years.
Dave Nourse
So you've been here for a year, what's been your biggest win at UNLV? Over the course of that year? Professionally, generally,
Nick Tatum
I don't know this polo I'm wearing. When I tell you that I, that is a win, sir, it is, when I tell you that I was excited to get out of bed to wear this today. This is one of the highlights so far. I would say over the past year, the first big thing that I tackled was redeveloping our comm one on one course. It's a public speaking course. No one likes public speaking. I mean, no one. It's not necessarily everyone's fear, which I think is some people's fear. But that's not the number one thing people want to do. So I took a ton of time to just from the ground up, customize a textbook, redo the entire course. And we're officially launching it this fall. And you know, I've taught public speaking classes at four or five institutions. And this is the favorite one that I have seen. And I think students are really going to enjoy it. It's going to be a spoonful of sugar for the medicine of public speaking. So I'm looking forward to the way it's going to impact students. And hopefully they see the value in the course that I see in it too.
Kevin Stoker
Well, Nick, you know, as we wind this down, if there's, you know, something we should have asked you that if we could have really got some rich information, although I felt like we got a lot of rich information. What what would it be what, what is it that you'd want people to kind of know about you? That we kind of haven't addressed yet.
Nick Tatum
We really covered the main things survivor, my cat XL. I mean, if you were to ask my close family and friends who I was, that would be I would say the missing piece is something Kevin we talk about a lot that I might be the world's number one Diet Dr. Pepper kind of sewer. I can't start or continue my day without some aspartame and caffeine and that White can with the red writing. So if you ever see me on campus, and you want to make me happy or you need something from me, that's really the secret to persuading.
Kevin Stoker
Alright, I'm gonna run out and get a case right now. Thanks a lot for joining us, Nick. We sure appreciate you taking the time to do this
Nick Tatum
And sorry about the water
