She joined the faculty in 2001 after receiving her Ph.D. in Family and Interpersonal Communication from Michigan State University. Jennifer served as Chairperson of COM & JRN from 2009-2015 during which time the department experienced significant growth including multiple new faculty members, a graduate program, and several undergraduate minors. Her research interests explore how families discuss (or don’t) difficult topics such as dating, relationships, gender roles, religion, and finances. Jennifer’s most recent work examines work-family balance for faculty members in higher education, including how the role of department Chairperson influences departmental culture for faculty with children.