Marines


Leadership Communications Skills Center
Marine Corps University Logo
Marine Corps University
Quantico, Virginia
ABOUT US

The Leadership Communication Skills Center is an instructional support resource for the MCU community—students, faculty, and staff. LCSC faculty members provide workshops, courses, and individual consulting about writing, speaking, and research. Visit our LCSC classroom and writing center on the second deck in the Gray Research Center, Room 230.  

 

MISSION

The mission of the LCSC is to support the Marine Corps University community in its efforts to prepare and develop effective leaders who are strong thinkers, writers, and speakers. We fulfill this mission by teaching courses, running workshops, and offering individual support—face to face or via email. 

 

PHILOSOPHY 

Effective leaders are effective communicators who are able to design messages in different media for particular audiences to achieve specific goals. Communication is learned best through preparation, practice, and experience. In our classes and in our feedback on communication tasks, we give advisees the tools to understand their own strengths and to address their particular challenges. 

Contact Us

Director
Dr. Brandy Lyn G. Brown, Ph.D. (GRC 229)
brandylyn.brown@usmcu.edu
703.784.4401 (No voicemail)

Communications Assistant Professor
Ms. Andrea Hamlen-Ridgely (GRC 236) 
andrea.hamlen@usmcu.edu
703.784.4403 (No voicemail)

Communications Assistant Professor
Mrs. Stase Wells (GRC 231) 
stase.wells@usmcu.edu
703.784.0191 (No voicemail)

Communications Instructor
Ms. Katie Zimmerle (GRC 231)
katie.zimmerle.ctr@usmcu.edu
703.432.5524 (No voicemail)

NOTE: LCSC phones do not have voicemail; email is the fastest way to reach the LCSC Faculty.

Faculty

Brandy Lyn G. Brown, PhD, Director: Dr. Brandy Lyn Brown is the Director of the Leadership Communication Skills Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition. She has been teaching writing since 2005 and directing writing centers since 2010. Her research interests include feminist theory and pedagogy, hospitality, leadership, and gender studies.  

Andrea Hamlen-Ridgely, MEd, Communications Assistant Professor: Ms. Hamlen-Ridgely joined the LCSC in 2007 as one of its founding faculty members. An experienced editor, writing consultant, and teacher, she helped shape the vision, mission, and processes of the center. Ms. Hamlen-Ridgely holds an MEd in Adult Education from the Pennsylvania State University and a BA in English from the University of Mary Washington. 

Stase Wells, M.S., Communications Assistant Professor: Since 2010, Professor Wells has contributed to the LCSC’s evolution through her experience as a consultant in both civilian and professional military education writing centers, editorial expertise, and instructional experience—particularly in support of international military officers.  Professor Wells holds a Master of Science in Global and International Education from Drexel University and a Bachelor of Science in English from Central Michigan University.  Her current research explores emotional intelligence, resilient functioning, conflict communication, dialogic feedback, supportive learning environments, and neuroscience-informed best practices for teaching and learning in joint professional military education.  Professor Wells is the author of “Building Trust and Success through Dialogic Feedback in Joint Professional Military Education,” a chapter in the 2022 edited volume titled Developing Military Learners’ Communication Skills Using the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Katie Zimmerle, M.A., Communications Instructor: Ms. Zimmerle joined the LCSC in the summer of 2022. An experienced and published writer, Ms. Zimmerle has taught English at the secondary level both overseas and within the United States. Ms. Zimmerle's professional interests are in writing instruction, adult learning, and literary studies. Ms. Zimmerle holds an MA in Education from Arizona State University; a doctoral-level certificate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University; and a BA in Social Science and English from Ashford University. 

Procedures

The LCSC will be available in person for students, faculty, and staff during AY25. Our scheduling system, WCONLINE, allows students to book their own appointments and makes the LCSC schedule more transparent to students. 

Students can use WCONLINE to make an appointment for: 

·       Submitting papers for review

·       Meeting with an instructor for a video conference

·       Scheduling an in-person appointment

Students can register for an account using their MCU email account and access LCSC appointment schedules at usmcu.mywconline.com. A slide deck with detailed instructions for account and appointment creation can be found on the LCSC Moodle site.

Students are also welcome to drop in and visit LCSC faculty if they have questions that do not require a full appointment slot (less than fifteen minutes). 

Policies

Students will use WCONLINE to schedule the following LCSC services: paper review appointments, in-person face-to-face appointments, and in-person video conference appointments. 

Papers submitted for review will be returned within two business days of the student's scheduled appointment time (i.e., a paper review appointment booked on Monday will be returned no later than Wednesday; paper review appointments booked on Friday will be returned no later than Tuesday of the following week).

Students can schedule paper review appointments in any paper review slot during their preferred day regardless of their class schedule, as these appointments are not synchronous and do not include an in-person meeting or a video chat. Instead, students will be emailed LCSC faculty feedback on their papers within two business days when they make this type of appointment. 

Students scheduling in-person appointments must be available to meet at the GRC or online during their appointment time. 

Students can book appointments up to two weeks in advance.

Students can book up to 120 minutes of appointments per week of paper review or video conferencing. 

Students are only allowed two paper reviews per assignment. Assignments requesting a third paper review (even with a different faculty member) will be cancelled, and students will be notified via email. Students are welcome to make an in-person appointment or video conference appointment to address questions about the same assignment/written product--this does not count as a paper review. 

Students should cancel appointments at least 12 hours prior to the scheduled time.

The LCSC does not provide paper review appointments requested on the same day an assignment is due. 

The LCSC will provide one full paper review per MMS deliverable (i.e., first draft, reader draft, and defense draft). Students may follow up a paper review with a face-to-face or video chat appointment to discuss the recommended changes, or they may submit small sections of no more than five (5) pages for a paper review; these appointments do not count against the "one draft per deliverable" review policy. The LCSC does not provide feedback on signed MMS drafts, so all reviews must be conducted prior to the signing of the student's completed MMS.  

Students can access the LCSC instructional calendar to find available LCSC courses, workshops, and in-person office hours. (To receive access to this calendar, email LCSC_Resources@usmcu.edu.)

Style Guide

Download the Guide

 
Working with the LCSC

Watch Video Here

 

 

 

 

 
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