Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University

Dean
Pamela Whitten

Contact

Room: 287 Communication Arts & Sciences Building
Phone: 517-355-3410
Fax:517-432-1244
Email: pwhitten@msu.edu   

Bio

Pamela Whitten, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University and a Professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies & Media.

In her faculty position, Whitten is responsible for conducting technology and health-related research, as well as teaching graduate and undergraduate courses.

Prior to becoming dean, she was associate dean of graduate studies and research in the college.

Whitten enjoys an international reputation as a leading researcher in the field of telemedicine.  Specifically, her research focuses on the use of technology in health care with a specific interest in telehealth and its impact on the delivery of health care services and education.

Prior research projects range from telepsychiatry to telehospice and telehome care for COPD and CHF patients. In addition to her work assessing outcomes and impacts of telemedicine, she also conducts research that examines innovative uses of mediated communication to reach underserved populations, such as the creation of health websites for low literate adults.

Whitten has enjoyed success in obtaining a wide array of research grants for her work in the field of health and technology through such funders as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Commerce, the US Department of Agriculture, Health Resources and Service Administration, Michigan Department of Community Health, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and the Kellogg Foundation,

Prior to joining the faculty of MSU in 1998, Whitten ran the telemedicine program for the state of Kansas through the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Whitten's academic achievements and awards include a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Kansas; an MA in communication from the University of Kentucky, and a BS in management from Tulane University. She graduated magna cum laude, Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Societies. In 2002, she was awarded with a prestigious Teacher-Scholar award from Michigan State University. The National Library of Medicine and American Medical Women’s Association awarded her in 2004 with the Local Legends in Medicine. She also received the Linkugel Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series Award from the University of Kansas in 2006 and the MSU Outreach Scholarship Award in 2008.   In 2007/2008, she was a fellow in the CIC-ALP Leadership Fellowship Program.

She is a past officer on the Board of Directors for the American Telemedicine Association, and is active in the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. In addition to authoring/editing three books, she has published more than 100 publications that have appeared in numerous journals and books, including the British Medical Journal, the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, Journal of Telemedicine and eHealth, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Science Communication, Health Communication, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, Disease Management and Health Outcomes, Journal for Technology in Human Services, International Journal for Technology Assessment in Healthcare, Communications of the ACM, and the Journal of School Health.

Research Interests

Health communication, technology and health

Credentials

B.S. Management,
Tulane University
M.S. Communication,
University of Kentucky
Ph.D. Communication,
University of Kansas
Steinfield, C., Whitten, P. (2003). Community Level Socioeconomic Impats of Electronic Commerce. In C. Steinfield (Ed.), New Directions in Research on E-Commerce, pg. 293-307.
Whitten, P. (2003). Reaching Out with Technology to Provide Healthcare. Paper presented at the National Communication Association 2003 Convention in Miami Beach, FL, November.
Whitten, P. (2003). Telehospice in Michigan. Paper presented at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice 2003 Annual Conference in Orlando, FL, October.
Whitten, P. (2003). Analysis of Consumer Acceptance Across Three Michigan Telehome Health Projects. Paper presented at the American Telemedicine Association Fall Forum: Remote Telemonitoring & Home Telehealth, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, September.
Whitten, P. (2003). Telemedicine, Online Education and e-Government: Linking Barriers and Proposed Policy Initiatives. Panel presented at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference in Washington, DC, September.
Whitten, P., & Kuwahara, E. (2003). Telemedicine from the Payer Perspective: Considerations for Reimbursement Decisions. Disease Management & Health Outcomes 11 (5) 291-298.
Whitten, P., Adams I. (2003). Success and failure: a case study of two rural telemedicine Projects. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 9 (3) 125-129
Whitten, P., Adams, I., & Davis, S. (2003). A Success Model: Marquette General Health Systems. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health 9 (1) 41-48.
Whitten, P., Doolittle, G., Mackert, M., & Rush, T. (2003). Telehospice: End-of-life care over the lines. Nursing Management 34 (11) 36-39.
Whitten, P., Rowe-Adjibogoun, J. (2003). Researching communication technology intervention projects: The challenge of achieving utilization levels sufficient for evaluation. Journal for Technology in Human Services 22 (3).
Whitten, P. (2002). Telehealth: Using Telecommunication Technologies to Enhance Delivery of Health Care for Women. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association?s Women?s Health Conference, Washington, D.C., February.
Whitten, P.S., Hellmich, S.A., Cook, D., Collins, B., Sypher, H. & Kreps, G.L. (2001). Telemedicine: An Interactive Dialogue on Revolutionary Changes in Health Care. Panel at the National Communication Association, Atlanta, GA, November.
Whitten, P. (2001) An Overview of Telehospice Research. Paper presented at the National Hospice Work Group, San Diego, CA.
Whitten, P. & Hellmich, S.A. (2001). An Empirical Analysis of eHealth Firms. Paper presented at the American Telemedicine Association, Ft Lauderdale, FL, June.
Whitten, P. (2001). Telemedicine: Using Telecommunication Technologies to Reach Older Adults. Paper presented at Setting Priorities for Retirement Years (SPRY), Washington, February.
Whitten, P., & Hellmich S.A. (2000). Telehospice:A bi-state project to improve end-of-life care. Paper presented at Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Los Angeles, CA, November.