Jeffery J. Ritchie
Chair and Associate Professor of Digital CommunicationsB.S. and B.A., Indiana University, 1989; M.A., University of South Carolina, 1993; M.Ed., Arizona State University, 1998; Ph.D., 2000.
Telephone: 717-867-6249, Address: Lynch 119-A Email: ritchie@lvc.edu
About
Dr. Jeff Ritchie is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Digital Communications department at Lebanon Valley College. He handles writing, communications, information architecture application, and pretty much all things usability within the major.He has been researching Choice Architecture for Mobile Storytelling—essentially, how to direct users to make the intended choices a designer wishes them to make. Ritchie is constantly researching new innovations in the industry and user-experience design as he is interested in how we use the space around us to achieve our goals.
Originally teaching solely literature and technical writing, Ritchie has become more interested in the application of writing and communication across different media.
He has two sons and when time allows, he enjoys camping and kayaking. Sometimes his trips are over 70 miles long.
Joel A. Kline
Associate Professor of Digital Communications, former Associate Professor of Business Administration.B.S., B.A., Lebanon Valley College, 1989; M.J., Temple University, 2002, Ph.D., Texas Tech University 2011
Telephone: 717-867-6108, Address: Lynch 119-B, Email: jkline@lvc.edu
About
Dr. Joel Kline is responsible for the business aspect of the Digital Communications major.Outside of the classroom he primarily deals with his consulting company at joelkline.com where he works with business-to-business application as well as mobile publishing. He has developed an iPad app for tradeshows, and worked with many clients over the years. Kline is interested in forms of collaboration between businesses and has a passion for innovation within the field. He is involved in the Society for Technical Communication, a professional association dedicated to the advancement of technical communication and preservation of its relevance across the world. He has been working on a project with this society called the Body of Knowledge. The project is an attempt to organize the knowledge of technical communication in a unified digital portal.
In the past, he ran a specialized communication agency with his wife and even held elected office at the county level.
Kline spends most of his free time with his three children and wife. He enjoys home remodeling and has even admitted to enjoying a game of Call of Duty every so often.
Mathew Samuel
Assistant Professor of Digital CommunicationsB.F.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, 1998; MA in Art Education, 1999; MA
in Digital Arts, 2000
Telephone: 717-867-6379, Address: Lynch 004, Email: samuel@lvc.edu
About
Professor Mat Samuel is the master of design and all things artistic within the digiCOM family. He has worked with clients using all sorts of media—animations, digital design, websites, and traditional art. A co-owner of a design studio in Florida, San 7 Studios, Samuel has had the opportunity to work for some big name clients like Heineken, AT&T, and even one of the "Real Housewives of Atlanta."Samuel creates traditional art pieces on a regular basis when he isn't teaching, and even has art shows multiple times a year. He also continues to do freelance work, and is very active with the Society of Design, an organization that is committed to the community and design education through multiple forms of art. Recently, he has created a mural in Lancaster with the society.
In his (little) spare time, Samuel enjoys being with his family and shooting some hoops. He has also admitted to have a hand for cooking. According to Dr. Ritchie, Samuel "cooks a mean barbequed pig."
He encourages his students to have passion in whatever they do.