Rate My Professor Shannon DeBord

Shannon DeBord is a Professor in Communication Studies at Austin Community College, contributing to the Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs faculty. She holds a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Houston-Victoria and a Doctor of Management in Community College Policy and Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. DeBord has over 20 years of teaching experience in communication across multiple institutions. At Austin Community College, she served as Associate Professor and Adjunct in Communication Studies and Student Development from May 2007 to August 2019 before being promoted to Professor in August 2019. Her courses include Business and Professional Communication, Public Speaking, Introduction to Speech Communication, and Interpersonal Communication. Previously, she was a Lecturer in Communication at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business from August 2018 to May 2019, Adjunct Instructor at Western New Mexico University from August 2012 to August 2020, Faculty Member at University of Phoenix from January 2008 to August 2017, Adjunct Instructor at the Art Institute of Austin from January 2010 to August 2018, and held various adjunct and instructor positions at University of Houston-Victoria, Central Texas College, Texas State University, Texas A&M University Mays MBA Program, and The Victoria College.

Her academic contributions include a 2021 dissertation titled "Exploration of Programs for People with Intellectual Disability in the Community College" from the University of Maryland Global Campus. DeBord authored an invited book chapter, "Count Us In: Growing up with Down Syndrome" (an attention shift analysis essay), in the 2008 Sage Publications textbook The Rhetoric of Social Intervention by Opt and Gring. She co-authored units on masspersonal and gender communication in the open educational resource Communicating to Connect produced by Austin Community College faculty and co-hosts the podcast Interculturaling. DeBord has presented extensively at professional conferences, including chairing a panel on "The Rollercoaster of Teaching Communication in the Community College" at the National Communication Association in 2023, mentoring sessions in 2022, and numerous presentations on online teaching, rhetoric of social intervention, and media topics from 2000 to 2023. She was honored with a 10-year service award at Austin Community College in 2017 and completed the ACC Faculty Talent Onboarding certificate in AY20.