De Anza College’s speech department received national recognition as the best program in the Western United States.

Donna Stasio, chair of the speech communication department, was presented with the Model Teaching Program Award on Feb. 22 at the annual Western States Communication Association convention in San Francisco. The award, which will be displayed at the language arts division office, is one of the most prestigious from WSCA.

"The association is 76 years old — I do not know exactly when the award was established, but departments have been receiving it since I joined the association over 30 years ago," said speech instructor Edwina Stoll.

Stoll and Stasio were among those those that presented the program on the luncheon at the convention.

The award is given to honor a program that shows depth in oral communication and a faculty specifically trained in the field.

Other criteria include whether the department is supported by the administration, if it offers extracurricular activities and opportunities and if it is aligned with the mission of the school.

According to John Swensson, dean of Language Arts, the speech department has increased their courses and offerings by over 34 percent in the last three years.

Some of the additions are the Listening and Speech labs and an award winning Forensics Team.

Course offerings include public speaking and business and professional presentations.

The speech department was nominated by Judy Miner, Vice President of Instruction at De Anza and Sally Murphy, Chair of the General Education Program and professor of Communication Studies at California State East Bay, formerly CSU Hayward.