By Julianne Fullerton | Reporter
Dr. Ashley Barrett, associate professor in communication, recently received a National Science Foundation grant she described as “the pinnacle of her career.”
The National Science Foundation funds research and education in many fields across the science and engineering disciplines.
Barrett said her grant focuses on the complexity of implementing change in health care organizations, especially in relation to incorporating technology while still making the patient feel seen and heard. She said her grant also focuses on marginalized populations and how providers might be able to serve them more effectively.
“This whole area of change in health care organizations, it’s something I’m really fascinated in, because simultaneously they’re resistant to change, but also they are completely dependent upon change because they’re reliant upon science and innovation,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she’s passionate about understanding people’s experiences in the workplace because she enjoys seeing how communication impacts behaviors from different perspectives.
“I think what’s great about communication is what we’re constantly doing is putting ourselves in other people’s shoes,” Barrett said. “We’re taking that cognitive turn, trying to step into other people’s perspectives. I’m really passionate about that. I think it makes the world a better place.”
When she’s not working on her grant, Barrett said she enjoys celebrating the successes of her students as a professor and being there for them in the midst of any obstacles that come their way.
“Anytime I’ve worked with a student who has endured some type of hardship — to see them succeed at the end of the semester together, that’s always a wonderful, wonderful feeling,” Barrett said. “I feel like it makes me resilient in what I do because there are hard things in what I do as well, but I really focus on those success stories.”
Born and bred in Waco, Barrett came to Baylor like many others in her family had done before. Having been both a student and a faculty member, she said she has a genuine love for the relationships Baylor has allowed her to build.
“It’s been really amazing to be on the other side of the classroom and to play the teaching and mentor role,” Barrett said. “It’s kind of a transformative relationship instead of a transactional one that I have with students.”
Cypress senior Quintin Dooly is a current student of Barrett’s and said she was one of the first professors he truly connected with in college.
“She seems to genuinely care about her work and what she brings to the table for students and for those involved in her class,” Dooly said. “She’s just willing to be there, talk, and she just cares. And when she’s teaching, you can see it. She’s passionate.”
Bullard graduate student Katy Dulany is also a current student of Barrett’s and said she is a well-rounded person and professor.
“I think what makes her so wonderful is that she is so rigorous and has very high standards of herself and of her students,” Dulany said. “But she also is incredibly kind and gracious and down-to-earth — and able to be both of those things and call students to also be both of those things.”
While studying abroad with Baylor in London last summer, Dulany said she was able to develop a relationship with Barrett. Now, she works as Barrett’s research assistant for her grant work.
“I feel like she’s taught me a lot about how to hold myself to high standards in terms of my writing and my scholarship, but also how to still be kind and intentional and build relationships with people,” Dulany said. “I think whatever I do, those skills will be really beneficial.”
Barrett said she enjoys seeing her students thrive and get the jobs they’ve always dreamed of. She said these moments feel like a reward.
One of her former students, Clay Wells, now works as an associate director for CBS News in New York as he pursues his master’s at Columbia University. Wells said Barrett brought practicality and real-world applications into her teaching.
“Communication classes can be very theory-based, and I remember having a lot of discussions in her class about trying to bring it more into practicality or practical use,” Wells said. “She did a good job of facilitating those conversations, which I found helpful to think about and then carry on.”
Dulany said Barrett is not only a professor she admires in the classroom but also someone she aspires to emulate in life.
“She’s so intentional, and again, very encouraging and supportive, but also challenges me,” Dulany said. “And truthfully, I would just love to grow up and be like her.”
