Associate Professor of Communication Arts

Dr. Pier holds a B.A. degree in communication from Minnesota State University at Moorhead, an M.A. degree in communication from Missouri State University at Springfield, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

She teaches a variety of communication courses and coordinates the Oral Communication Across the Curriculum component of the Essential Education Plan. Pier is on the Mid American Forensics League Executive Board and is past president of the Iowa Intercollegiate Forensics Association. She currently serves on the Publications Board for the American Forensics Association.

Pier is a member of the National Communication Association and International Communication Association. She is the co-author of three books, Campaign ’96, published in 1999, The Primary Decision: A Functional Analysis of Debates in Presidential Primaries, published in 2002, and Campaign 2000, published in 2003.