Evangel University Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Cameron Pace

Dr. Cameron Pace has been working in media for more than 30 years and has taught almost every electronic media course that Evangel has offered at some point in his 20-year career as an Evangel professor. He serves as the faculty advisor for ECTV and EU FILMS, and is the faculty supervisor of the TV studio. Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dr. Pace attended Evangel from 1978 to 1982. He received both his master’s degree and doctorate from Regent University.

Dr. Pace and his wife, Jill, have two teenage daughters. In addition to watching his daughters play sports, he enjoys playing church volleyball, home video and photography, watching movies (of course!), and reading about history. The family attends James River Assembly of God in Ozark, Missouri.

What are your best memories as a student at Evangel?

They mostly revolved around working at the campus radio station and having friends come over to listen to my show. I also have many fond memories of being a part of Evangel drama productions.

What have been some of the highlights of your career outside of Evangel?

Before coming to Evangel to teach, I worked in radio, video production and teaching at the high school level. I produced and directed plays for school and church. I also had my own video business shooting weddings and special events.

In the years since you were a student, media technology has changed exponentially. Has Evangel kept up with the changes?

Communication is such an exciting field. It changes constantly, which means you never stop learning about it. Evangel has done a great job keeping up. For example, we were an early adopter of non-linear editing back in the early 90s. Evangel switched to video camcorders while many were still using 3/4" decks. We offered courses in multimedia very early on when the Internet was still young. Lately, we've been slowly switching over to flash media for video acquisition and increasing our HD production methods. It is my hope to attempt a 3D movie here at Evangel sometime in the future. The student newspaper and yearbook are produced on Mac Pros, and photography and graphics are all done digitally.

Do students at Evangel have a chance to be involved in professional media internships?

We encourage students to apply for internships during their junior or senior years. They can be placed in professional media environments here in Springfield or many places around the country. Our internship program is well-established with many key contacts.

What are some of the new things going on in the Communication Department?

We just completed the student production of our first movie based on science fiction. It included many special effects we had not tried before, giving the students a great experience in filmmaking. The speech team has recently participated in international tournaments, which we hope to continue. The yearbook won a Best in Nation award last year. We are also re-tooling our Associate of Arts degrees.

What advice do you have for prospective students?

If you can, come to Evangel as a freshman rather than taking classes at community colleges first. Though we are happy to have transfer students and will create a program that will work for you using your transfer credits, it really is a benefit to you to come to Evangel as a freshman. You get involved sooner in the things you enjoy doing, you are able to follow the program of study easier, which helps when you need to fit upper level classes in your schedule, and you have more time and experience with the equipment and facilities we have here. I have had some transfer students tell me they wished they had come to Evangel sooner.

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