Faculty and staff at CU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication say they are uncertain as the university looks at discontinuing their programs..
Interim Provost Russell Moore announced Wednesday CU’s plans to begin a program of discontinuance at the journalism school. The formation of an exploratory committee charged with determining what shape the school may take in the future will be formed in the coming weeks.
SJMC associate professor Tom Yulsman said he was both excited and worried about the possible changes.
“At first it was sort of a shock, even if you’re thinking that things have to change,” Yulsman said. “Change brings opportunity and risk, opportunity can be exciting and risk can be unsettling. I feel like there’s opportunity here but I can’t deny that it’s also unsettling because you don’t know exactly how it’s going to look, how it’s going to come out.”
Paul Voakes, dean of the school, said he is excited to see the process beginning.
“I’m glad because now we’re getting to the good stuff,” Voakes said. “If this process goes forward in the way that I hope it will, I mean, we could become like one of the leading journalism programs in the country, in the world.”
Even some who are no longer affiliated with the school say they believe at this point, change is necessary.
“The change was made because the school of journalism and mass communication has done nothing to move it forward into the digital age,” said Doug Looney, a former advisory board member for the school. “It’s lost in the weeds, it’s got a faculty without a single digital or high-tech expert. They are a wonderful faculty for teaching journalism in the 1950s. They are a horrible faculty for teaching journalism in 2010.”
Yulsman said he understands the intersection between technology and journalism, but believes there needs to be a balance.
“A few things have come up, technology and journalism and communication and so what is the balance going to be?” Yulsman said. “How are these things that have been formally related but taught separately, how does that get mixed together? That’s a difficult question.”
Sandra Fish, an instructor at the school who also faces uncertainty in her position, said she believes the school needs to do more with technology.
“Clearly there’s been a lot of talk about you know merging or bridging the SJMC with ATLAS and I think we do need to do some things to bring our program and our students into the new digital age of information,” Fish said. “I think there are a lot of things that could come out of that.”
Yulsman said he enjoys new technology but that the human aspect is still important.
“I’m a journalist, I have eagerly adopted new tools for telling stories, but for me it’s not about the tool per say it’s about telling stories,” Yulsman said. “I would hope that whatever comes from this we don’t lose sight of that.”
Looney said he believes the changes reflect dissatisfaction with the current school and faculty.
“The future is not clear but the thing to understand is this is an absolute criticism of the school of journalism because it hasn’t been able to take this stuff forward,” he said. “It is known, how long has the internet been around? How long has e-mail been around? Twitter’s been around for what, 15 minutes? And they’ve done nothing and so, gratefully, [Chancellor] DiStefano stepped up and is doing it and we owe him our hearty congratulations…. we need a whole new faculty and a whole new dean.”
According to the Regent’s Policy of Program Discontinuance, “Termination of appointments of tenured faculty or those with unexpired term appointments may occur as the result of formal discontinuance.” The policy states that the chancellor “in consultation with appropriate faculty members and administrators” will make recommendations if any tenured faculty were to be considered for termination. Any tenured faculty submitted for termination would have to be approved by the president and the Board of Regents.
Yulsman said he believes the exploratory committee, despite not being represented by any journalism faculty, will make the right decisions.
“There’s not a lesser need for people who know how to find information, how to vet information and figure out what’s true or what’s not true and how to report it in a way that’s accurate and nuanced,” he said. “I think most people get, and certainly on a college campus, the role of democracy, of journalism in democracy.”
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Ellie Bean at Beanee@colorado.edu.
1 comment
What is Doug Looney talking about?
“It’s got a faculty without a single digital or high-tech expert” – Of course they don’t have tech experts. Those would be faculty in the computer science or ATLAS programs, which is why SJMC is wanting to merge with ATLAS in the first place. But that’s not to say faculty know nothing about digital means of journalism or advertising. What about Daniel Schaefer’s citizen journalism class and Resolving Door? What about Mindy Cheval’s a2b program? What about Rick Stevens, whose specialty IS “new media” and the ways technology can be used?
“This is an absolute criticism of the school of journalism” – this process was STARTED by the SJMC. If anything, it’s a self-criticism and a move designed to show their desire to improve.
“Twitter’s been around for what, 15 minutes? And they’ve done nothing” – Twitter has been around for at least 3 years, actually. And in every single journalism class I’ve taken within SJMC, we have talked about Twitter substantially. Saying that SJMC has done “nothing” in relation to integrating tech is an ignorant and misguided statement. Every class I’ve taken in the last two years has done something to integrate the changing role of journalism in the digital age, including discussions on how to use new tools (like Twitter) to get the message out there.
From Mr. Looney’s statements in this article, it seems to me he hasn’t bothered to do his research. And what kind of journalist (whether in the 1950s or 2010) doesn’t do his research?