Proposal for new College of Media, Design and the Arts accepted

CU is further advancing its plans for a new school of journalism education as a plan has been accepted to create a modern interdisciplinary college and companion institute.

According to a university new release, Provost Russell L. Moore formally accepted a report Tuesday from the Information, Communication, Journalism, Media and Technology (ICJMT) Steering Committee which details plans for a College of Media, Design and the Arts and a companion interdisciplinary institute.

Provost Russell L. Moore at the March 8 Take Back Our Campus protest. Moore recently accepted the ICJMT proposal for a new College of Media, Design and the Arts. (CU Independent File/James Bradbury)

The proposal, written by the ICJMT Steering Committee that formed in June 2011, outlines plans for a multi-disciplinary college combining education ranging from journalism and mass communication, communication, social media and film studies to music, theatre and dance, art, art history and experimental digital arts and technology.

“The College will build and maintain porous relationships with other disciplines, especially business, computer science, education, and law, as well as partnerships with affiliated units such as the CU Museums, the Libraries, ATLAS, and the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program,” according to the report.

The steering committee suggested to Provost Moore the creation of a companion institute independent of the new college “dedicated to research and creative work at the leading edge of innovation in ICT” and will provide a broad interdisciplinary curriculum. The committee states in the proposal that they recognize that ATLAS currently provides some of these roles, and may house the companion institute with some additional resources.

“I look forward to working with the faculty to think about the future of this proposal, and I hope to be able to make a recommendation to the chancellor as soon as possible,” Moore said.

Moore said in his letter of acceptance to the committee that he was pleased by the committee’s proposal and its vision for the future of journalism education. The next steps in this process, he said, will be to bring a panel of experts to campus to examine the proposal, meet with constituent groups and make suggestions to administration as to how to move forward.

“I look forward to working with the faculty to think about the future of this proposal, and I hope to be able to make a recommendation to the chancellor as soon as possible,” Moore said.

Since the announcement of the discontinuance of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in fall 2010, the ICJMT has been in the process of creating a new entity for the study of modern journalism and communication.

According to the release, the proposal for a new college must go before the Board of Regents for approval.

“I want to thank the ICJMT steering committee and its chair, Professor Andrew Calabrese of Journalism and Mass Communication, for their work in leading this visioning process,” Moore said. “These are exciting, transformative ideas for CU-Boulder to consider.”

For more information on the ICJMT steering committee’s proposals visit https://academicaffairs.colorado.edu/academicreview/.

Contact CU Independent News Budget Editor Lauren Archuletta at [email protected]