College of Media at Illinois

3/8/10: University begins review of College of Media and other small academic units

The University administration has charged an ad hoc project team of campus faculty and administrators with completing a review of smaller academic units, and the College of Media is among them. The team will focus on independent schools and colleges with fewer than 40 faculty members, including the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the School of Labor and Employment Relations, and the School of Social Work, along with the College of Media. The primary focus of the review is to explore structural and organizational changes to realize budgetary savings while at the same time preserving and even enhancing the intellectual and academic mission of the units.

The College is represented on the project team by faculty member Isabel Molina-Guzmán, associate professor of media and cinema studies, Latina/o studies, and gender and women's studies.

"We enter this review process ready to explain what we do as a College and why it is valuable to our students, the University, the state, and the nation," said Walt Harrington, interim dean of the College of Media. "As I have said before, our alumni and students are the strongest proof that the mission of the College of Media and our units of Advertising, Journalism, Media and Cinema Studies, and our doctoral program in communications and media are vital and robust."

The review process will be expeditious, with the initial report summarizing the project team's review due June 1, 2010.

"We live in challenging financial times, and we in the College will do all we can to help address that challenge by streamlining how we do our work or by seeking out meaningful administrative and organizational changes that accomplish the goal of maintaining our academic mission," added Harrington.

With this Web site, the College aims to keep alumni, students, friends, faculty, and staff informed throughout the process.

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Click to download the charge letter from the University.

More information about the University's Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois initiative...