UNLV hopes to fill top journalism school post by end of academic year
UNLV hopes to find a permanent leader for its ailing journalism school by the end of the academic year, school administrators said Thursday.
Asked to explain how UNLV is addressing shortfalls revealed by a scathing external review completed in May 2015, administrators told state higher education officials that sweeping changes will carry on for years at the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies.
The review, commissioned by UNLV and carried out by journalism professors Marianne Barrett from Arizona State University and Dorothy Bland from the University of North Texas, raised concerns about weak leadership, aimless coursework and low graduation rates.
“We all would love to snap our fingers and have all the problems fixed instantly,” Senior Vice Provost Carl Reiber told the state’s 13-member Board of Regents during a regular meeting on Thursday, noting that it will take years to address the reviewer’s recommendations. “We have made a lot of progress.”
Since the review’s release, officials have hired three full-time faculty members with newsroom experience, including Charles Zobell, who served as the Review-Journal’s managing editor until 2012. They’re also searching for a permanent replacement to take the job of former program director Lawrence Mullen, who was said to “to lack an understanding of the key metrics related to enrollment, retention, graduation and budget” in the external study.
Since the review’s release last year, faculty have drafted an ambitious, 22-page overhaul plan using input from colleges. Mullen has also been transferred to another department at UNLV, though administrators did not immediately say where on Thursday. Mullen did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
“You know how important it is to have stable leadership,” UNLV Provost Diane Chase told regents on Thursday. “By the end of this academic year, we hope to have in place a really highly qualified, full-time administrator who is going to help us move things forward.”
Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find her on Twitter @la__ley.
