University of
Colorado officials have announced the formation of a five-member steering
committee and eight campus discussion groups that will hold closed meetings to
discuss creating a school or college in the area of information, communication,
journalism, media and technology, or what officials are calling “ICJMT.”
The term
“journalism” has been added to the working title, something that was requested
numerous times during the past year’s discussions about discontinuing the
School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The name of the first group that
examined the idea of creating the new college or school was called the Information,
Communication and Technology (ICT) Exploratory Committee.
And the new steering committee and discussion groups have a strong journalism
presence. The steering committee will be chaired by a journalism faculty member
Andrew Calabrese. The other committee members are Professor Tim Brown of
electrical engineering and the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program;
Professor Leysia Palen of computer science; Professor Michael Theodore of music
and the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS); and Professor
Katherine Eggert of English. Professor Merrill Lessley of theatre and dance,
who chaired the campus’s ICT committee, will consult with the committee to
connect the two processes.
“The steering committee represents a vital cross-section of experienced CU
faculty with a strong interest in the creation of an ICJMT-focused college or
school, and with detailed knowledge of CU’s academic strengths and structures,”
Provost Russell Moore said in a news release. “I am charging it with taking
input from eight designated campus discussion groups and forwarding
recommendations on forming a new school or college to me by the end of the 2011-12
academic year.”
The eight discussion groups, composed of faculty from a variety of
disciplines, will discuss the different disciplines and academic dimensions
that should be combined to form a new school or college. The discussion groups’
areas of focus (and composition) are:
Group No. 1 — This group will discuss journalism, documentary filmmaking,
creative nonfiction and other modes of delivering nonfiction content across
platforms (Dan Boord of film studies, Meg Moritz of journalism and Jan Whitt of
journalism).
Group No. 2 – This group will discuss media studies, communication and mass communication
(Stewart Hoover of journalism, Peter Simonson of communication, Lori Emerson of
English, Janice Peck of journalism and Ernesto Avecedo-Munoz of film studies).
Group No. 3 – This group will discuss advertising, design and related issues
(Brett Robbs and David Slayden, both of journalism).
Group No. 4 – This group will discuss issues of technology, computation and related
issues (Dirk Grunwald of computer science, Tamara Sumner of the Cognitive Science
Institute and computer science, and Eric Stade of math)
Group No. 5 – This group will discuss journalism science, the environment and related
issues (Tom Yulsman of journalism, Alan Townsend of environmental studies, Len
Ackland of journalism and Sandra Fish of journalism).
Group No. 6 – This group will discuss arts, media technology and related issues
(Michelle Ellsworth of theatre and dance, and Mark Amerika of art and art history).
Group No. 7 – This group will discuss the humanities, media technology, digital
humanities and related issues (Mark Winokur of English, Diane Sieber of Herbst
Humanities and ATLAS, and Michael Zimmerman of philosophy).
Group No. 8 – This group will discuss communication, internationalization,
globalization and other related issues (Meg Moritz and Bella Mody, both of
journalism).
Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs Jeffrey Cox said the discussion
groups’ meetings will be open to other faculty to attend by invitation, but are
closed to the media.
“We want to facilitate open and free discussion among the groups,” Cox said in
the news release, explaining why the meetings will be closed. “However, we will
host a public meeting on Sept. 22 to kick off the activities of the discussion
groups and the steering committee, to discuss how the two will interface and
the timeline for delivery of recommendations to the provost.”
Details on the meeting will be publicly announced later in the summer, Cox
said.
Information on the ICJMT process can be found at http://academicaffairs.colorado.edu/academicreview/icmt-next-steps/.
