Multi-disciplinary school for journalism study to be further discussed at CU

Plans for a new college to replace the School of Journalism and Mass Communication are moving forward and will require a cohesion of faculty from different colleges within CU.

Mark Briggs the director of digital media for KING-5 TV in Seattle discusses entrepreneurial journalism at the ICJMT Symposium on February 29th. On Wednesday Chris Braider spoke on the proposal of the new college, ICJMT. (CU Independent/James Bradbury)

Chris Braider, the director of the journalism and mass communication faculty, spoke in Hellems at 4 p.m. on Wednesday about the proposal submitted by the Information, Communication, Journalism, Media and Technology (ICJMT) Steering Committee for a new college that may go into development this coming academic year.

Since the announcement of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s discontinuance in fall 2010, a proposal by the ICJMT Steering Committee for a new college was approved by Provost Russell Moore this month. The new college would combine several schools, some of which could possibly include: the college of Arts and Sciences, Communications, the School of Music, and ATLAS.

“The idea [for a new college] has come and gone for over 20 years,” Braider said. “This is an idea whose time may have come at last.”

Two weeks ago, Provost Russell Moore formally started accepting recommendations from the ICJMT Steering Committee for the new college. If all goes according to plan, this summer Moore will meet with different universities to discuss ideas for the new college.

Once a plan has been reached, Moore will approve it and it will be sent to the Board of Regents to be approved, hopefully by December.

Braider said that Provost Russell Moore will consult with faculty from other colleges that have similar programs this summer.

“The actual college is going to be designed by the provost who will be bringing in outside help,” Braider said. “I think this new college will be more groundbreaking than not.”

Braider said that because the new college may include many different schools and disciplines within one unit, the struggle would be maintaining a unified front.

“The place has to have coherence, it can’t just have everything,” Braider said.

If the plans for the new school are approved, Braider said, the new dean will be someone from outside of the school, and the faculty and staff will be composed of current faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences as well as members from the other schools.

“We’ve all been in our comfort zone for a long time, so this new college kind of shakes things up a bit for all of us,” Braider said.

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

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Bethany Morris at Bethany.morris@colorado.edu

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