A brief check-in meeting was held Tuesday to help narrow down the candidates for the new dean of the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.
All candidates, who are being identified by numbers instead of names, started their process back in November.
The initial search for a dean began with at least 48 candidates and at the end of Tuesday’s meeting, there are three left. In deciding how a candidate would proceed, the committee had two options, ask them to move forward or thank them for their time. During the meeting, the committee voted on applicants 27, five, and 28.
Ashley Hice, a Greenwood/Asher representative, was in charge of giving the committee answers to questions that needed clarification from previous interviews.
For applicant 27, questions arose from their claim of being good at receiving money and support from the school. It was in reference to them having connections to the industry and before asking past deans for money, they would try to find it themselves.
“They will raise the profile of the school and her connections with their visibility. And with these connections they would have a lot of fundraising potential,” Hice said.
Douglas Blackburn, a professor in SJGC, was the first to suggest thanking the candidate for their time with Dr. Valerie White following behind in agreement.
The next candidate was applicant number five. The question that was raised was if they could “hit the ground running”. It was identified that they take their role seriously and as a dean they may need to hire more but if need be would get the job done themselves.
Marion Frenche, another Greenwood/Asher representative, spoke of additional concerns they had for the candidate.
“This position is viewed as a stretch, but the candidate does have knowledge to help them move forward in this position,” said Frenche. “Even though there would be a learning curve for this candidate, they could do the job.”
Another concern for the candidate was the ability to raise money for school and the age of the references.
Dr. White was the first to speak in agreement with the concerns and voted to thank them for their time.
The last candidate, applicant 28, was asked about budget, fundraising and their vision for the school. Even though the candidate did not have a budget academically, their knowledge of courses that deal with a little bit of finance and speaking with students about the complexity of budgeting after graduation was indication that they knew how to use a budget.
In references to their ability to fundraise, it was noted that they have done fundraising in their own personal filmmaking. As for their vision, the candidate believes that they could bring the school into a new era.
Despite liking the candidate’s ability to raise money and their connections to the industry it was moved to thank them for their time.
“In the same way we said it was a stretch for candidate five, I believe it is also a similar, not quite as far stretch but still a big stretch for this candidate so I would also thank this candidate for their time,” said Blackburn.
There are now three candidates remaining in the race for dean. The next step is an open forum where the candidates will come to SJGC virtually and be asked questions by the community. The meeting days will take place Jan. 26, Jan. 29, and Feb. 1. The candidate campus-wide presentations will take place at 11:15 a.m, 1 p.m, and 3:15 p.m. More details will be posted in FAMU Info.
If you are interested in knowing what qualifications are needed to become a dean, you can find information on the FAMU website.