It has been an honor to serve on the JMC faculty for 18 years, with the last five as its chair. And I will continue to enjoy that honor until the end of June. But all good things must come to an end, so that other good things can begin. Such as retirement.
The department has made several notable accomplishments in the last 5 years. A re-imagining of JMC resulted in a revised curriculum with three majors: Multimedia Journalism, Strategic Communication and Visual Communication. The department’s ACEJMC accreditation was renewed. The McGaughey lectures were established with notable presentations about press freedom and responsibility. Student media garnered significant awards and commercial success. I’ve had the pleasure to work with very good people. And the honor to teach exceptional students.
JMC is in good shape. It has a talented faculty with significant industry experience and the right academic credentials. And the best qualification they have is their authentic interest in our students. Those students spend more than tuition dollars with us. They spend their youth with us. And none of us take that for granted.
And speaking of youth, I don’t have as much of that I used to. And June 30 will be here before you know it. And so there’s one more semester of working with JMC students, helping them prepare for their next steps.
And after that, I intend to do what so many of you do—continue to be a friend to JMC.
