Kristina Hauptmann • Staff Writer • kh228206@ohio.edu
Bob Stewart, the associate director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, likely will become the school's director July 1 following a faculty vote Wednesday asking the dean to appoint him to the position. The vote was taken
and it was a positive vote Stewart said. So I take it as a good sign that by and large
the faculty is eager to work with me.
Mike Sweeney, associate director of the graduate program, said the faculty voted 17-2 for Stewart to serve the remainder of Tom Hodson's three-year term. Stewart's appointment would depend on OU's launching a national search for a new director.
Stewart earns $86,842 in base pay as associate director, according to OU's salary book. Hodson earns $108,813.
Scripps administrators considered placing Stewart, who has been Hodson's right-hand man since 2007, in the position on an interim basis to allow for a broader search, but faculty decided it was too late to begin a national search, Sweeney said.
The next three years are going to be an interesting time
Sweeney said. There was some sentiment expressed that it would be an advantage to have someone who knows Scripps.
Scripps must redesign its curriculum when OU switches to a new academic calendar in 2012. The college also plans to move its schools, currently scattered across campus, into the former Baker Center on East Union Street. At the same time, Scripps must continue preparing for reaccreditation.
The faculty voted 15-0-2 that Stewart have the title of director rather than interim because interim might make it seem as though Stewart doesn't have as much influence or responsibility, Sweeney said. Some faculty members left before the second vote, and some used proxies, he said.
Before coming to OU, Stewart earned a bachelor's degree in communication from Hunter College in New York, as well as his master's degree and doctorate in communication from the University of Washington.
College of Communication Dean Greg Shepherd will meet with Stewart to negotiate terms and make the official appointment.
Shepherd could not be reached for comment because he was attending yesterday's Board of Trustees committee meetings.
The faculty vote came a week after current Director Tom Hodson announced he would step down from the post and return to teaching at the end of June. This is Hodson's seventh year as director.
Tenured faculty in the school invited Stewart to present his ideas and vision for the school, including plans for the transition to semesters and the move to a new building.
Stewart said he spent about an hour with faculty outlining his vision for the quarters-to-semesters transition, as well as the school's upcoming move into the new College of Communication building, before stepping out for them to vote.
Scripps, one of OU's highest profile programs, is widely considered to be the best journalism school in Ohio.
About 950 students were enrolled in the school during Fall Quarter 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, according to OU's Office of Institutional Research. The school had 22 tenure-track faculty last academic year.
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Emily Grannis
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Bob Stewart
