A position that has been vacant for years at Ohio University has finally been filled within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Lori Bauer was recently offered the position of director of communication within the College of Arts and Sciences. Bauer will start her job Feb. 18.
Bauer has been working in marketing and communication in higher education since 1990. She has worked for San Jose State University in California, the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, also in California, and has spent the last seven years at Arcadia University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bauer spent time working in communication outside of higher education — including at a private mortgage insurance firm in Milwaukee, Wis. — but prefers working in a college environment.
“I love the transformative nature of education and the value it has, both for individuals and our society,” said Bauer.
The director of communication position has been empty for a number of years and for Bauer, that was part of the draw.
“I like challenges and problems to solve and because this position has been empty for a while, it definitely has that for me,” said Bauer. “It presents the opportunity to build a program, which I think is personally very exciting.”
Bauer said she also built the Arcadia program during her time there and sees the chance to do the same here and is excited to do so.
Bauer said she received several offers from other universities, but ultimately chose OU.
“I just absolutely fell in love with Ohio University and the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Bauer. “It was really the people that won me out. The people in the search committee, the dean, the associate dean, the faculty that I met, they really won me over.”
The College of Arts and Sciences began its search at the end of Fall Semester and it had between 75 and 80 applicants from across the country.
Robert Frank, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he speculated that the high number of applicants might be a result of the tough economy.
“Many of the applicants had backgrounds in journalism, but because of the changes in the media in recent years, had changed career paths,” Frank said. “I would say (on) the bulk of the applications, there was some kind of journalism path that the person had perused.”
md781510@ohiou.edu
