News
New Director for School of Communication
After years of preparation and the support of fellow faculty members, July 1 marked the date that the acting director for East Carolina University's School of Communication (SOC) was officially appointed as permanent director.
Exactly two years after Linda Kean, Ph.D. accepted the role of acting director for the SOC, she took the role for which she had been preparing. The SOC's faculty decided early last year to host an internal, rather than external, search for a director, according to Dr. Jeff Elwell, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication (CFAC). He also said a search committee was created from the School's faculty, and they came to the unanimous decision to appoint Kean as director. Elwell helped finalize the decision with his approval.
“They recognized how Linda did a very good job as acting director,” Elwell said.
Kean's predecessor and founding director of the school, Timothy J. Hudson, Ph.D., stepped down in June 2007, said Elwell. He landed another position as founding director at Point Park University, P.A. according to a Point Park national press release. Hudson left a prestigious legacy and big shoes to fill, but when offered the opportunity, Kean was willing to step into them.
This opportunity led Kean from her role as graduate program coordinator and tenured associate professor to interim associate director, then acting director. From these positions, Kean gained skills, knowledge and understanding that have affected her personally and professionally. One of these lessons was positive aggressiveness and cooperation.
“I've learned to be honest with my opinion and work with people at the same time,” Kean said. Before undertaking the director position, Kean established an elaborate repertoire of collegiate education, scholarly research and publications. She managed to accomplish all these goals while successfully climbing the professional ladder.
According to Kean’s 10-page curriculum vitae (CV), she has approximately 40 documented publications and presentations. Most of these accomplishments were completed while at ECU. As a result, Kean gained tenure in only six years. She also aided in the establishment of SOC’s graduate program in 2003.
“Dr. Kean is a dedicated researcher and teacher who has provided outstanding service to the School of Communication and the ECU community,” said Laura Prividera, Ph.D. interim associate director of the school. Kean has worked closely with Prividera to complete many of her publications.
Many people agreed with Prividera. “She’s done a very good job of balancing workload and budget issues,” said Elwell, in reference to Kean’s recent position as acting director. He further described Kean as “fearless” and “proactive.”
These qualities were most apparent when Kean talked about her plans for the SOC. After considering the strengths and weaknesses of the school, Kean created a list of goals she would like to see achieved under her direction. One thing she aims to do is update equipment to high definition within the next five years. However, Kean finds this to be a more difficult task given the current state of the United States' economy and resulting budget cuts.
She also intends to gain accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). According to Kean, this is also a desire of the university's and is considered a “stamp of approval” for the receiving department.
In addition to these goals, Kean plans to “increase the SOC's visibility on campus, in the community and throughout the nation,” devote less emphasis to growing numerically and more to the quality of the programs, and improve the success of the SOC's new study abroad program.
“I'm a big-picture kind of person,” Kean said. She then explained how her favorite thing about being director is having the opportunity to continuously ask herself “How can we make this work?” and “How can we give this person or department what they want and need?”
According to Elwell, Kean will have plenty of chances to answer these questions since she has five years until she receives a comprehensive review of her work as a director. Until then, she will be surveyed annually by her faculty members starting in her second year.
Despite these upcoming critiques, Elwell showed his full confidence in the faculty's decision and his approval of Kean.
“I think she'll do a great job,” Elwell said.
Prividera equally echoed this confidence in her colleague when she said, “[Kean's] leadership style and academic excellence will assist the SOC in continuing its exciting path to excellence.”
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