By MARY ANN ALBRIGHT
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Saturday, September 23, 2006 12:00 am
As Oregon State University senior Daniel Westling prepares to start classes Monday, he has more on his mind than the usual stresses of buying textbooks, finding housing and gearing up for homework.
Westling is worried that his degree program - a liberal studies major with a new media communications option - won't be around by the time he's ready to graduate.
A recent change in leadership and university budget constraints have left Westling and other students, in addition to alumni, potential donors and even some faculty members, wondering whether OSU's new media communications program will survive.
One of those alumni holding off on donating to the program is Derek van Bronkhorst.
"I am very frustrated that a program I think everyone realizes holds a key to the future and will be one of the things that most helps the students and keeps the university current is withering and dying on the vine," he said. "(OSU leaders) aren't putting up the money to run the program."
Last week, Kay Schaffer, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, announced that the job of directing the program will be filled temporarily by Jeff Hale, the college's assistant dean for external relations and director of the liberal studies program.
Joel Thierstein, 45, had served as director of new media since OSU started the program in 2001. The first courses were offered in 2003, and the program's full-time faculty roster consists of Thierstein, Todd Kesterson, assistant professor of new media communications, and Bill Loges, assistant professor of new media and sociology.
Thierstein will continue teaching new media classes at OSU, at least for this term.
No reason for the leadership change was given, other than it being "best for everyone involved," according to Schaffer.
Loges said he's received no communication from the dean's office regarding these changes. He learned of Hale's appointment as interim director from an article in the Gazette-Times.
He, along with Thierstein and Kesterson, met with Hale Thursday to discuss the upcoming school year.
"It went pretty well. It was obviously kind of uncomfortable at first," Loges said.
Hale has the "goodwill" of the campus, which should help new media get financial and staff support, as well as additional space, from other departments, Loges said.
That's great for now, but Loges wants to be sure the program can count on any favors Hale curries to continue even after a permanent director is appointed.
Loges knows Thierstein from Baylor University in Texas, where they both worked in the late 1990s. He was working at the University of Southern California when Thierstein came to OSU to create the new media program.
Before Loges agreed to come to Oregon, he said, he asked the dean and upper administration whether they were committed to making new media an excellent program. He felt they were, so he came here.
Although he doesn't for a moment regret his decision, Loges said OSU's support of new media has taken the form of encouraging words more than dollars.
He agrees with students such as Westling who feel the program is in jeopardy.
For the past three years, the provost's office has supplemented new media's College of Liberal Arts budget to the tune of $100,000. This year, the program wasn't scheduled to receive any additional funds, leaving its total budget at $285,000.
Brad Dennis, chief business officer for the College of Liberal Arts, said new media didn't seem to realize they wouldn't be getting the extra $100,000 until this summer. They had been counting on it to hire adjunct faculty needed to offer all the courses planned.
After negotiations between Schaffer and Provost Sabah Randhawa, the provost's office agreed to provide an additional $50,000, bringing the program's total budget to about $330,000.
With this influx, students will have all the courses they need to graduate, even though money is tight, Hale said. Hale plans to hire four or five part-time adjunct instructors.
The new media communications discipline aims to educate students in the use of new technology to share information. It stresses storytelling through various media, including video games, the Internet, television, newspapers and movies.
There are four minors available within new media communications - new media, multimedia, print media and telemedia. About 400 students are in the program.
Students and faculty had been hopeful that new media would soon become a full-fledged major separate from liberal studies. That optimism has faded, and for now the goal is keeping alive the program Thierstein built, Loges said.
For new media communications to become its own department and degree, an additional one or two full-time faculty members need to be hired. That would require an annual budget increase of $180,000 to $200,000, according to Hale.
The program started as an interdisciplinary effort among the English, art, speech communication and computer science departments, Hale said. It needed a "home department," so it joined liberal studies' umbrella, which also includes women studies.
No other colleges are involved in the program now, so the College of Liberal Arts is responsible for funding new media out of its budget.
While they may not have directly felt the financial pinch, new media students seemed shocked by Thierstein's removal as director.
Some felt Thierstein was so busy building the program that he didn't have enough time for academic advising, but all seemed to appreciate his leadership, knowledge of media, friendly demeanor and vast industry contacts.
Students, donors react
Recent OSU alumnus Christian Hill completed his degree with the new media option this summer. He knew Thierstein well from classes and from an April trip some students took with Thierstein to the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.
"It was amazing because we'd walk through the exhibits and (Thierstein) would know everyone, the head honcho at Sony," Hill said.
Hill said he had a "great" experience studying new media at OSU, although he wished his degree was in new media instead of liberal studies.
"It was just hard because they kept telling us it would be an actual major, but it just didn't happen because of funding. At least not while I was there," Hill said.
Van Bronkhorst graduated from OSU in 1985. He's now a member of new media's advisory board and works in public relations and marketing in Silicon Valley.
He would like to donate to the program, but isn't convinced of OSU's commitment to new media communications.
"I have to have a confidence level that this program is going to exist," he said.
Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.