James Shanahan, associate dean of the Boston University College of Communication, will serve as the founding dean of the Media School at the Indiana University Bloomington, according to a Thursday press release from IU.
Shanahan worked at BU briefly from 1990 to 1994, and since 2009, he has worked as COM’s associate dean and an associate professor of communication.
“The job at IU is a fantastic opportunity for me. I’m really looking forward to taking on the new challenge,” he said in an email. “The Media School is a new school at IU that combines many media-related disciplines under one umbrella, providing a lot of different ways for students to create a media curriculum.”
IU’s Media School opened on July 1 and united the School of Journalism, Department of Communication and Culture and Department of Telecommunications, according to the release.
Shanahan said he hopes to take what he has learned and completed at COM and replicate that success at IU.
“I’m pleased that we [at BU] have been able to do a lot of positive things in my years here, including developing a brand new program in Emerging Media Studies, which will launch its first [doctorate] class next year,” he said. “We’ve been able to create new professorships, add faculty strength in our professional programs and our programs have been successful in maintaining and enhancing national academic reputation.”
In the upcoming months, Shanahan will finalize the school’s curriculum, plan graduate programs and make other necessary plans to create new areas of study, according to the release. The curriculum will go into effect for the 2015 academic year, according to the Media School’s website.
Thomas Fiedler, dean of COM, said Shanahan’s role in the BU community will be missed, but he is certain that his experience will enable him to give IU insight into running a communication school.
“He has the opportunity as the founding dean there to take much of what we have done here and transplant it and I think probably to the great benefit of Indiana University,” he said. “I can understand how that is an exciting opportunity for him. Their big gain is for us a sad loss.”
Fiedler said Shanahan’s academic background has made him a valuable partner to help operate COM smoothly.
“I know a lot of the work that associate deans do is not readily apparent to students and others, but he is primarily responsible for the academic operation of the College of Communication,” he said. “He oversees the courses and has to be sure that the courses are achieving what we hoped they would do. He really is the chief academic person in the college, and I depend on him entirely for that piece.”
The process of selecting a replacement associate dean, which will be the choice of the college dean, faculty and other stakeholders, is currently ongoing, Shanahan said.
Several students said they appreciate the work Shanahan has done at BU and wish him luck in his position at the Media School.
“It’s going to be quite sad because we’re losing a great faculty member, and it could possibly have a slight negative effect on how programs are run [at BU],” said Kristyna Young, a freshman in COM.
Samantha Brensilber, a freshman in COM, said it is important to expand communication expertise to other schools and universities around the country.
“It’s good that he’s going to Indiana, as long if we get someone [an associate dean] that’s just as good as him,” she said. “There will be more media schools, and our school will become more of a foundation in America.”
