March 30 is the last day for campus to submit feedback on the candidates.
As a former reporter, the final College of Communications, Information and Media (CCIM) dean candidate said building professional skills starts with student media.
This isn’t specific only to the department of journalism, either — Terry Likes, as former chair of the department of communications at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, knows how to manage a comprehensive program.
“We took an unused portion of our building because they ran out of money when they built the building originally, and we created not only student radio stations moving in but it became our center for media arts and production,” Likes said.
Likes earned his bachelors from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri, and went on to receive a masters from Western Kentucky University and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky.
Having been a former professor at Western Kentucky University and at Tennessee State, Likes is familiar with a similar college structure like what CCIM has, with four departments with various disciplines housed in the same college.
As a professor, Likes has also seen former students go on to be placed in Indianapolis markets — like Ben Hill and Sean Ash on WTHR Channel 13.
Coming from an award-winning program himself, Likes said Ball State’s CCIM prowess attracted him to the dean position.
“I feel like if you’re going to do this, you might as well do it at a high level,” Likes said. “That’s one of the things that attracts me to this college.”
As with the other two dean candidates, having a diverse pool of applicants to hire from is also important to Likes. Having experience in hiring at a historically black college, Likes said, gives him a better perspective on how to approach inclusion.
The CCIM dean isn’t the only position up for grabs right now, either — Dom Caristi, a telecommunications professor, asked Likes if he was nervous at all about the Provost spot also being open.
Likes said he was not at all, since in his eight years as chair, his university cycled through five Provosts.
“Literally, you could see suitcases in the back of their office,” Likes said.
Peggy Fisher, a professor of communication studies, asked Likes how important he thought contract faculty was to CCIM. He said they are “vital,” referencing how he had once been contract faculty for eight years.
Friday is the last day for campus to submit feedback on the candidates. From there, the dean search committee will submit up to two recommendations for dean to administration.
Contact Sara Barker with comments at slbarker3@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @sarabarker326.
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