After nearly two years of serving as interim dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media, Michael Holmes will hand the reigns to Roger Lavery, whose contract will come into effect tomorrow, making him the college's new dean.
"It was an honor to be chosen as the dean," Lavery said. "I had the opportunity to get out here a month ago and told the faculty and administration that if there was anything going on, I wanted to be involved.
"It's a great opportunity for me to get plugged in and up-to-speed, even though I'm not yet on contract."
Holmes, chair of the communication studies department, took the position of interim dean in 2003 after the previous dean, Scott Olson, accepted the position of vice president for academic affairs at Minnesota State University.
A search committee was formed to assist in finding a new dean after Olson's departure. Robert Pritchard, secretary of the search committee, said that the committee's first attempt at finding a permanent dean failed. In September of last year, the committee took a second look at the pool of applicants.
"We moved fast," Pritchard said. "We sent the word out that the position was open in September, and [we] had applicants by October."
Lavery came to his interview meeting in January and was accepted to the post early in Spring Semester. However, that was not his first visit to campus. Lavery came to Ball State in 2003 to tour the College of Communication, Information and Media -- and his visit led to the World News Center at Northern Arizona, which is modeled after Ball State's converged newsroom program.
"I was very impressed with what I saw," Lavery said. "Ball state has some very forward-thinking, progressive faculty, and I think that's important for the college and the students. ... It's not common for programs to be progressive or forward-thinking.
"No one really knows where communication is going right now," Lavery said. "Many programs tend to take a wait-and see attitude, but our college is already progressing."
"I think he's a great fit for the college," Pritchard said. "He's got the vision and experience we need to get to the next level. He understands our needs, hopes and dreams, and I'm certain he can take us forward."
Although he will take his post tomorrow, Lavery said it would be premature to make too many plans too quickly.
"It's early for me to say 'well, here's my strategy,'" he said. "There are issues I will be addressing, like diversity among the faculty and students. I'll be shepherding the new building's construction.
"One of the things I feel the college needs to do is establish its reputation both regionally and nationally. It's recognized nationally, but the college is new and young and hasn't been promoted aggressively. We have to be visible, we have to be on the radar," he said.
Before beginning a career as a professor, Lavery had worked in the advertising industry in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
"A lot of the skills I've developed over the years has helped me as an academic administrator," Lavery said.
Lavery spent 17 years in the advertising industry before beginning his academic career in 1991, when he served as an associate professor at the University of Oregon. In 1997, he began working at Virginia Commonwealth, and two years later, he was named the associate director for the university's School of Mass Communication. From 2000 to 2004, Lavery served as dean of the School of Communication at Northern Arizona University.
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