Communication merger OK’d

By Steve Hill
University Week

Faculty in Speech Communication and the School of Communications gave a proposed merger between the two units their seal of approval recently.

A wide majority voted to move ahead with the merger that virtually assures the UW will soon have a “Department of Communication.” The new unit will be an integration of the two current departments into one of the largest in the College of Arts and Sciences. There will likely be more than 30 faculty members and more than 700 students when the department officially opens its doors in September 2002.

But more than numbers, officials say the merger is about improving the study of communication at the UW.

“We see major advantages in combining the units,” said Tony Giffard, director of the School of Communications. “We will have a single program that brings together the social science and humanistic traditions of the two units. Students will have access to the full range of communication studies; faculty expect to enrich their research through collaboration with their new colleagues.”

Gerry Philipsen, chair of the Department of Speech Communication, is equally enthusiastic. “I think there will be a positive effect for the students studying communication,” he said. “The merger will give students access to a broader range of classes and a better understanding of the way communication is studied on this campus. It’s a great benefit for them.”

And likewise, the move is intended to be a boon for faculty, many of who suffered through difficult times in recent years when the departments were on the verge of elimination due to budgetary constraints during the 1994-95 academic year. The departments survived, but the School of Communications eliminated academic tracks in advertising, broadcasting and public relations. Officials insist the motivation for this merger is entirely different.

“The deans have assured us that they did not go into this with the expectation of saving money,” said Giffard. “The idea is to form a stronger department through the synergy created by having the different perspectives together in one unit.”

That synergy has been present as faculty in the departments have been working more closely together in the wake of the elimination scare. Collaborative efforts have included cross-listing courses, co-sponsoring a colloquium series and encouraging reciprocal adjunct faculty appointments.

But perhaps most notably, the departments, with the help of a 1998 Tools for Transformation grant of nearly $500,000, set up a series of interdisciplinary courses that resulted in four new degree programs. Those programs, which pool resources from both units along with Political Science and Technical Communication, remain in operation today and will continue after the merger.

“I don’t think we could have done it without the Tools For Transformation funding,” said Susan Jeffords, the divisional dean for social sciences who will help oversee the new department. “The money really made it possible for the faculty, staff and students to sit down and have extended chances to talk about their intellectual common interests, their pedagogical common interests and their common goals. We’re now at a point where they see this merger as advantageous. I think the Tools money made it possible.”

Officials say two recent retreats were indicative of how well the process has gone. Faculty members from the units made great strides in developing a better understanding and appreciation of one another, their similarities and differences.

“They were very optimistic meetings,” Giffard said.

Philipsen agreed.

“I think over the past six months especially, we have increasingly discovered and cultivated our intellectual commonalties,” he said. “We really share a discipline and the more we interact the more we realize how much we have in common.”

The dean’s office has offered $100,000 to help initiate the merger, but it’s not yet clear how that money will be spent. A transformation policy committee - that includes Giffard, David Domke and Nancy Rivenburgh from Communications and Philipsen, Valerie Manusov and John Gastil from Speech Communication - will be responsible for developing proposals regarding curricula, academic policies and a departmental governance structure.

A search for a dean to lead the new department will begin in coming months, with the goal of filling the position by July 1, 2002. A location for the new department hasn’t been finalized, but one possibility is to renovate offices vacated by KUOW on the third floor of the Communications building for Speech Communication faculty. Faculty in the School of Communications currently occupy most of the building.