Abstract
As the 2015-2016 academic year is about to begin, we face many of the perennial issues confronting all journalism and mass communications educational units—and more, besides.
We can rely on the staples of reappointment, tenure, and promotion policies to deserve our consideration, especially when it comes to determining how to weigh creative scholarship versus the plain vanilla of peer-reviewed published scholarship. Faculty and administrators alike always confront budgetary issues, and those issues translate into faculty and student travel, equipment and supplies and a myriad other needs and wants.
Then, there are matters of accreditation, assessment, collegiality, curricular revision, diversity, faculty mentoring, recruitment and hiring, innovation and entrepreneurship . . . and the list goes on.
Curricular revision and innovation are of critical importance for our students. Are we still grappling with the matter of “convergence” or are we dealing with how to integrate virtual reality, animation, and gaming into our programs? Are we still divided into silos or do we have a somewhat seamless integration of media and communications throughout our curriculum? Are we focusing on social media in journalism and public relations but not in broadcasting or other areas or vice versa? Are we teaching our students how to produce content on their mobile devices?
I believe these are the types of issues we all consider throughout the year but perhaps especially at this time when we are gearing up for a fresh start. As you will note, this edition of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator is devoted largely to research about mobile journalism. Although many of the studies are pilot, exploratory studies, I hope they will provide some guidance on the types of projects you can undertake to incorporate mobile media into your classrooms. In what is clearly promotional, I encourage you to attend the MobileMe&You conference at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) October 28 to 30, co-sponsored by the Knight Foundation and UNL, where you will hear from some of the most creative thinkers and innovators about the use of mobile media.
And as you embark on a new semester, a new year, I wish you every success.
Best wishes,