IUPUI journalism school faces changes, loses staff

IU alumni, graduate and undergraduate students have come together to speak their minds in Indianapolis.

The IU-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Journalism recently made faculty and staff changes. These upset some students who wrote letters to voice their opinions.

Recent graduate Tara Puckey organized and delivered about 40 letters on Aug. 18 to multiple organizations and offices, including that of IU-Bloomington School of Journalism Dean Brad Hamm and IUPUI School of Journalism Dean Dan Drew. 

“I had a lot of questions,” said Dimitri Kyser, a graduate student in IUPUI’s public relations program. “It just raised an eyebrow.”

Puckey said members of the school’s faculty and staff, including Tim Franklin, Maggie Balough, Bob Dittmer, Deb Perkins and Suzy Mulligan, are no longer with the IUPUI
Journalism School.

Kyser said he received an email from Dittmer, who was then director of the public relations graduate program, saying he would no longer be with the school.

Alumnus Kristofer Karol received the same email.

“I was shocked and a little bit upset,” Karol said. “Something just didn’t
seem right.”

Hamm said the changes are routine since faculty and staff changes are regularly made within schools. He explained that the goal is for the IUPUI Journalism School to become nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He said they also want the public relations program to
become certified.

“You don’t have to have either of those, but they are credentials that are worth aiming for when you put together a program,” Hamm said. “In terms of rankings, or in terms of qualifications, we would expect all of our programs to try and aim for the highest level that they can.”

He said interviews are taking place this week to add new faculty and staff members who will help the school earn national accreditation. Some of these faculty and staff additions will be in place by the end of the month.

The school is also trying to add some of the programs already in Bloomington, such as the honors program, travel experiences and speaker series.

“All of these things that have worked so well in Bloomington and across the nation in a lot of programs need to be in place there, and you need to have the people in place that can do it,” Hamm said.

After receiving the letters, Hamm met with some of the graduate students in late August to discuss the future of the school. Little was said about the faculty and staff changes because Hamm is unable to comment on personnel issues.

Not all of the students were happy with the answers they received at this meeting.
Graduate student Alice Hoenigman said Hamm wasn’t focused enough on the present or short-term future.

“I felt like he was in the meeting very focused on the future,” Hoenigman said. “I felt like I was getting reached over.”

Hoenigman said she wrote the letter because Dittmer was her mentor and a “critical component” in her education. She said she wasn’t necessarily upset about the reasoning, but was upset about how it happened.

“We’re in public relations, and this was a public relations disaster,” Hoenigman said.
Senior Denis Jiménez agreed communication with students could have been better.
“No one really knows what’s going on,” Jiménez said. “It’s just been
infuriating.”