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Dean Jean Folkerts' Tenure at Carolina
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When Jean Folkerts took over as dean at the UNC School of Journalism
and Mass Communication, University administrators and school faculty,
alumni and friends asked her to lead the school in a direction that
embraced technology and innovation while holding strong to the core
values of journalism and scholarly research.
JEAN FOLKERTS’ TENURE AT CAROLINA
Shaping the future
Folkerts came to Carolina from the School of Media and Public
Affairs at George Washington University where, in 2001, she was
named Teacher of the Year by the Freedom Forum. Her academic
career — which included stints at the University of Texas and
Mount Vernon College in addition to GWU — was preceded by
professional work as a reporter, freelance writer, magazine editor
and assistant press secretary to a Kansas governor.
She served as editor of Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly and on editorial boards for other major journals. She
also served on the Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication’s executive board.
Folkerts’ leadership guided Carolina’s J-school to a major
curriculum overhaul; a strong role in the Carnegie-Knight
Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education and the
News21 project; expanded international programs; significant
interdisciplinary and industry partnerships; transformative
facilities upgrades; new scholarships, fellowships and
professorships; and the Reese Felts Digital News and audience
research initiative.
“Together with our alumni, faculty, students and staff, I think we
have created a climate of constant innovation and a desire to
be the best,” Folkerts said.
“Jean is an exceptional, innovative leader in journalism and mass
communication education during a time of great change in the media
industries.” — Chancellor Holden Thorp
“I came to the school in 2006 with a charge to help the school make a transition to the new, digital media environment, and above all — as a donor and longtime friend of the school told me early in my time here — to ‘take good care of our school,’” Folkerts said. “I hope I’ve done that.”
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FOLKERTS ERA
Folkerts became
dean of the School of
Journalism and Mass
Communication and
Distinguished Alumni
Professor.
Folkerts traveled to 28 N.C. towns and cities and another 13 around
the U.S. to meet with alumni and friends to chart the new course for
journalism and mass communication education at Carolina.
Carolina journalism students
became the first to collaborate
with ESPNU on its Campus
Connection program to employ
students in game broadcasts.
The students helped cover the
UNC vs. UNC-Asheville game
in the Smith Center.
The Carolina News Studio — a partnership
between the J-school and University Relations —
opened in Carroll Hall to provide faculty and
administrators opportunities to share their
expertise broadly with TV and radio outlets.
The symposium “Raising the
Ante: The Internet’s Impact
on Journalism Education
and Existing Theories of
Mass Communication” drew
29 leading researchers and
practitioners for a lively
discussion of new and revised
theories that will guide
journalism and journalism
education in the future.
The UNC Center for Media Law and Policy, a collaborative initiative of
Carolina’s J-school and law school, held its first major event — an address
by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin.
July 1, 2006
2007Jan. 9, 2008
March 2008
March 27–28, 2008
March 5, 2007
The school’s M.A./J.D. program accepted its first students
to the dual degree program with the law school.
The school was recommended for re-accreditation from the
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication (ACEJMC). In its concluding report, the visiting
team said the school “has earned a reputation as one of the
premier programs in journalism and mass communication.”
Carolina journalism students launched an experimental
reporting website — poweringanation.org — that explores U.S.
energy use. The project is part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative
on the Future of Journalism Education’s News21 project.
The school implemented a new curriculum that takes
into account changes in the news and communication
industries, including the move toward increased use
of a wider variety of channels to communicate. The
school’s core classes — News Writing, Professional
Problems and Ethics, and Introduction to Mass
Communication Law — remain the same.
August 2007
Feb. 4, 2009
Sept. 6, 2009
July 1, 2009
The school launched
the Carolina del Norte
project focusing on the
implications of a growing
Latino population in
North Carolina. Carolina
del Norte helped lead
to the formation of the
Latino Journalism and
Media (LATIJAM) project
in the school.
The Carnegie Corporation of
New York and the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation
selected UNC to join 10 other
top journalism schools in the
Carnegie-Knight Initiative
on the Future of Journalism
Education to adapt journalism
education to the challenges of
the news industry.
June 2008
July 7, 2008
The school partnered with the
Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Olympic Games for 31
Carolina J-school students to
travel to China to help cover
the games.
August 2008
The school commemorated 100 years of journalism and mass
communication education at Carolina during the 2009–10 academic
year. The centennial observance began on Sept. 9, the anniversary
of the first meeting of UNC’s first journalism course taught by
Edward Kidder Graham.
Sept. 9, 2009
“She really cares about what you care about … and she’s
devoted to solving any problem no matter how big or how small
if you come to her.” — Rebecca Putterman, reesenews.org
“Jean did it with intelligence and grace.” — Roy Park Jr., Triad Foundation
JEAN FOLKERTS’ TENURE AT CAROLINA
Shaping the future
“You’ve led the School of Journalism and Mass Communication to new heights.
You’ve helped us look over the horizon toward the future of media in North
Carolina and the nation. Thank you for your service to our students, to our
citizens and to this great state.” — Gov. Bev Perdue
The journalism programs at UNC and North Carolina Central
University partnered with Durham civic and church leaders,
volunteers and residents to launch the Northeast Central Durham
Community VOICE, a community news publication serving
Northeast Central Durham (NECD).
Folkerts announced a $4.1 million gift from the estate of UNC
alumnus Reese Felts — the largest single gift ever by an individual
to the school — to fund an experimental student news project and
audience research initiative.
The school hosted a meeting of deans from top journalism
programs participating in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative.
Raleigh attorney Wade Hargrove was honored with the
establishment of an annual media law colloquium at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sept. 24, 2009
Oct. 1, 2009
Oct. 4–5, 2009
Oct. 28, 2009
Alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students honored
Dean Jean Folkerts at an April 9
dinner at the Carolina Inn, thanks
to anonymous donors who made
gifts to underwrite the event.
Ed Vick, chair of the school’s
board of advisers, emceed an
evening that included remarks
by UNC Chancellor Holden
Thorp, J-school professor
Cathy Packer, and Al May,
a colleague of Folkerts’ at
George Washington University.
Folkerts surprised her husband
Leroy Towns — a strategic
communication professor in the
school — with a gift naming the
Leroy Towns Atrium in the school.
The dinner included a video
tribute to Dean Folkerts. View the
video at youtube.com/uncjschool.
The school increased its focus
on the business side of digital
media with the creation of a
new Knight Chair in Digital
Advertising and Marketing,
funded by the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation.
The school accepted applications for
the new Master of Arts in Technology
and Communication, a master’s
degree for working professionals
taught entirely online. The first class
will enroll in fall 2011.
The school announced a new business
journalism undergraduate major that
will begin in the 2011–12 academic
year in partnership with the Kenan-
Flagler Business School.
The school announced a new partnership
with Bloomberg News in which its editors
and reporters will teach a business
reporting course in the school.
The school set its record for
fundraising — $7.7 million
in private gifts — in a year.
Since Folkerts became dean,
donors established four new
distinguished professorships
and many new graduate and
undergraduate scholarships
while the school significantly
increased grant applications
and research funding.
The school dedicated its newly
converted high definition
television studio, funded with
a $400,000 gift from Capitol
Broadcasting Co.
Pioneering innovative ways of
delivering news and information, the
school launched reesenews.org, an
experimental news website designed
to give students multimedia experience
and to help small- and medium-sized
news organizations better understand
consumer uses of media.
The school hosted the 35th
annual Association for
Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication
(AEJMC) Southeast
Colloquium in Chapel Hill.
The school partnered with
several other organizations
to co-sponsor the 2010
World Wide Web Conference
(WWW2010) in Raleigh.
The school finished first
overall in the Intercollegiate
Competition of the 50th annual
Hearst Journalism Awards,
often called the Pulitzers of
college journalism.
March 12, 2010 Jan. 1, 2011
February 2011
April 18, 2011
June 30, 2010
Sept. 24, 2010
Nov. 2, 2010
March 11–13, 2010
April 26–30, 2010
June 11, 2010
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