Five of the faculty members attending the Edelman / PRWeek New Media Academic Summit kindly agreed to interviews recently in Chicago. My apologies for not getting more, but this is a fairly representative sample.
The five faculty members come from diverse universities, both large and medium sized. Sorry, I didn’t get any from small schools. My bad.
Enrollments range from 11,000+ (Howard & SDSU) to 22,000+ at Northeastern, while the enrollment is 31,000+ at UNT and 32,000+ at UGA. Two are private (Howard & Northeastern). Three are public (UNT, SDSU & UGA).
With regard to their programs, UGA’s is a college unto itself while four are in departments within the college of Liberal Arts/Arts & Sciences.
I mention these bits of information to perhaps highlight how broadly the interest in emerging digital media is for their respective curricula. It also, IMO, reflects how many universities are now seeking to broaden their academic programs to include emerging digital media.
I really like what all five had to say about the conference and, more importantly, how they hoped to use what they learned in the classroom. All of them were truly very nice and I thank them for taking the time to chat with us. This experience actually makes me wish I was attending more conferences like this. But, of course, I wish there were more conferences like this. Sad reality is, this is the only solely higher ed focused conference of its kind.
The faculty members are:
- Dr. Karen Russell, University of Georgia – Teaching PR blog
- Dr. Rochelle Ford, Howard University – Vitae
- Dr. Jennifer Tiernan – South Dakota State University – Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Dr. Walter Carl – Northeastern University – Word-of-Mouth Communication Study blog
- Dr. Jacqueline Lambiase – University of North Texas – Bio
I chose to put all five together so we may get an idea of their motivations for attending such a conference. The video runs 4:50.
Questions? I note that only two are actively blogging – Carl & Russell. (Unless I’ve just missed something.) I know about Karen and Walter, as I follow their blogs. So, should the others consider blogging? Are they active online? What are your thoughts on this?
I did find a bit of a trail (I believe) for Ford, but not sure. If she’s into art in Georgetown, and using MeetUp, then it may be her. A book chapter authored by Lambiase is referenced in a few blog posts, but no sign of her online and active. Searches for Tiernan proved fruitless, too. So, are they active, but doing so anonymously? Who knows, but it would be interesting to learn what they may be doing re: online activity. Are these faculty members into the whole experiential learning idea? We’ll see.
Also, I don’t know if all five schools have their students actively involved in online experiential class activities. Are their students blogging, using wikis, social networks, etc.
I’m wondering if they are actively monitoring the Web, too? Let’s see if they find this post and will expand upon what they are doing with their classes in the comments below. Honestly, I’m not trying to pick on any of them by talking about what they are/aren’t doing online. I’d like to learn what their ideas are about faculty blogging. Let’s just call it a test of the personal brand search (or ego search) we tell our students to have running in order to see what people are saying about them online. Hey, ya’ gotta manage your personal brand, too.
Find more videos like this on PROpenMic
Still to come, interviews with Neville Hobson (FIR and Blog), Mary Metcalf (Edelman Digital/Auburn Alum), Gary Goldhammer (Senior Vice President, Edelman), and Alexandra Wheeler (Director, Digital Strategy, Starbucks – MyStarbucksIdea.com). I’ll get them up ASAP. You’ll probably see the rest of them this week.
Finally, if you’re wondering about the intro/outro music … hey, I’m just having some fun trying out different ideas for PROpenMic. 
Please, humor me.
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