School of Communication Updates
| STUDENTS: Have questions about the new School of Communication? The Office of Academic Advising has put together some answers to your FAQs. |
| Fall 2009 Schedule in the School of Communication |
Spring 2009
E.J. Dionne to Speak at First SOC Graduation
By LeeAnn Maton, SOC Reporter
March, 2009—Washington Post political columnist, E.J. Dionne will serve as the first-ever commencement speaker for Loyola’s new School of Communication on Friday, May 8 at 7:00PM, Joseph J. Gentile Center on Lake Shore Campus.
Passionate about religion and politics, Dionne is a senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington, D.C. think tank on public policy, and teaches courses in religion, media, and politics at Georgetown University. His column is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers, and in addition to penning the best-selling book Why Americans Hate Politics (2001), Dionne is a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio and Meet the Press.
“He’s endlessly curious, passionately liberal and democratic; committed to Catholic to social teaching,” said Loyola Distinguished Journalist in Residence, Don Wycliff, who met Dionne when they both worked for the New York Times earlier in their careers. "I think he’s a perfect fit for Loyola as a commencement speaker,” said Wycliff, who urged School of Communication Dean Don Heider to invite Dionne to speak at the commencement ceremony.
“It’s a great school with a great tradition, both in the Catholic tradition and the tradition of higher education,” Dionne said of Loyola, “And since I teach at Georgetown, I probably do have an open bias for Jesuit institutions.”
Dionne said he plans to speak on the challenges and opportunities facing this generation of graduates, weaving in Catholic social teaching along the way.
“I’ve made the argument for a while that your generation could be the next ‘Greatest Generation,’” he said. “There’s something very special about you, and [because] you’re going to come along at a time of significant crisis in the country, I think you have the opportunity to remake the country, and not every generation has that opportunity.”
“What I would recommend is that [journalism graduates] think about their lives as double lives. That is to say, ‘How can you pursue journalism, but what other lines of work are also compatible with writing?’” he said. “Your generation is going to have to be more flexible and creative in finding different avenues for your talents.”
“I hope he brings a measure of his prestige. It can’t hurt us to have someone of his stature giving the first commencement address for the School of Communication,” Wycliff said. “I hope he’ll deliver a message that the students will take to heart.”
School of Communication Introduces Itself at Open House
By LeeAnn Maton, SOC Reporter
January, 2009— Students and members of the university joined faculty and staff of Loyola’s new School of Communication to celebrate the opening of its new facility on Jan. 21.
The event marked a year in transition for the Department of Communication, which moved from Loyola Hall on the rim of Lake Shore Campus to 51 E. Pearson, 
at the heart of the Water Tower Campus as a School of Communication. “We’re at an interesting moment in communications,” said Dean Donald Heider, as he welcomed those present at the celebration. Despite the difficulties currently facing media outlets and in spite of the challenges, “it’s also kind of an amazing time.”
"This incredible era of change … gives us the chance to craft something new,” Heider said. He hopes the new school will strive to be aware of how technology is changing the field of communication and incorporate that knowledge into how it teaches its students. One such innovation will be a new convergence studio. Heider said that the finished space will include a TV studio and radio interview set. He also hopes to establish an interactive news service in the studio, with students reporting stories throughout Chicago as they break, then using the lab to post them directly to the Web.
But how will the lab affect actual broadcast classes? “Now we’ll be able to teach them!” joked Beth Konrad, who has taught broadcast news for several years. She explained that classes currently learn fundamentals of reporting and interviewing with simulated situations and computer footage, but that “there’s nothing like being in a studio.” Konrad said she hopes her classes can “try to get into some truly realistic situations."
Fellow broadcast professional, Phil Ponce agreed. “There will always be a need for people who are good storytellers,” he said.
Danielle Basci, recently hired as general manager of Loyola’s own radio station WLUW, will also use the space after the station
moves Into Baumhart Hall from its current location in Damen Hall on the Lake Shore campus. “I think it is a benefit,” said Basci, who worked at WJHK at University of Kansas-Lawrence and NPR before coming back to her “roots” in college radio at Loyola. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work to start here,” she said, but she and her volunteers are excited about the new space.
Guests at the open house were invited to tour the facilities — classrooms in which students like Elsie Ayala are taking courses for the first time. A junior in advertising/public relations and member of Beta Rho, the communication honors society, Ayala feels that the newly-formed School of Communication is a benefit. “It’s nice,” she said. “It’s about time I would say. I feel that most other universities have a school [dedicated to communication], and I’m glad that Loyola, in a sense is catching up.”
Along with Beta Rho, the Loyola Phoenix student newspaper, WLUW, the Society of Professional Journalists Loyola Chapter and the International Association of Business Communicators chapter participated.
Assistant Dean Shawna Cooper-Gibson said that the school’s staff and faculty are enjoying their new surroundings as well. “It’s wonderful having a sense of community between faculty and staff,” she said.
T-shirt Design Contest
SOC T-shirt Logo Winners Unveiled
LeeAnn Maton, SOC Reporter
January, 2009— Now fans of Loyola’s School of Communication can wear their pride on their sleeves
—literally. The new SOC T-shirt, bearing student-created artwork, made its public debut at the school’s open house on Jan. 21.
The idea for the T-shirt came from the Dean’s office and several faculty members. The goal was to combine a new logo and marketing strategy with student creativity, giving them a voice into how the School of Communication is perceived.
Assistant Dean Shawna Cooper-Gibson coordinated and helped judge the contest, and said the judges tried to choose designs that represented all of the school’s majors. That was particularly true of the back design. It was “something that spoke to all of our majors and showed some kind of unity among them,” she said. The design used the word “Communication” to link its many disciplines.
Tim Carbonarra, used Adobe Illustrator to design the graphic to the shirt back,. An Advertising/Public Relations major and Visual Communications minor, Carbonarra said that his experiences in classes and internships, combined with his love of social media, inspired the design. He is member of the Advertising/Public Relations club and hopes to one day run his own integrated marketing firm to combine social media, advertisement, and viral campaigns.
Joe Guntli, a senior in Advertising/Public Relations, designed the front logo around the image of a vintage broadcast microphone. “I was trying to toss around a few ideas pertaining to communication, and that’s what came out,” he said. Guntli is currently interning as a copywriter at LifeSource, the largest blood donation center in Illinois, and said that that his experiences at Loyola have helped him get “a wide range of experience” in his chosen field.
Although Cooper-Gibson said that the Dean’s office isn’t currently planning any more contests, she was pleased with the turnout of design submissions. “The ones that came in I was impressed with,” she said.
But does she like the final product? “Absolutely” she said “I think they look fantastic.”
T-shirts are can be purchased at the School of Communication building at 51 E. Pearson on Water Tower Campus. Proceeds from the T-shirt sales will go into a scholarship fund.
Fall 2008
Beta Rho Hosts Meet the Dean
November, 2008—Beta Rho, Loyola’s Communication Honor Society, hosted a open forum for students to Meet the Dean, on Wednesday, November 12 in the Terry Student Center on Water Tower Campus. The event gave communication, journalism and advertising/public relations students some insight about the new School of Communication from the new dean, Donald Heider, Ph.D.
Dean Heider, and Associate Dean Hannah Rockwell and Assistant Dean Shawna Cooper-Gibson introduced themselves to 50 plus students who attended, then opened the floor for questions. Questions ranged from the scope of the new facilities, courses and faculty to plans for the future.
Before the event Mari Grigaliunas, a reporter for the Phoenix asked Dean Heider some questions. Check out the story in the Loyola Phoenix.
Heider Named Dean of New School of Communication
Chicago, April, 2008—President Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. announced Tuesday that Donald Heider Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, had been appointed the first dean of Loyola University Chicago's School of Communication (SOC). Dr. Heider is an award-winning broadcast journalist and currently serves as associate dean at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, a position he has occupied since 2006.
Spring 2008
New School Looks for a Founding Dean
Chicago, January, 2008—The Board of Trustees of Loyola University Chicago has just approved the first new school in 39 years—the School of Communication!
Our faculty and staff are excited about what this approval means for the Department of Communication in the next year—new faculty, new staff, a new building and a new dean.
The School of Communication will have its headquarters in The Clare, which is the new building under construction next to Lewis Towers and across from Baumhart Hall on the Water Tower Campus. Classrooms, facilities, faculty and administrative offices will be located on three floors at the base of The Clare, which opens in January 2009. The school's new state-of-the-art "convergence media lab" on the ground floor will support live studio production work for video, audio, and new media.
Our undergraduate majors in advertising and public relations, communication, and journalism provide the curricular base for the School of Communication. We will have additional new faculty and staff to offer these majors in '08-'09, and new curricular growth at the graduate and undergraduate levels in the future. The school will continue to provide curricular and facility support for the international film and media studies program and for WLUW.
If students have any questions about the School of Communication, please refer to our frequently asked questions. Or, ask a faculty member or your advisor in the Communication Department or contact our administrative offices.
—Elizabeth Coffman, Chair
