Dean Lynch to UC Berkeley: Gotcha!
Yup, that’s right: it was announced today that she’ll be turning down the position of dean at the University of California at Berkeley’s graduate school of journalism and continuing in her position as the dean of the Park School of communications.
She hasn’t said anything about it personally (press releases don’t count) but expect something about it on her blog later - she’s good about that.
How long this will last, no one’s really sure, because it seems like she’s a hot commodity on the radar of probably every journalism program in the nation.
Now, I don’t have any idea why she changed her mind (again) but I think her continued leadership of our school can only be considered more of a good thing. She has lots of great plans for the school and it would have been a shame to see them fall to the wayside if she left.
UC Berkeley: I think I speak for most of the Park School when I stick out my tongue in your general direction (west, I believe) and gleefully exclaim, “We won!” Well played, Dean Lynch, well played.
It makes me very happy as a senior who will eventually be an alumni to see her willing to stick with a place we all love, even if it does have its faults. **cough the journalism program fix that first please cough**
UPDATE 10/2: In an e-mail, Dean Lynch explained to me that she’s not “wacko” for changing her mind twice (her words):
“I know I look pretty wacko — I’m not, honestly, really — but I am following my heart, and at the end of the day, that’s always the right thing to do.”
And in case you were wondering how long she’ll be staying?
“I plan on being on this team for a long time to come….it’s a winner! “
Plus, Ithaca is gorges and all that. And I’m sure those tree-loving hippie protest monkeys at Berkeley had something to do with her decision to stay here. I personally wouldn’t want a colony of drum circle-prone weirdos living in the trees outside of my office.
Categories: Uncategorized, administration, ithaca college
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Feed for College Ave.
It’s funny that at lesser than greater so-called universities, students tend to be concerned with retaining their sub-par faculty.
We’d like you to know that her education background did not match the quality we are used to receiving here at UC Berkeley. Therefore, we feel she’d be better served at a lower-tiered school. And realize, that as one of the top universities in the world, we will not have a problem finding a dean.
And when someone has trouble making decisions, we believe you all should take a second look at her management skills.
So continue your sorry blog, but you all know that one day, you’d like to apply to our school. Hope you can get in…
P.S. The only thing we know in Ithaca, is Cornell.
“Sub-par” faculty? I think these are the times when we need more than degrees to help advance journalism. Looking for educational background alone isn’t going to save the industry, because let’s face it, j students are the future ? but only if they stay in the program. Lynch’s experience at ONA and vision ? that’s really important ? could be well-received anywhere.
Unless I’ve read the headlines wrong, Lynch turned down Berkeley, not the other way around, even if there’s something we’re missing behind the scenes. Your feelings about where she’s well-served are moot then.
Did you ever consider a different management style might be necessary? It certainly is useful here; she’s been able to establish initiatives like CellFlix or the Center for Independent Media that are pushing this school forward.
“Sorry blog” and “The only thing we know in Ithaca, is Cornell”? Those are some childish words from a top-tier institution. And if arrogance is as widespread on campus as seeps through your comments, some students would likely think twice before applying.
Oh Great Pretentious and Concerned Scholar of the Journalistic Arts:
Please forgive us for our completely unintended snub of your glorious institution. We are truly humbled by your scathing rebuke of our sorry little blog post.
Seriously, though: We’re going to go ahead and apologize to everyone who may have had to read your nasty little comment. Guys, we’re sorry some cranky, anonymous troll had to succumb to that perverse desire to be mean on the Internet.
Scholar dude: We hope for your sake that you never have to leave your lofty ivory tower and co-habitate with the commoners. On behalf of everyone at Ithaca College, we want to wish you the best of luck with spending your parent’s hedge fund money.
Not sure what is going on here, but please know that the concerned cal scholar’s hateful tone in no way speaks for the berkeley j-school community.
you have your dean back, and that’s nice for you and inconvenient for us. can’t we leave it at that?
also, just on a side note, in-state tuition at berkeley is less than that at ithaca, not that we need to get in a whole snit about that either.
- a well-intentioned cal student
Hey, well-intentioned cal student: Thanks for being civil. Sorry if my post came across as combative, but I don’t have anything against your school, really - we just wanted to keep our dean.
Best of luck with the tree hippies.
I cannot speak for “Concerned Scholar” or for the rest of the UC Berkeley J-school community, but I think “CS’s” sentiments must be an exaggeration of the disappointment I also feel. I was not involved in the dean search, but I know it was a lengthy process into which many students invested a lot of long hours and emotional energy.
Also, as a second-year student, it’s beyond frustrating to realize I will not have the chance to build a relationship with a dean and to have that person usher our class through our final semester at Cal.
I know many of us appreciate Ithaca College as a top-tier institution, which goes a long way toward explaining why we were so excited about Dean Lynch. Her decision to stay with you reflects upon how strong your program is.
I, for one, am comforted by viewing Dean Lynch’s decision as evidence that there are still good guys who prize family, community and loyalty over career advancement.
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