Amy Falkner, dean of Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications and Michael Johnson-Cramer, dean of the School of Business, will depart from Ithaca College this summer. Melanie Stein, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, announced Falkner and Johnson-Cramer’s departure in a June 9 email to the campus community.
Both deans began working at the college in the summer of 2022. Johnson-Cramer is leaving IC on June 15 to become the dean of the School of Leadership and Management at the United States Coast Guard Academy. Falkner will leave IC on June 30 and move to North Carolina to be near family. Falkner’s departure coincides with the retirement of Rob Gearhart, associate dean of the Park School, who will be retiring June 30.
Falkner said via email that she is proud of what the Park School accomplished during her time as dean, bringing up the creation of the Special Opportunities for Students fund, updating academic programs, hiring faculty and creating opportunities to connect students with communications industries.
“Most of all, I am grateful for the people,” Falkner said via email. “The relationships I have built at Park and across Ithaca College will remain one of the most meaningful parts of my time here. Watching our students grow, succeed and launch their careers has been the most rewarding aspect of serving as dean.”
Christina Moylan, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, will serve as the interim dean of the School of Business along with her other dean position. Belisa Gonzalez, dean of Faculty Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, will serve as the interim dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications.
“Christina and Belisa bring significant leadership experience and deep knowledge of Ithaca College, and I am confident they will guide their respective schools successfully during this transition period,” Stein said in the email to the campus community.
Moylan said via email that she is excited to serve as the interim dean of the School of Business while the college searches for permanent leadership.
“Our schools share much in common, and I’m looking forward to working alongside their outstanding faculty and staff and building relationships with their students,” Moylan said. “Certainly, providing leadership to two schools will require me to rebalance my duties. However, the role of a dean is never singular, and there are excellent teams in both schools that I am excited to work with on academics.”
In an email to The Ithacan, Stein said that while Gonzalez is leading the Park School, Luca Maurer, executive director of Student Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and Omar Stoute ’18, director of staff equity, inclusion and belonging, will lead the Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
“I am excited about working more closely with my colleagues in the Park School of Communications, many of whom I have long-standing relationships with, and helping to provide leadership during this important moment of transition,” Gonzalez said via email.
Stein said in an email to The Ithacan that information regarding permanent leadership plans will be shared with the campus community in the future as those plans are developed.
Correction: A previous version of this article said Rob Gearhart, associate dean of the Park School, retired at the end of Spring 2026. Gearhart is retiring June 30. This article has been updated accordingly.
