A Message from J-School Director Kathleen Bartzen Culver
When I became director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication last summer, I took a walk around the halls and started thinking about our physical environment. We had bulletin boards and signage that hadn’t changed since Vilas Hall opened in 1972. We had classrooms with bulky, immobile furniture dating to when newswriting and public relations classes used typewriters. And we had some rooms that were bursting with activities while others were dramatically underutilized.
I came to a conclusion: the static and dated nature of our spaces was completely out of sync with the dynamic and forward-looking work that goes on here.
So faculty, staff and I got to work on some big thinking.
We outfitted our 2nd and 5th floor hallways with video screens featuring our outstanding alumni (visit go.wisc.edu/spotlight if you’d like to add your own profile).
We sought and received major grant funding from the College of Letters & Science to modernize two lab classrooms and convert another under-used space into classroom space.
And we are focusing our Day of the Badger fundraising campaign April 16 and 17 in part on further improvements to technology and facilities (see below for more info and save the date).
We know that classrooms and computers will never be what makes the J-School the outstanding place it is to learn and engage. The single biggest driver of our excellence is our people. But I am proud that we are working to give our students, faculty and staff the kinds of spaces and tools that can help empower them in their world-class research, teaching and commitment to the Wisconsin Idea.
On, Wisconsin!
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