By By: ZACHARY BEAUCHAMP
Staff Writer
zbeaucha@iu.edu
If you are a Communication Studies major, minor or are interested in the department there are several changes going on that you should be aware of. There are several changes in members of the faculty for the Communication Studies department, as well as potential shifts in degree offerings.
Prior to this semester, Yuri Obata was the chair of the department, however Obata is currently on a leave of absence from the university. It was decided that Kari Wilson will step into the role of chair, however, Wilson is on sabbatical until after the current semester ends.
Tami Martinez will be stepping in as the interim chair of the Communication Studies department until the next semester when Wilson returns from her sabbatical to take the position.
“I’ve served as chair before, prior to Dr. Obata being chair, so this isn’t really new to me, so it seemed to make sense for me to just come in and keep things going during this transition,” said Martinez.
If you are a Communication Studies student, or are simply interested, make sure to keep note of these changes to know who you might need to talk to in this department.
Additionally, there are several changes in the works to the degrees that are offered in the department.
“We’ve looked at an overall change in our degree tracks… working to retool that and maintain consistency. The areas of focus are not necessarily changing tremendously because we still have a journalism component, interpersonal communication, organizational communication and so we are looking at retooling those particular things to streamline them,” said Martinez.
Martinez went on to say how many of these changes would not happen immediately and would take some time to come into being. Some of these changes could be years off but are getting started on the ground floor right now.
