Five-Year Strategic Plan

The JMC School must, between 2021 and 2026:

• 1. Increase the diversity of our tenured and tenure-track faculty and part-time faculty, while maintaining our current diversity.

  • - Create a diversity plan to increase BIPOC permanent and part-time faculty in all major areas, particularly recruiting faculty with research and creative activities that focus on the importance of diversity, equity and social justice.

    - Consider interdisciplinary teaching partnerships that would increase the diversity of faculty (for example, building a Spanish language Journalism initiative).

    - Re-evaluate the weight of service initiatives as critical to the promotion and tenure of BIPOC faculty and other faculty, who have an unfair service commitment due to the nature of their responsibilities and duties.

    - Prepare students for the future of advertising, journalism, public relations and mass communications in Year 2040 and beyond.

• 2. Enhance faculty research, grants/contracts and dissemination.

  • - Redefine standards and definitions for research and scholarly/creative activity to better reflect and represent the needs and interests of our faculty and society

    - Articulate school expectations for retention, tenure and promotion to better reflect our students, faculty, and society, now and over 5-10 years.

    - Support grant development, proposals, dissemination and travel that underscore the importance of diversity, equity and social justice for all.

    - Seek grant opportunities to help to promote STEM, positing students to understand the changing world in which they will live and work.

    - Profile creative activity and research that accentuates our social justice mission

• 3. Review curriculum alignment with vision, mission and directions.

  • - Consider and implement ways to decolonize JMC curriculum to more effectively address the critical needs and issues of BIPOC students, and to present opportunities for all students to engage in political discussions that impact their future.

    - Identify new opportunities for online education, especially at the graduate level.

    - Continually develop professional partnerships and collaboration with media companies and Silicon Valley businesses.

    - Identify and plan for the extended integration of new technologies in pedagogy.

    - Develop interdisciplinary curricular opportunities in STEM, health journalism, social justice and environmental sustainability “Green curriculum”

    - Enhance faculty orientation, industry training and structured mentoring programs.

• 4. Define support for student success.

  • - Establish new assessment surveys and data analysis approaches to drive curriculum changes and future hires.

    - Strengthen the web presence to showcase School programming and to enhance recruitment

    - Maintain commitment to curriculum enrollment planning to keep national Journalism accreditation.

    - Establish new alumni and professional mentoring and portfolio review systems.

    - Maintain an alumnus contact database and a congruent plan for tracking graduates.

• 5. Enhance revenue streams.

  • - Target specific needs and interests for major fundraising initiatives.

    - Identify potential revenue stream through innovative programming and services.

    - Invite media industry and corporate consultation for funding initiatives, student internships, and opportunities.

    - Include global media professionals in multi-platform program promotional efforts.

    - Provide significant RTP credit for such initiatives as Professional and Creative activities.

• 6. Focus operations on strategic planning, effective communication, sense of cohesion and accountability.

  • - Publish an annual online newsletter of the School’s annual achievement for alumni and industry leaders.

    - Create and maintain comprehensive electronic filing and equipment tracking systems.

    - Revise quantitative and qualitative assessment tools for more timely and insightful annual reports.

    - Create a Silicon Valley Center for Social Media Analytics that would serve both academia and business.

• 7. Improve governance and operational models.

  • - Streamline committee service, reducing committee size and increasing committee effectiveness.

    - Develop ongoing professional development educational and research practices.

    - Leverage the school’s public reputation for excellence through industry partnerships and technological innovation.

2021 through 2026

In order to remain viable and a leader in the technology driven, fast-paced, and ever-changing global communications landscape, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications must constantly re-invent itself as a pioneer in teaching, research and scholarship in mass communications. JMC School students must develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and media management skills while learning how to master new technologies to meet media industry expectations. The 2013 gift of $8.7 million to the JMC School from Jack and Emma Anderson provides, in perpetuity, the resources for periodic upgrades of classroom technologies and faculty training on new equipment. This gift, however, does not permit funds to be used for hiring or faculty salary increases. JMC School continues to rely on the university administration to recognize and support the strategic hiring and development of faculty to broaden the scope, growth and academic mission of the program to meet changing times. Future hiring of faculty and staff should align with our above strategic plan, as specified from 2021 to 2026.