JEAN FOLKERTS’ TENURE AT CAROLINA Shaping the future When Jean Folkerts took over as dean at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University administrators and school faculty, alumni and friends asked her to lead the school in a direction that embraced technology and innovation while holding strong to the core values of journalism and scholarly research.
She served as editor of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly and on editorial boards for other major journals. She also served on the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s executive board.
if you come to her.” — Rebecca Putterman, reesenews.org
“Jean did it with intelligence and grace.” — Roy Park Jr., Triad Foundation
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FOLKERTS ERA
Folkerts’ leadership guided Carolina’s J-school to a major curriculum overhaul; a strong role in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education and the News21 project; expanded international programs; significant interdisciplinary and industry partnerships; transformative facilities upgrades; new scholarships, fellowships and professorships; and the Reese Felts Digital News and audience research initiative. “Together with our alumni, faculty, students and staff, I think we have created a climate of constant innovation and a desire to be the best,” Folkerts said.
“Jean is an exceptional, innovative leader in journalism and mass communication education during a time of great change in the media industries.” — Chancellor Holden Thorp
Shaping the future
devoted to solving any problem no matter how big or how small
“I came to the school in 2006 with a charge to help the school make a transition to the new, digital media environment, and above all — as a donor and longtime friend of the school told me early in my time here — to ‘take good care of our school,’” Folkerts said. “I hope I’ve done that.”
Folkerts came to Carolina from the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University where, in 2001, she was named Teacher of the Year by the Freedom Forum. Her academic career — which included stints at the University of Texas and Mount Vernon College in addition to GWU — was preceded by professional work as a reporter, freelance writer, magazine editor and assistant press secretary to a Kansas governor.
JEAN FOLKERTS’ TENURE AT CAROLINA
“She really cares about what you care about … and she’s
Jan. 9, 2008
2007 Folkerts traveled to 28 N.C. towns and cities and another 13 around the U.S. to meet with alumni and friends to chart the new course for journalism and mass communication education at Carolina.
July 1, 2006
Carolina journalism students became the first to collaborate with ESPNU on its Campus Connection program to employ students in game broadcasts. The students helped cover the UNC vs. UNC-Asheville game in the Smith Center.
August 2007
Folkerts became dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Distinguished Alumni Professor.
The school’s M.A./J.D. program accepted its first students to the dual degree program with the law school.
March 5, 2007 The UNC Center for Media Law and Policy, a collaborative initiative of Carolina’s J-school and law school, held its first major event — an address by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin.
March 27–28, 2008 The symposium “Raising the Ante: The Internet’s Impact on Journalism Education and Existing Theories of Mass Communication” drew 29 leading researchers and practitioners for a lively discussion of new and revised theories that will guide journalism and journalism education in the future.
March 2008 The Carolina News Studio — a partnership between the J-school and University Relations — opened in Carroll Hall to provide faculty and administrators opportunities to share their expertise broadly with TV and radio outlets.
Feb. 4, 2009 July 7, 2008 The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation selected UNC to join 10 other top journalism schools in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education to adapt journalism education to the challenges of the news industry.
The school was recommended for re-accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). In its concluding report, the visiting team said the school “has earned a reputation as one of the premier programs in journalism and mass communication.”
March 12, 2010
The journalism programs at UNC and North Carolina Central University partnered with Durham civic and church leaders, volunteers and residents to launch the Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE, a community news publication serving Northeast Central Durham (NECD).
The school implemented a new curriculum that takes into account changes in the news and communication industries, including the move toward increased use of a wider variety of channels to communicate. The school’s core classes — News Writing, Professional Problems and Ethics, and Introduction to Mass Communication Law — remain the same.
Oct. 1, 2009 Folkerts announced a $4.1 million gift from the estate of UNC alumnus Reese Felts — the largest single gift ever by an individual to the school — to fund an experimental student news project and audience research initiative.
April 26–30, 2010
Sept. 6, 2009 Carolina journalism students launched an experimental reporting website — poweringanation.org — that explores U.S. energy use. The project is part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education’s News21 project.
Oct. 4–5, 2009 The school hosted a meeting of deans from top journalism programs participating in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative.
Sept. 9, 2009 The school commemorated 100 years of journalism and mass communication education at Carolina during the 2009–10 academic year. The centennial observance began on Sept. 9, the anniversary of the first meeting of UNC’s first journalism course taught by Edward Kidder Graham.
March 11–13, 2010 The school hosted the 35th annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Southeast Colloquium in Chapel Hill.
The school partnered with several other organizations to co-sponsor the 2010 World Wide Web Conference (WWW2010) in Raleigh.
August 2008 The school partnered with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for 31 Carolina J-school students to travel to China to help cover the games.
June 30, 2010
The school increased its focus on the business side of digital media with the creation of a new Knight Chair in Digital Advertising and Marketing, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
July 1, 2009
June 2008 The school launched the Carolina del Norte project focusing on the implications of a growing Latino population in North Carolina. Carolina del Norte helped lead to the formation of the Latino Journalism and Media (LATIJAM) project in the school.
Jan. 1, 2011
Sept. 24, 2009
Oct. 28, 2009 Raleigh attorney Wade Hargrove was honored with the establishment of an annual media law colloquium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
June 11, 2010 The school finished first overall in the Intercollegiate Competition of the 50th annual Hearst Journalism Awards, often called the Pulitzers of college journalism.
The school accepted applications for the new Master of Arts in Technology and Communication, a master’s degree for working professionals taught entirely online. The first class will enroll in fall 2011.
The school set its record for fundraising — $7.7 million in private gifts — in a year. Since Folkerts became dean, donors established four new distinguished professorships and many new graduate and undergraduate scholarships while the school significantly increased grant applications and research funding.
February 2011 The school announced a new business journalism undergraduate major that will begin in the 2011–12 academic year in partnership with the KenanFlagler Business School.
Sept. 24, 2010 The school dedicated its newly converted high definition television studio, funded with a $400,000 gift from Capitol Broadcasting Co.
April 18, 2011 The school announced a new partnership with Bloomberg News in which its editors and reporters will teach a business reporting course in the school.
Nov. 2, 2010 Pioneering innovative ways of delivering news and information, the school launched reesenews.org, an experimental news website designed to give students multimedia experience and to help small- and medium-sized news organizations better understand consumer uses of media.
Alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students honored Dean Jean Folkerts at an April 9 dinner at the Carolina Inn, thanks to anonymous donors who made gifts to underwrite the event. Ed Vick, chair of the school’s board of advisers, emceed an evening that included remarks by UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, J-school professor Cathy Packer, and Al May, a colleague of Folkerts’ at George Washington University. Folkerts surprised her husband Leroy Towns — a strategic communication professor in the school — with a gift naming the Leroy Towns Atrium in the school. The dinner included a video tribute to Dean Folkerts. View the video at youtube.com/uncjschool.
“You’ve led the School of Journalism and Mass Communication to new heights. You’ve helped us look over the horizon toward the future of media in North Carolina and the nation. Thank you for your service to our students, to our citizens and to this great state.” — Gov. Bev Perdue