Welcome to Dispatches from a New Dean! I’m Walt Jacobs, currently an Associate Professor in the Department of African American & African Studies at the University of Minnesota. Before joining African American & African Studies as chairperson in 2007 (serving through 2012), I held faculty positions in the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, and the University of Minnesota General College, the former entry point for many students of color and first generation students. My Ph.D. degree is in sociology from Indiana University, and my undergraduate degree is in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. My research explores personal and social possibilities of undergraduate students’ generation of creative digital nonfiction; see “The Pedagogy of Digital Storytelling in the College Classroom” as an example.

On July 1 I will become Professor and Founding Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Before the move I will write about preparation for assuming that position, and after July 1 I will chronicle my first year in the creation of a new unit. I view academic leadership as both a science and an art: important considerations for decision making cannot be completely captured in a spreadsheet when balancing compliance with changing financial/organizational realities, fidelity to tradition and established best practices, and a commitment to innovation.

In this blog I will also write about media culture (movies and TV shows), technology, and social identities. I look forward to reading your feedback!