Associate professor Boudreau named chair of journalism department
Associate professor Timothy Boudreau has been appointed permanent chair of the journalism department on Oct. 31.
“I’m excited about it,” Boudreau said. “I appreciate the support of my colleagues.”
The responsibilities of the department chair include coordinating events and programs in the department, assigning faculty to classes and programs and collaborating with faculty on what should happen in the department.
Boudreau said the department wanted a sense of stability and the appointment of a permanent chair provides that.
“You need to use the power of persuasion when it comes to changes,” he said.
After journalism professor Jiafei Yin was relieved of her duties as chair in April 2016, when a search for a permanent replacement began.
“We had some interim for about a year and a half,” Boudreau said. “It’s been an ongoing issue in the department.”
The two interim chairs in the department during that period were art and design faculty member Al Wildey and Andrew Spencer, current interim associate dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts.
Yin was originally the department’s first choice, Boudreau said, but the position was given to him.
CCFA Dean Janet Hethorn declined to comment on the appointment, saying she doesn’t comment on personnel issues. Spencer also declined to comment, citing the same reason.
Boudreau wants to "see the department adapt to the constant changes in the media world." He said the faculty has good ideas for changes and wants to see some of those changes implemented.
Boudreau teaches media and society and law of mass communication at Central Michigan University. Before teaching at CMU, he worked as a reporter, photographer and editor for more than 10 years at newspapers in Kentucky, Flordia, Virginia and Ohio.
