Well, how about something in a slightly bigger picture? I can't guarantee anything but I work for The Oklahoman as a copy editor. If I were to get a press release about the program, I could probably find a lovely writer to do something. I think it could be a nice feature piece. What do ya think? Gracelynn Jaron Williams <[log in to unmask]> wrote: I truly wish I had not missed the meeting, alas Japanese class takes precedence. I hope that a meeting with Boren IS scheduled and that more will be in attendance. My question to everyone is this: would it be possible to get this in the media eye (by media I mean the school newspaper) ? ----- Original Message ----- From: William Prescott <[log in to unmask]> Date: Monday, December 5, 2005 7:07 pm Subject: [PWA-L] Dean Foote meeting update > The following is courtesy of Jessica. > > Will > ********************************************* > > Excellent meeting with Dean Foote and Prof. Blevins; the Dean > sounded very impressed with the PW program and its potential. He > expressed interested in our proposals, and seemed willing to work > with us to improve the program. > > The bad news: there is no extra funding available. Boren cancelled > the grant for program funding and instead plans to use the money > (i.e. the $15 million) to build another addition to the Gaylord > building. The Deans have no discretion over how the money is > spent; it is a Presidential decision. > > Which means we'll have to be creative with our resources. Or we > can try to convince Boren that program improvements lend far more > prestige to a college than bricks and mortar. > > Now for the good news: > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------- > > - Visibility/Information - > > * The Dean put Will in charge of the PW website. We've got the > green light to write up information for it now. > > * The Dean also mentioned the need for a PW brochure highlighting > our program, and possible even a short advertisement in the future. > > * We also talked about a PW day, where we could showcase student > works, articles, short stories, or that novel you've been slaving > away on day and night. > > * He agreed that the collection of PW alumni published works > deserves a special display in the library, or another suitable > location. > * PW guest speakers would not be too difficult to get. We just > need students and/or faculty saying "Hey, we'd like this guy to > come and speak." Obviously within reason budget-wise. > > - Classes - > > He was very supportive of cross-listing classes with other > colleges, and liked the idea of conferences attendance counting > towards class hours. > > * We need to compile a list of courses that we would like to see > cross-listed with the Journalism college undergrad or graduate > program. > * We need to compile a list of conferences we would like to count > towards credit hours. > > Kathy also brought up an idea for reducing workload for our > professors in introductory PW classes. The professor would lecture > to the entire class one day a week. Then once or twice a week, the > class would split into sections taught by TAs (trained in the PW > program) for more in-depth information. > > The Dean was very supportive of this idea, and Prof. Blevins said > it would be a fairly easy change to make. This would apply to > introductory courses only. > > * We need to find out what our professors think of this idea. If > they are for it, we need to find out what courses they would like > to see changed. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------- > > All in all, a damn fine meeting. I for one am a little sore over > loosing the funding to a new building, but there are things we can > do to improve the PW program as it stands right now. Heck, I'd be > up for trying a meeting with Boren if I thought it would do any > good. I have no idea how University politics work at that level > though. Anyone know? > > -Jessica > > > > > > William D. Prescott > > University of Oklahoma > > office no. 405-325-2710 > > [log in to unmask] >