University officials will conduct a new search for a permanent School of Media and Public Affairs director this fall, after the search stagnated this summer with neither of two candidates being given the school's top slot.
The new search has not yet begun, and University officials would not give a timetable as to when the SMPA would begin fielding new applicants for the directorship. GW administrators previously told The Hatchet they hoped to fill the position by July 1, but that date came and went as the year-long search proved to be difficult.
Interim SMPA Director Steve Livingston said the school is in "no rush" to place a new director, and would not comment on any potential applicants for the upcoming search. Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin and a previous candidate for the spot, said he has already contacted SMPA to renew his interest in the school's leading post.
"I remain very impressed by SMPA," Goldstein said. "The school has great potential."
Goldstein withdrew himself from the field last spring in light of family health issues, leaving GW administrators to choose between remaining finalists Marvin Kalb, a national media personality, and Robert Entman, the author of several mass media books and a professor of communications at North Carolina State University.
But Kalb, who has strong ties to the University through his GW-sponsored radio show "The Kalb Report," withdrew himself from the race in late April citing frustration over the lengthy selection process. Entman, the remaining candidate, said he wasn't offered the director post but will join GW's faculty as an SMPA professor in January.
In an interview last month, Livingston would not elaborate on the specifics surrounding Kalb's decision and did not say why Entman wasn't chosen for the job. But amid ongoing changes within SMPA, including the phase-out of the electronic media major and tweeking of the journalism program, faculty members have become somewhat divided over the school's educational direction.
The new search has not yet begun, and University officials would not give a timetable as to when the SMPA would begin fielding new applicants for the directorship. GW administrators previously told The Hatchet they hoped to fill the position by July 1, but that date came and went as the year-long search proved to be difficult.
Interim SMPA Director Steve Livingston said the school is in "no rush" to place a new director, and would not comment on any potential applicants for the upcoming search. Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin and a previous candidate for the spot, said he has already contacted SMPA to renew his interest in the school's leading post.
"I remain very impressed by SMPA," Goldstein said. "The school has great potential."
Goldstein withdrew himself from the field last spring in light of family health issues, leaving GW administrators to choose between remaining finalists Marvin Kalb, a national media personality, and Robert Entman, the author of several mass media books and a professor of communications at North Carolina State University.
But Kalb, who has strong ties to the University through his GW-sponsored radio show "The Kalb Report," withdrew himself from the race in late April citing frustration over the lengthy selection process. Entman, the remaining candidate, said he wasn't offered the director post but will join GW's faculty as an SMPA professor in January.
In an interview last month, Livingston would not elaborate on the specifics surrounding Kalb's decision and did not say why Entman wasn't chosen for the job. But amid ongoing changes within SMPA, including the phase-out of the electronic media major and tweeking of the journalism program, faculty members have become somewhat divided over the school's educational direction.
