DePauw has big plans for the many resource centers across campus in the future. For now, they are looking to add new directors to the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media (PCCM) and the McDermond Center.
The current directors of these centers are directing both the centers and their respective fellows programs. Jonathan Nichols-Pethick is the director of the PCCM and Media Fellows. Jeff Gropp is the director of the McDermond Center and Management Fellows. Anne Harris, vice president for academic affairs, said the centers and fellows programs will need separate directors in order to expand the centers’ reach.
“We just cannot do that with one staff member,” said Harris. “Our future plans need a director for both.”
Harris said the overall plan is to open the centers to everyone on campus and make them more accessible. This includes coordinating the centers to work with each other and to open up curriculums specific to the different centers. However, the first step is to hire separate directors for the PCCM and McDermond Centers.
Nichols-Pethick said he has known about the decision to hire a new director of the PCCM since the beginning of this school year, and he thinks having separate directors for the PCCM and Media Fellows will ultimately be positive for both.
“The two jobs are really just bigger than one person,” Nichols-Pethick said, adding that they are looking for a professional in the media field to direct the PCCM.
Harris said the search for the director of the PCCM has just begun while the search for the director of the McDermond Center has been ongoing for over a year. She added that they are in no rush to hire someone.
“We want to wait for the absolute best,” Harris said.
Tyler Rosen, a sophomore Media Fellow, said that he can see the difficulty in directing both the PCCM and Media Fellows.
“I think JNP (Nichols-Pethick) has done a great job doing both and I think there might be some advantages to that,” Rosen said. “But I also think in the end that having two separate directors would be best.”
Harris said one of the reasons they want to bring in new directors is to try to bring more students with different academic backgrounds to the PCCM and McDermond Center. She said student involvement in the PCCM is roughly 75 percent Media Fellows and 25 percent non-Media Fellows.
“We want the centers to reach out to more students on campus. It shouldn’t just be Media Fellows working in the Pulliam Center or just Management Fellows working in the McDermond Center,” Harris said.
Gail Enright, a junior Management Fellow, would like to see more students outside of Management Fellows working in the McDermond Center.
“I love that idea,” Enright said. “Sometimes we get so tied together with the students we are fellows with, so I think it would be nice to work with more students.”
Nichols-Pethick said that he has been told he will serve as director of the PCCM for at least the remainder of the year and possibly into next year if they do not find their ideal candidate.
Harris said the administration has been working on these changes and improvements for several years and that they are excited it is finally coming to fruition.
“These different portals into these different centers are starting to open up,” Harris said. “These centers are great because they are experiential learning spaces where students can get dirty and expand their horizons. The possibilities are endless.”