Department names interim chairman
By Blair Busch
Staff Reporter

David Whillock, associate dean of the College of Communication, will serve as interim chairman for the radio-TV-film department, said College of Communication Dean William Slater Wednesday.

Whillock, who will continue working as associate dean along with taking on the duties of interim chairman, was chosen by faculty members Tuesday.

“David Whillock will be assuming the leadership (role) with assistance from others in the department, and this will give us an opportunity to decide how we will proceed for the following semester,” Slater said.

Slater said the RTVF department has a semester to make a decision on who will serve as permanent chairwoman or chairman. Whillock said no decision has been made on whether it will be someone from within the department, but he said the replacement must be tenured. The only tenured professors currently in the department are Joan McGettigan and Richard Allen, Whillock said.

Whillock said he will call a faculty meeting to talk about where the department wants to go from here and what projects are going on with the different faculty members.

“I want to get caught up to speed with where everybody is with conferences they might be going to and projects that are taking place within the department so that I am at least not working in the dark,” Whillock said.

RTVF professor Andy Haskett said Whillock was chosen because he served as chairman before for several years and he expects Whillock to do a good job.

“Faculty felt that at this particular time it would be good for me to do that because I had been chair before and I know the processes,” said Whillock, who served as RTVF chairman from 1995 to 1999. “But I will be doing two jobs.”

The decision for Whillock to serve as interim chairman came after Roger Cooper’s dismissal as RTVF chairman. Cooper was appointed chairman in 1999 and was then reappointed for another three-year term that began in the fall, Whillock said.

Cooper was dismissed as chairman Sept. 2 following an investigation of enrollment discrepancies for two summer Video I courses. Slater said Cooper will continue to be an active member of the faculty and will take a leadership role in furthering the department.
Cooper said he fully supports Whillock and that the RTVF department is ready to return to the focus of educating students. He said the situation has been stressful for the entire department, but RTVF faculty members are a tight knit group.

“The first floor of Moudy South is a great place to work and this did not suddenly happen and make me think I had to leave,” he said.

Students were asked to enroll in the summer classes to meet enrollment requirements and then to later drop the class on the first day of the summer session. Cooper said he wanted students to register for the class to aid juniors who needed the course to graduate on schedule.

Video I is the prerequisite for the fall-only Video II course and both classes are required for production majors. Video I was offered in two classes during the first summer session and taught by RTVF professors Richard Allen and Charles LaMendola.

The two classes, which both required a minimum of 15 students, only had 10 and 14 students enrolled in it and were in danger of being dropped, said Leo Munson, assistant vice chancellor for academic support.

“From a personal standpoint, I know Dr. Cooper has a strong following with the students and I’m glad of that,” Whillock said. “I hope they understand that we are all supporting the department and what is best for the department at this point.”

Junior RTVF major Robby Zebrowski said the faculty and administrators are not taking student concerns into consideration.

“The administrators should be more concerned with how students feel and consider our point of view,” Zebrowski said. “The faculty is not listening to the students.”

A petition has been circulating through the RTVF department trying to get Cooper reinstated as chairman.

“I don’t see reinstatement happening, even with a petition,” Slater said.

Cooper said he is very flattered and grateful for the shows of support from the students. He said they go a long way toward demonstrating what a good job the department is doing.

“They’re looking out for my best interests just like I looked out for theirs in this instance,” Cooper said.

Whillock said he would like for students to know he is in their corner, in the sense that they get the best the faculty has to offer.

“Our mission is that you get a great education and that’s our goal and that is what we will do,” Whillock said. “I have already spoken with the faculty and they are all on board with what we need to do and the students will see that we are working on their best behalf.”