Emily Metzgar, Ph.D., became the director of the School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) at Kent State University July 1, 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. Metzgar previously served as the director of undergraduate studies of the Media School at Indiana University. Metzgar’s diverse background paired with the insight she has gained from her previous work experiences has guided her in her new role as the MDJ Director. Her vision is to break the boundaries between the School’s four areas of study and to provide MDJ students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed after graduation.
Now more than a year into her role, Metzgar shares with Kent State Today answers to these 10 questions:
Q. What drew you to Kent State and the role of MDJ Director?
Several areas drew me to the role. Kent State has always had a good reputation as a program that punches above its weight class. It’s a regional university that does well in national competitions across the board, all the programs that we have in the school do well and our student media is amazing. So that in itself makes it a program worth looking at.
Also, I was looking for an opportunity with more leadership responsibilities. I enjoyed my 12 years at Indiana and left a lot of wonderful friends and colleagues behind, but I have met wonderful new friends and colleagues as well. It is a great place to be and I am excited to do more to tell our story, which has been one of my big missions, because we have an amazing story to tell.
Q. How did your passions bring you to this field?
My career path has been circuitous, even somewhat random. I started out with a strong interest in foreign policy and national security and worked in that realm for a while. My undergraduate degree is in political science and French. I graduated and lived in Japan for two years, came back to the states and did a master’s program at George Washington University in D.C.
I then went abroad again to China, came back to D.C. for a few years and then ended up moving to Louisiana. While I was there I started doing a lot of work writing, blogging and even some podcasting early on. I worked on my Ph.D in media and public affairs at Louisiana State University, and when I finished that degree, I had the opportunity to join Indiana University.
So, writing in the public policy realm has always been close to my heart, and the Ph.D that I got allowed me to bring my policy interests and writing and media interests together, and academia was the perfect place to go to pursue that.
Q. Can you tell me more about your experiences outside of higher education prior to coming to Kent State?
I have more than a decade of experience in the higher education setting. In previous incarnations, I have also been a political columnist, an American diplomat, a foreign policy analyst, an object of curiosity in rural Japan, a volunteer for resettled refugee families, and an advocate for youth in the juvenile court system. I believe that I bring insights gleaned from all these experiences to my role as the MDJ director.
Q. What do you see in the future for the four majors of the school?
I see further erosion of the boundaries that have traditionally separated the school’s four areas of study, which include advertising, digital media production, journalism and public relations. We should embrace this eventuality, not fight against it.
The “real world” doesn’t insist on maintaining these boundaries, and we do our students a disservice if we don’t acknowledge and prepare them for that. I also see opportunities for increased collaboration with programs across the College of Communication and Information for that reason.
Overall, the four majors are strong. Our school is being evaluated for reaccreditation this year, a process that invites external evaluators to assess the quality of our academic programs, which is where an external organization evaluates the quality of an academic program. This process takes place every six years, but was delayed for a year by the pandemic. Our programs are currently accredited and we've done a lot of work over the last year to prepare for the process. We are currently accredited and are optimistic that we will remain so.
In the future, we are facing what is being referred to as the “enrollment cliff,” which is a national trend in lower enrollment. Of the four majors, journalism is still our largest, digital media production is growing quickly, and advertising is growing as well. While journalism and PR have seen declines, none of the majors are in danger of going away. Higher education has known that these declines are coming, but it still means we have some challenges ahead.
We have the most committed faculty I have ever seen. The hours that faculty spend not just in the classroom but outside of it advising, meeting with and supporting students are remarkable.
Q. What are the main areas of focus for students in the School of Media and Journalism?
Regardless of our students’ areas of focus, we need to ensure that everyone graduates with subject matter expertise, technological know-how, and enough business savvy to successfully navigate the changing industries to which they are headed. Armed with this trio of skills, MDJ graduates can thrive, whether it’s excelling in existing industries or helping to build new industries that we can’t yet envision.
Q. What has it been like welcoming students back to MDJ after a year of COVID-19?
It's been lovely to welcome students back. I think a lot of the faculty are just delighted to be back in the building, and the feedback that I’m hearing that they’re getting from students is that the students are also glad to be back too. So we’re all happy about that, and we are just taking this one day at a time, grateful for every day we’re here doing everything we can individually to try to ensure we get to stay here.
Q. When looking at the future of the school, what excites you most?
I think we have the opportunity to do more to build relationships with alumni. We have so many committed alumni who want to help and give back. I’d like us to be thinking creatively about how we can do more to engage them. I think there are also always opportunities to strengthen, revise and update our curriculum that will help serve our students even better for the future. I personally would like to see MDJ get more engaged in the community. Service learning is something that’s near and dear to my heart and
I think it’s important for us as we train students in these disciplines which are almost by definition so closely connected to the public.
Q. What has navigating the pandemic taught you in your position over the past year?
It has taught me patience. It also taught me how to be creative when trying to find workarounds for things, going in with the mindset of wanting to do something, but we can’t do it the way we usually do, so finding other ways to get to a result that looks like the outcome we want. Storytelling in every form has never been more important, and our students are prepared to document whatever the world throws at them and to help organizations navigate uncertain environments in the future.
Q. How do you think MDJ sets its students up for success, and how do you plan to build on this further in your role?
Two words: Relevance and affordability. On the subject of relevance, we need to ensure that the time and money students dedicate to earning a college degree is worth it. We need to ensure that students graduate with relevant professional skills built on a solid liberal arts foundation. We need to ensure that students know how to learn, because graduation day is just the start of one’s education. If we fail to do these things, then we are not just failing our students, we are failing our society which expects that college graduates are ready to tackle whatever life throws at them.
When students are in the classroom, they can sense that they have a committed instructor. Students respond well to that and live up to the expectations. The facilities we have also set students up for success because they get access to equipment they are likely to see in their careers. We also teach a lot of extracurricular activities. Anything from student media, PRSSA to IdeaBase all foster success. The internships we require students to complete also help, along with the networks of alumni and faculty that help students on their way to a successful career.
Q. What do you believe are MDJ’s greatest strengths and contributions to Kent State?
The school’s location within the College of Communication and Information is one of MDJ’s greatest strengths. We have the opportunity to expose our students to ideas, issues and developments beyond our four majors, and we have the opportunity to expose other students in CCI to what we do.
The storytelling philosophy and training at the heart of MDJ is something with tremendous applicability to students across campus. Young scientists need to know how to communicate findings with non-specialist publics. Aspriring influencers need to know how to make compellling, professional-grade videos. Budding entrepreneurs need to know how to convice funders about the viability of their ideas. MDJ can help on all these fronts and more. These are the contributions MDJ already makes to the campus community and we're poised to do more.
For more information about the School of Media and Journalism at Kent State, visit https://www.kent.edu/mdj.