Journalism admins laid off quietly

Three administrators and another employee at the journalism college were laid off Monday as part of the college's efforts to address "financial issues," officials said, sparking surprise and outrage from past and present students.

A former university official identified three of the four employees laid off as assistant deans Steve Crane and Marchelle Payne-Gassaway and public affairs director Matt Sheehan, all university alumni.

Crane directed the school's master's program, oversaw its Capital News Service bureaus, guided this year's transition into the new Knight Hall building and taught a smattering of graduate and undergraduate classes. Payne-Gassaway helped recruit, schedule classes and advise students. Sheehan was a part-time assistant to the dean who helped develop the school's websites. Their dismissals were first reported Monday by the Poynter Institute journalism group.

According to Journalism Dean Kevin Klose, the decision to lay off employees was "not about the people."

"If the positions were not filled, they would have been eliminated anyway," Klose said. A fifth position was also recently cut after an employee left the college to seek employment elsewhere, Klose added. Klose would not identify any of the five.

Journalism students used such wording as a "crushing blow" and "absolutely devastating" to describe the layoffs.

"Marchelle Payne and the others are large spaces of our school and a part of our community," said Samantha Link, a senior journalism major. "For them not to be here anymore is depressing and is definitely going to have an impact on the school." Link added that Payne-Gassaway helped several of her friends stay enrolled at the university.

Graduate students taking a summer class with Crane have organized a meeting with Klose to discuss their instructor's layoff.

"They're a tremendous asset to the school of journalism, and I'm devastated Dean Klose couldn't figure out another way to deal with the financial problems," said Alexandra Wilding, a graduate student in Crane's class who is studying multimedia journalism. "It doesn't bode well for the financial picture at the college, and I'm worried about going forward with the master's program."

But Klose said the layoffs will not affect the college's functions.

"The duties will be transferred," Klose said. "This will not have any material effect on the college."

Klose would not discuss how the duties would be distributed or who would take them on, saying, "That is something I want to discuss with faculty and staff first."

Still, some are worried that since the layoffs came so close to the start of the academic year, the duties will not be distributed properly.

"If it's not done right, it could be detrimental to the school," said Michelle Chan, a junior journalism major and the journalism legislator for the Student Government Association. In a written statement, Chan said the SGA "commends the college of journalism for taking measures to preserve the academic integrity of this institution."

Few members of the journalism college's faculty or staff would comment on the dismissals, including Crane, who will continue to teach his summer class through Aug. 20. Payne-Gassaway did not return phone calls or e-mails, but a receptionist said she was on "extended leave."

In an e-mail to The Diamondback, Sheehan confirmed that he had been laid off.

"It has been a pleasure working for my alma mater and a place I've called home for the last 12 years," Sheehan wrote. "I wish my former colleagues all the best in this new era for the journalism school."

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