To say that the last month has blazed by would be an understatement. I’m in the final stages of my dissertation proposal, and as I planned a date to present the proposal to my committee, I got word that my program was proposed to be eliminated by University of Nevada, Reno administrators. Needless to say, I mentally had to shift gears and my time has been highly occupied.

The University’s budget cut proposals took, by all accounts, most of the campus by surprise. I decided to do the unthinkable and question directly the administrator responsible for crafting the plan. You may read the series here.

I apologize for the inside baseball nature of it (my disclosure at the end of the interview hopefully adequately explains why I care), and the University accused me of being “conspiratorial” with my questions. Hopefully more professional members of the media are treated with higher regard.

Oddly, my dissertation is an examination of how media cover higher education crises and controversies, and my research focuses on whether mainstream news, niche news and social media cover such events differently. I am scheduled to present my dissertation proposal to my committee on April 9.

In the meantime, I’m working a series of my thoughts about the budget cut proposals. The University has a colorful history, as all universities do, but I’m afraid historical context is one of the first thing newsrooms are incapable of exploring anymore. Hence, my first post in a series about the situation. You may read it here.