Ammina Kothari, the former director of the University of Rhode Island Harrington School of Communications and Media, announced her new position at a different university on July 29 in a LinkedIn post.
On Aug. 1, Kothari started as the new dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences at Simmons University in Boston.
Kothari took this position as a new leadership opportunity, Jen Riley, the dean of URI’s College of Arts and Sciences, said. Kothari felt it was the next step in terms of her professional development.
The Harrington staff is still together, Riley said. This includes Marc Pitler at the equipment center, Rebecca Santagata as head of the fiscal operation event planning and Jason Phillips as Harrington office administrator. The only change is that Thomas Stubblefield, the associate dean, is serving as interim director of Harrington School.
“Kothari was fantastic in this transition, passing things off to us and providing notes of things still needed to be completed,” Riley said.
The Harrington staff will need a year to figure out what the best course of action is to find a director, Stubblefield said.
As both the associate dean and interim director, Stubblefield said there are advantages to the job. One advantage is working directly with Harrington to hear their concerns and address them accordingly. He tries to spend one day or more a week at Ranger hall, the Harrington head quarters so he can meet staff, faculty and students.
“It’s really valuable to be there to hear the firsthand perspective of what’s going on in the school and it’s been positive so far,” Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield’s goals are to open communication between the school and the dean’s office to continue the work Kothari started, he said. In particular, he hopes to emphasize experiential learning opportunities, industry connections and internships for students.
“Those are really important to Harrington School students and a big part of our identity,” Stubblefield said. “That’s certainly something we’re going to focus on in the future.”
Kothari built connections for both fundraising and partnerships, Riley said. One partnership Kothari was an agent for was the University’s Social Media Lab and MikeWorldwide, creating opportunities for students to go global for their studies, she also said.
Another partnership is with Workplace Options, a program for students to get more experience working in the Communications and Media program, Riley said. The students create content for the workforce led by Alan S. King, a 1984 URI alum. King provides Harrington with funding, and in return, the school hires students to work in the lab as a paid internship.
“It’s great to have internship opportunities right here on campus so that people are getting things they need,” Riley said. “You don’t necessarily have to drive to Boston to get them.”
The students at the internship work on real-world assignments for customers for worldwide and workday options, Riley said. It’s this type of industry partnership that Riley would like to build more going forward in the Harrington community .