Ole Miss Musings: Dean Will Norton, Jr…. Common Sense Applied to Education

Ole Miss continues to hit on all cylinders academically speaking, and the Meek School of Journalism and New Media is one of the hottest places on campus. HottyToddy.com recently visited with Dean Will Norton to better understand why the school is excelling.

HottyToddy.com: Dean, before we address all of the great things happening on campus, please share with our readers a little about your history.
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: I was born in the Belgian Congo. My parents were missionaries. I completed undergraduate work at Wheaton College, majoring in History. I was the sports information director for two years at Wheaton and then became sports editor of the small daily newspaper in the town.
HottyToddy.com: However, your formal education was only starting.
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Yes. I was awarded an M.A. at Indiana University and a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa – at that time perhaps the leading Ph.D. program in the nation. In the interim, I worked at the Chicago Tribune and was managing editor of a Christian magazine publishing house in Wheaton, Ill.

HottyToddy.com: You apparently were quite driven at an early age.
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: I had good preparation, and when I arrived at Ole Miss in 1974, journalism was a small department that produced great graduates.
HottyToddy.com: What an understatement! Your first experience at Ole Miss would extend how many years?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: I was here until 1990. I was interim chair of the department for two years and chair for 11 of those 16 years.
HottyToddy.com: Your travels then took you to Nebraska.
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: I was Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at UNL for 19 years, returning to Ole Miss in 2009.
HottyToddy.com: How has the Meek School changed during the last eight years?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: We now boast a faculty of 32 compared to nine positions as recently as 2011 (We had more than nine persons teaching for us in 2009, but those positions were not in our school). Our faculty is far more diverse — which better relates to “real world expectations.”
HottyToddy.com: Wow! Talk about growth. What prompted this tripling in size?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: The university has a spectacular Dept. of Admissions. Whitman Smith, the director, does an incredible job. Also, the beautiful campus makes our job so much easier in recruiting. Jeff McManus and his team demonstrate an organization with a high morale that makes this place look like a park. Also, out-of-state tuition at Ole Miss ($11,000 a year) is cheaper than in-state tuition in most states.

HottyToddy.com: Aren’t you being overly modest about the Journalism’s role in this unprecedented growth?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Our school is doing very well. We’re attracting students from throughout the nation. We are definitely moving in the direction of the top tier schools. Most schools of media have declined in number of majors – many have declined drastically. We, fortunately, have been able to triple in size in seven years.
HottyToddy.com: Who is the best and why so?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Northwestern and Arizona State are definitely at or near the top. These institutions have more dollars to work with and are directly connected to the elite media. Their scholarship, teaching and service is all focused on media. Even their theory classes relate to the challenges media professionals face. I believe we relate well with their standards, and we also have an emphasis on relating with the media of our state and region. Quality media schools has close connections with the broadcast, newspaper and media communications practitioners of their states. Some of the programs in elite universities do not have those close relationships.

HottyToddy.com: In this respect, haven’t we done well in placement of graduates?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Yes. When this was a department, students left here and became media leaders throughout the region and also in the elite media. We are continuing with similar success. The Meek School has continued that momentum. During the last few decades, the program has been particularly effective in placing graduates in broadcasting and magazines, but the long-term heritage is placement in elite newspapers like the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times; Miami Herald The New York Times and the outstanding weeklies and dailies in Mississippi. Remember, we were a print-only program until 1979.
HottyToddy.com: Will this phenomenal growth continue here?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Future increases in enrollment probably will be less dramatic because of how big we have become. Our growth has been driven by the addition of the Integrated Marketing Communications degree program. Students are attracted to degree programs that feature professors who actually worked in the business. They want to learn how to survive in the marketplace. As the job market becomes tighter, students and parents appreciate the Meek School focus.
HottyToddy.com: What is one of the ways that you advise incoming students and parents today?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Students can major in either Journalism or Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), all IMC students must have a minor in business. We also encourage students to double major.
We offer a broad range of classes preparing students for work in audio, video, magazines, social media and newspapers. Almost any profession today is going to be greatly influenced by technology, but our first priority is to help each student write and speak better. No matter what the technology, a professional has to write and speak well. That means an emphasis on good grammar.
HottyToddy.com: What motivates you?

Dean Will Norton, Jr.: Students. You do everything you can to help each student who wants to excel and you do everything you can to help all the students become skillful with the English language. We have three classes that are quite large lecture classes, but most courses are required (by accreditation standards) to be 20 students or fewer. Having smaller classes facilitates close interaction with students and leads to faculty spending a lot of time working with students outside of class.
HottyToddy.com: What is driving this success?
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: There are five elements to a great program: Good faculty, good students, an outstanding curriculum, good facilities and alumni who truly care. We have alumni who stay in contact and support our efforts to produce outstanding graduates. In fact, there are not many schools that have alumni like Becky and Ed Meek who have committed their resources so that media students will have a great education. I could mention many more like Becky and Ed. We are truly blessed to have many alumni who have been incredibly successful and continue to care for this school. They know that we are among the elite programs in the nation, and they cheer us on and support us in so many ways because they remember their days here and how their years at Ole Miss changed their lives.
HottyToddy.com: Let’s talk core numbers for just a moment.
Dean Will Norton, Jr.: We had 263 students graduate in 2016. As of December, the Meek School of Journalism and New Media had 1510 majors. In 2009, this number was 455. We have 67 majors who also are in the Honors College. In 2009, we had nine. So, we feel we have improved in number of majors and in quality.

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Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. Currently, Steve is a highly successful leader in the real estate business who lives in Oxford with his wife Rosie. You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at 985-852-7745.
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