Meet Temple University’s new President and dean of the school of Media and Communication

Neil Theobald & David Boardman

Less than 38 percent of Temple University undergraduates complete their degrees within four years. As many of the students come from working class families and work their way through college, their debt accumulates each year they don’t finish that degree, and are burdened with about $30,000 upon graduation. And what does that diploma buy them in the unpredictable job market? We’ll talk to Temple University’s new president and first-generation college student, DR. NEIL THEOBALD, about Philadelphia’s public university’s recent “landmark new affordability pact,” which includes teaching students financial literacy and creating incentives to finish under four years. And DAVID BOARDMAN, the university’s new dean of the school of Media and Communication, will explain his plans for teaching media in the 21^st century. How does he see the role of journalism today in the culture of citizen journalism and waning print journalism? And what skills will graduates from the School be taking into the world? The Pulitzer Prize-winning Boardman has some insight into the newspaper business as he just left his position as the Executive Editor at the Seattle Times after 30 years.