Raul Reis, currently a professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at California State University, Long Beach, is set to begin his tenure as dean of SJMC on Dec. 1.
Raul Reis
During his time at CSULB, Reis implemented several curriculum changes consisting of progressive and innovative courses that better prepared students for today’s multi-media world of journalism.
According to a press release from FIU’s Provost and Executive Vice President Douglas Wartzok, the curriculum changes brought forth by Reis resulted in his journalism department becoming one of the most respected and sought after mass media programs in Southern California.
Expanding CSULB’s journalism department by creating and co-creating close to a dozen courses such as the Introduction to Online Media, Advanced Online Media and Writing Across the Media, Reis said he hopes to take SJMC to another level as he did his department at CSULB.
“The school itself is great already as it is, and it is very successful and well known in the country,” Reis said in an interview with Student Media. “I’m hoping to bring the school to a different level in the sense of looking to the future and looking on how to put the school in the level of top schools in the country.”
Formally from Brazil, Reis began his professional and academic career in Belém, Brazil where he obtained his bachelors degree from Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém and worked as a reporter, copy editor and writer for several publications.
Reis then went on to earn a Master of Science in Journalism and Mass Communication from Kansas State University. He obtained his doctorate in Communications and Society from the University of Oregon.
As a professor, Reis has worked to bring real life experience to students both in and out of the classroom. In 2002, he created the Global News Media course where students visit Brazil during the summer to put their course work to practice.
“I have been doing it since 2002; at the beginning it was like let’s go to a different country and be journalists and learn about the culture but now it’s more specific,” he said.
Most recently, students visited Balém in the Brazilian Amazon and were asked to focus on science and environmental journalism. Reis says he hopes to bring a similar program to FIU in collaboration with the School of Environment, Arts and Society.
In a world where everything goes viral, journalists must not only write articles, but they must also be able to shoot, produce and edit video, according to Reis. This is where he hopes to prepare students for the future.
The self-proclaimed “pioneer of multi-media” said he wants to focus on becoming even more digital, something Associate Dean of SJMC Allan Richards agrees with.
“I started the multimedia program in 2002, and I think we are both like-minded in that sense,” said Richards, who has spoken with Reis briefly on several occasions and believes he is a good fit for SJMC.
Richards went on to say he is pleased to hear Reis say he has plans for both departments of SJMC – Journalism and Advertising/Public Relations – to become multi-media savvy.
“I am looking forward to doing all this work; there is a lot we can accomplish and I am very excited about it,” Reis said.
At CSULB, Reis helped the student-run magazine and newspaper win several California College Media Association awards in 2010, and the newspaper became the first college publication in the country to offer daily podcast through iTunes.
Aware of SJMC’s collaborations with major South Florida publications through programs such as the South Florida News Service and Liberty City Link that allow students to get their articles in an array of South Florida newspapers, Reis simply said “my goal is to take it a step beyond.”
Seemingly enthusiastic about becoming a Panther, Reis said the diverse student body is one of the factors that caught his attention.
“One of the things that attracted me to FIU is the diversity of the student body; the school has students from over 70 countries and that’s a big attraction for me,” he said.
“I might even meet a few students who speak Portuguese.”
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