After receiving a range of applicants and conducting multiple phone and video interviews, the search for the new dean of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication is down to two candidates.

Jacqueline Lambiase, search committee chair, said the committee received over 55 applications. They are down to two finalists: Dr. Kristie Bunton and Dr. Leroy Dorsey. 

Lambiase said the committee received applications from all over the country. She said all four disciplines from the Bob Schieffer College of Communication were represented in the applicants: strategic communication, journalism, communication studies and film-television-digital media.

“I think each of the finalists have a really strong and important point of view,” Lambiase said. 

Bunton has been the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota since June 2011. Before that, she sat as chair of the Communication and Journalism Department at St. Thomas. 

Lambiase said Bunton is really interested in ethics.

“I think that is a great way to build connective tissue among our four programs within the school,” Lambiase said. 

Bunton holds a doctorate in mass communication from Indiana University. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri. 

Dorsey, the second finalist, is chair of the department of communication at The University of Memphis.

Lambiase said Dorsey is really interested in community outreach and bringing that to TCU’s campus.

Dorsey holds a doctorate in speech communication from Indiana University. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in speech communication from California State University.

Corley Padgett, a graduate student on the search committee, said when the committee gathered together, they focused on selecting a candidate that would be best for TCU and the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. 

“The committee is looking for somebody that can work with both students and professors,” Padgett said. “And just kind of act as a platform for the Bob Schieffer College of Communication.”

The two finalists will visit campus this month.

Bunton will be on campus April 16. There will be a student session at 1:35 p.m. in Moudy Building South in room 320, where students can meet and interact with Bunton.

Dorsey will be on campus April 20. Dorsey’s student session will be held at 1:35 p.m. in Moudy Building South in room 164. 

The TCU community is also invited to an open forum held on the day of each visit. The open forum for each candidate will be at 2:15 p.m. in the Mary Couts Burnett Library in conference room B29. 

Lambiase said after the candidates visit campus, the committee will meet with the provost to deliberate and make the final decision. 

“We will take our time,” she said. “This is an important decision, but once the decision is made we will be reaching out to one of those two people.”

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Padgett said the committee will look at how the candidates interact with students, faculty and staff on campus.

“We want someone who really understands who TCU is and someone who can really find their place here,” she said.