New Department Heads Hope to Continue CHaSS' Positive Force

Leadership in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is undergoing some big changes this summer. But faculty and students themselves won’t see many changes, according to two new department directors in the college.

Derrik Tollefson, a social work professor and interim dean and executive director of USU’s Uintah Basin campus, has been named director of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology. He replaces Leon Anderson, who is on sabbatical.

Kim Hixson, a professor and founder of the advertising program at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, will head the Department of Journalism and Communication beginning in late July.

The department heads will work with Joseph Ward, who has been selected as the new CHaSS dean. John Allen, CHaSS dean since 2010, has retired.

The new directors said they’ve been impressed with the work ongoing in each department and do not foresee any changes in the near future.

“I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues here and keeping the department on the positive trajectory it’s already on,” said Tollefson. As coordinator of USU’s master of social work program, Tollefson is no stranger to SSWA faculty. He is transferring from the Vernal campus where he’s done double duty as the director of operations and, since January, interim dean.

Hixson agreed, adding he’s developed a respect for JCOM faculty members.

“They are just so passionate about helping students succeed,” he said. “That’s really what we should be all about.”

Hixson’s background is in advertising and public relations — one of three tracks of JCOM study, in addition to broadcasting and print journalism. He parlayed his experience as an in-house advertising department and a television promotion manager into the academic world, where he’s now taught for more than 25 years. Most recently, he served in UW-Whitewater’s department of communications as chair and coordinator of the graduate program.

JCOM’s degree offerings vary from marketing to news reporting to social media — areas whose boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred, said Hixson. All require one basic skill, however — the ability to communicate effectively.

“We are teaching people to use language and to write clearly,” said Hixson.

Such proficiency will always be vital in a world where our methods of communication transform regularly. Remembering all too clearly his years as a young college graduate when desktop publishing was revolutionizing mass communications, he remains mindful of JCOM’s goal of preparing students for the future.

“Our students will probably be working in a medium that doesn’t even exist yet,” he said. “We have to make sure they’re well prepared and have the basics. Then they can apply those basics to any kind of situation or environment that comes along.”

Hixson earned his bachelor’s in advertising and English from the University of Tennessee in his hometown of Chattanooga, where he stayed to obtain a master’s in professional writing. He received a doctorate in journalism from Southern Illinois University.

Hixson took a leave from UW-Whitewater to serve for four years as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, an insider’s role that taught him much about compromise, he says. In addition to teaching news and sports writing, he’s also portrayed a journalist on the big screen, working as an extra in such films as Johnny Depp’s Public Enemies.

For his part, Tollefson comes from a social work background to oversee SSWA’s three main sections — social work, sociology and anthropology. His administration credentials include his service as the interim dean and executive director of the Uintah Basin campus.

The three SSWA divisions, he said, are “fairly autonomous and have different missions.” He sees his role as a facilitator, so “when it makes sense to collaborate and corroborate across units then we will, as they have already been doing.”

He adds, “Each unit’s missions are so unique and distinct that they need to be allowed to have their own personalities.”

Tollefson is a USU graduate with a bachelor’s in social work and sociology. His master of social work degree is from the University of Denver and his doctorate from the University of Utah, where he was awarded the William McPhee Scholarship for Promise in Ph.D. studies. Before transferring into academia, he worked as a clinical social worker and has maintained a private counseling practice for nearly 20 years.

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Writer and contact: Janelle Hyatt, 435-797-0289, Janelle.hyatt@usu.edu