Five candidates are finalists for the dean of UNL’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Selected by a search committee, the candidates will visit campus separately Dec. 3 through Dec. 17.

Each candidate will participate in a public presentation during his or her visit. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend the presentations, each of which will conclude with a reception.

The finalists are:

> David A. Craig, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of journalism at the University of Oklahoma;

> Maria B. Marron, chair and professor of the Department of Journalism at Central Michigan University;

> Roger M. Lavery, dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media and professor of journalism at Ball State University;

> Derina R. Holtzhausen, professor and director of the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University; and

> Peter Bhatia, editor and vice president/content of The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Ore., and president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Learn more about each finalist at http://www.unl.edu/svcaa/CoJMC-search.

Craig’s public presentation and reception will be 2 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Steinhart Room at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Craig is associate dean for academic affairs and professor of journalism at the University of Oklahoma. His responsibilities include curriculum, promotion and tenure and other faculty matters, strategic planning and cross-campus partnerships. During his 12 years of administration in the college, he has also been director of graduate studies, overseeing the creation of a Ph.D. program and a master’s degree in professional writing. The primary focus of his teaching and research is media ethics. Craig worked for nine years as a news copy editor at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. He holds a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University, an M.A. in communication from Wheaton College and a Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2010, Oklahoma awarded him a President’s Associates Presidential Professorship in recognition of his teaching and scholarship.

Marron’s public presentation and reception will be 2 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Steinhart Room at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Marron is chair and professor of the Department of Journalism at Central Michigan University. Marron has led two departmental reaccreditations; strengthened local, statewide and national media connections; fostered partnerships with local companies, alumni and academic organizations in support of her unit; raised funds for program initiatives; pioneered a program of Visiting Professionals and international exchange partnerships; and worked with the unit’s curricular and faculty committees to propose a new master’s program in integrated marketing communications, launch new majors, a new certificate program and revise curriculum. Her teaching areas are in journalism, media law and ethics. Her research spans journalism pedagogy, investigative journalism, health and aging issues in the media. She holds a B.A. and postrgraduate diploma from University College Dublin, an M.A. in journalism from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in journalism and mass communications from Ohio University.

Lavery’s public presentation and reception will be 2 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Sheldon Museum of Art auditorium. He has been associated since 2005 with Ball State University, where he is dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media and a professor of journalism. He also is chairperson of the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. Lavery’s seventeen years in agency account management represents a tour of the country’s largest advertising centers. He is the recipient of three American Marketing Association Effie Awards. Lavery spent five years developing his courses and teaching skills at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. During that time he won a research grant, invitations to a variety of institutes, and the School’s annual “outstanding innovative teacher” award. He was a charter faculty member and competition judge for the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies in Portland. He holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. in communication arts (advertising) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Holtzhausen’s public presentation and reception will be 2 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Unity Room of the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center. Holtzhausen joined Oklahoma State University as professor and director of the School of Media and Strategic Communications in 2008. She previously was graduate director and associate professor at the University of South Florida. Her research interests are in the area of communication practice, including internal communication and the impact of organizational variables on communication practice, public relations as a form of activism, international communication practice and strategic communication. She was co-founder and co-editor of the International Journal of Strategic Communication and is co-editor of the Handbook of Strategic Communication. She was a communication practitioner in South Africa for 25 years, which included roles as a partner in a public relations and advertising agency, head of corporate communication of the South African Tourism Board and executive consultant for internal communication at the ABSA Financial Services Group. She holds an M.A. from the University of South Africa and a B.A. and B.A. Hons. from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Bhatia’s public presentation and reception will be 2 p.m. Dec. 17 in the Sheldon Museum of Art auditorium. He is editor and vice president/content of The Oregonian in Portland. He came to the paper as managing editor in 1993, became executive editor in 1997 and became editor on Jan. 1, 2010. With the paper’s transition to a digitally focused media company in October, he became vice president/content. He is president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. He was president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2003-04. Projects in newsrooms he has helped lead have won seven Pulitzer prizes, including four in Portland. He is a six-time Pulitzer juror. Previously, he was executive editor of The Fresno Bee, managing editor of The Sacramento Bee, editor of the York (Pa.) Dispatch and Sunday News, managing editor of the Dallas Times Herald, deputy managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner and a reporter and editor at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash. He serves on an advisory board to Stanford magazine and on the board of Stanford Associates, an organization of the university’s top volunteers. He serves on the professional advisory board to the Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University and is a past chair. Bhatia holds a B.A. from Stanford University.