Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications announced Feb. 24 that public relations professor Jennifer Glover Konfrst will be the next associate dean, filling the spot future SJMC Dean Kelly Bruhn leaves behind.
Earlier this semester, Konfrst suspended her race for U.S. Congress Jan. 26. She later announced Feb. 16 that she will be retiring from the Iowa House of Representatives after 2027 to focus on her work at Drake. Konfrst said the decisions to retire and become the new associate dean of the SJMC were separate, it was just a matter of timing.
“Regardless of what I [was] doing next, I knew that I was going to be done in the legislature,” Konfrst said. “[…] The opportunity to get back [to] engaging with Drake in this new way is a really good opportunity for me to feel good about the direction that my career is going and feel really good about [working] with more students.”
Konfrst said she also looks forward to this new role because it enforces the feeling of Drake being her “home base” since 1992.
“Whether as a student or an alum, or now as a member of the faculty for the past 13 years, it’s just a really nice role to be able to take my work at Drake and evolve it into this new role to the important work we’re doing,” Konfrst said.
Bruhn said she’s looks forward to seeing Konfrst in the associate dean role.
“We’ve had a long history of working together, and to be able to have her step into this role and work closely in support of our students and the SJMC [makes me] excited about what the future holds,” Bruhn said.
Konfrst said she and Bruhn had several conversations about the role this past winter before she was offered the role. The two have worked together within the public relations major and Konfrst believes the two “share a similar energy when it comes to doing everything [they] can to help students.”
“Putting students first [is] going to be our goal,” Konfrst said. “I think that’s going to continue to be the case. Going forward, our goals are really just to continue what we’re doing — make sure we’re growing. … We’re ready for whatever comes at us, alright.”
The two have many goals and plans for next year, including an interdisciplinary agency experience for SJMC students. Bruhn said it will allow for “great hands-on practice in your classes with real world projects.”
