Sparks stepping down as Dean of School of Communication

Lisa Sparks announced in a Sept. 24 email, addressed to the “School of Communication Community,” that she will be leaving her position as a dean at the end of the academic year. NICO VALENTINE, Staff Photographer.

Lisa Sparks announced she will step down as the Dean of the School of Communication at the end of this academic year.

Sparks sent an email Sept. 24, addressed to the “School of Communication Community,” describing the decision to leave her post and rejoin faculty within the school. Sparks has not responded to The Panther’s request to clarify if the email was sent to students in addition to faculty members, or solely faculty. 

“I am very proud of all we have accomplished during my service,” Sparks wrote in the email. 

In her statement, which Sparks shared with The Panther, she pointed to her accomplishments during her tenure as dean, such as founding the School of Communication in 2016, serving as the Founding Director of Graduate Studies and building the Health and Strategic Communication master’s and the Communication Ph.D. programs. Sparks also launched the school’s Center for Freedom of Expression and Media Integrity in 2019, which has seen speakers like former press secretaries Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Robert Gibbs.

Sparks has been criticized by some students and faculty during her tenure, most prominently for an email exchange with a Chapman alumna over inviting Sanders to speak on fake news. She took a leave of absence as dean at the end of the fall 2019 semester to pursue a congressional campaign, and induced flak from academics after the Orange County Board of Education released its recommendations to reopen schools.

“Because she’s so much more of a public person, she is scrutinized,” Keith Weber, graduate director at the School of Communication, told The Panther Sept. 10. “She wants to be a dean and a faculty member, so that’s two full-time jobs … She’s involved in so many different areas in so many different places.”

Sparks did not confirm her reason behind the decision. The move, however, presents a chance for Sparks to step away from one of those jobs and concentrate on other areas, as she expressed in her statement.

“I’m excited to uncover the next chapter of my career while serving as faculty with my joint appointments in School of Communication, Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and School of Pharmacy and continuing to serve in my role as First Lady/Partner to the President as we continue to represent Chapman University as a place of distinction,” she wrote.