James Gentry, who has served as dean of the Kansas University school of journalism since 1997, will resign at the end of the school year, he said Thursday.

Gentry said he planned to stay at KU and return to full-time teaching and research.

“When I came here, the idea was to do six or seven years,” he said. “This will be the seventh year I’m starting. It’ll be 16 years total — that’s plenty for anybody to be in academic administration and leave sane.”

Before KU, Gentry’s administration experience included five years as dean at the University of Nevada at Reno and four years as a department chairman at the University of Missouri.

Gentry said the university’s budget troubles were one reason he wanted to leave administration.

“Being dean is very confining, but it’s very creative in a lot of ways,” he said. “It’s very defined in the parameters you’re under, especially the last two years. The budget situation for the state and university makes it even more challenging.”

Gentry said another reason he wanted to leave after next year was because the school of journalism would undergo an accreditation review with the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications during the 2004-2005 school year. He said he didn’t want the school to face a dean search process during the same time.

He said he announced his resignation Thursday, partly because the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is conducting its national convention next week in Kansas City, Mo.

¢KU news release¢ Curriculum still evolving (8-10-02)¢William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication

“We wanted people to be aware, to create a general buzz and interest in the job,” he said.

KU officials plan to conduct a national search for the dean position to have it filled by July 1, 2004. Gentry, 58, made $158,100 last year.

Gentry is nationally known for his work in the new trend of “convergence,” in which media combine broadcast, print and online news operations. He led the school of journalism through a change in curriculum to reflect the convergence philosophy.

“We’d argue we do a better job with critical thinking and focus more on getting students a broader array of experience,” he said.

Gentry said he hoped to continue teaching classes in media management and business journalism.

He also hopes to continue his media consulting work. He was a primary consultant as the Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV and Tampa Bay Online looked to combine news operations. He’s a senior fellow at the Media Center at the American Press Institute, and he’s presented workshops for the San Jose Mercury News and Bloomberg, among others.

“Those are so much fun,” he said, “and they’re great visibility for KU.”