When Dr. Jay Moorman stepped away from his position as head of the Communications Department, Professor Kelly Larson was chosen to fill his role.

The permanence of Larson’s appointment is unclear, but he hopes the transition is made smoothly.

“Right now my official title is the interim Department Chair,” Larson said. “So I’m here for the academic year, at which time the administration will evaluate the efforts of the department, specifically myself over the year and if it’s good I will be in the running to return and if it’s mutually not acceptable then I will just go back down into the department and be one of the tenured professors there.”

Moorman left Missouri Southern for Butler Community College, where he will be the Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Communication. While Moorman enjoyed his time at Southern, he said he is excited about the new career opportunity.

“I’m really looking forward to the adventure and that’s how my family and I have been talking about it,” Moorman said. “I’ve had a great time with the students…and I certainly hope that I’ve helped many people through their lives and gotten people through the system and on with their lives and careers and I hope I’ve made people happy in that time.”

The Communications Department was taken by surprise when rumors of Moorman’s departure began to circulate.

“There was no formal announcement to the department that he was leaving,” department secretary Linda Perkins said.

Perkins said part of the reason there was no announcement was that it was summer and there were fewer people on campus.

“The department chair leaving was unexpected, but he got an opportunity to take a Dean’s position, which is the next step up for him and it was a good career move for him,” Larson said. “I appreciate everything he’s done for the University here but I understand his departure for professional reasons; it makes a lot of sense.”

Larson said he doesn’t feel the need for any major changes immediately, and instead wants to see how things work in the early stages of transition.

“I’ve always learned that when you’re joining an organization it’s always good to just sit back and watch for the first, well, even if it’s the first semester to try and find out and detail our faculty and staff’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.