Dr. Alyse Lancaster is taking the helm as interim dean of the School of Communication after nearly three decades at UM.
Lancaster joined UM in 1999 as an assistant professor after earning her Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Since then, she has held several teaching and administrative positions, including serving as director of the advertising program, chair of the department of strategic communication, and most recently, vice dean of academic affairs.
Her decision to come to Miami was shaped, in part, by someone who believed the University had limited potential. While Lancaster was deciding between UM and the University of Tennessee, her then-department chair advised her to choose Tennessee because, in their view, “the University of Miami isn’t going anywhere.”
Lancaster disagreed. She chose Miami because she “saw so much potential here.”
That potential eventually led Lancaster to help reshape the advertising program. After receiving tenure, Lancaster asked then-Dean Sam Grogg if she could serve as program director because she believed the program had greater potential.
In her new role, she began hiring new faculty members and eventually helped build what she called “this amazing advertising program.”
Students, however, may recognize Lancaster for a course that turned one of the world’s biggest pop stars into the subject of a semester-long class.
In fall of 2024, Lancaster created “The Mastermind of the Taylor Swift Brand,” a special topics course examining the strategies behind Taylor Swift’s billion-dollar brand. Students studied topics including branding, audience targeting and social media, while also examining how Swift cultivated her large fanbase.
The idea came to her while she was on a walk when she learned that Swift had officially become a billionaire.
“By the time I was done with my walk, I had the idea for a 16-week class. I literally wrote out the outline while I was walking.”
The course attracted national media attention and was featured in Peacock’s four-part docuseries, “The Taylor Swift Effect.”
Before Lancaster took over as interim dean, former Dean Karin Wilkins made a significant impact on UM’s School of Communication.
During Wilkins’ tenure, the School of Communication made significant gains in national rankings, with Niche naming it #15 on its Best Colleges for Communications in America list.
Wilkins will be joining Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism as dean.
Lancaster said that her experience working closely with Wilkins will help her maintain stability while the school searches for a permanent dean.
“I see my role as serving as a sort of transitional person,” Lancaster said. “My job is to sort of be the person who provides stability and transition, but also maintains the momentum we have going for the school.”
Lancaster said she wants the transition between deans to have little effect on the students. She plans to continue supporting the school’s five departments and to ensure faculty and students can continue their work without interruption.
“I know how great our students are,” Lancaster said. “My job is to make sure that students don’t feel anything other than the excellence that we already give you.”
The School of Communication has continued to receive recognition across its programs. Lancaster pointed to the school’s student media organizations — including The Miami Hurricane, the Ibis Yearbook and UMTV — which she said regularly receive awards. Faculty members have also earned recognition at conferences and are published in top journals in their fields.
“Our students and faculty are just at the top of their game,” Lancaster said. “So as interim dean, it’s my job to make sure they can continue to do that.”
Lancaster has worked closely with students outside of the classroom, serving as a co-adviser to UM’s National Student Advertising Competition Team from 2010 to 2014. In those years, the team won two national competitions in 2011 and 2013, placed second in 2014 and fourth in 2012.
Her connection to the School of Communication became even more personal just over a year ago. Lancaster’s daughter is now a sophomore at the school, something she said makes her extremely proud.
Outside of her work at the University, Lancaster said she enjoys baking sourdough, listening to Taylor Swift and learning to play the drums. She even has a drumhead under her desk that she plays when she gets stressed.
For any students feeling uneasy this school year, Lancaster offers a piece of advice: “Just keep doing what you’re doing, keep trusting the faculty that are here because they are the best faculty in the country.”