Three months after the director of the School of Communications announced she’d step down, the interim dean has chosen her successor.

The new director, now-associate professor Noemi Marin, has been with FAU since 1999 and has received various honors from the university. According to a press release announcing Marin’s directorship, she won the FAU 2009 Researcher/Creative Scholar of the Year Award, and the FAU 2010 Presidential Leadership Award.

As of press time, the UP has not been able to reach Marin.

In the fall semester of 2011, Marin was bringing in $58,290 a year. Susan Reilly, the outgoing director, who had served the position for 14 years, clocked in at $124,796 annually (source). As of press time, the UP has not obtained Marin’s contract to compare salaries.

Interim Dean Heather Coltman told the UP in October that she wanted someone new — by the end of the fall semester — to direct the school partly due to the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation process, which evaluates a school’s standards based on research, academic integrity and other factors.

Using the same reason, Coltman has declined comment to the UP “until January — after the holiday break,” according to her assistant.

The other contenders for the director position were Eric Freedman, currently the associate director of the School of Communications, and David Williams, an associate professor in the school. As of press time, the UP has not been able to reach either.