The dean of the University of Colorado journalism school has announced he will step down and return to teaching even as school leaders are engaged in a process that could lead to dramatic changes. Paul Voakes will rejoin the teaching faculty June 30. In August, CU-Boulder chancellor Phil DiStefano announced the formation of a committee to organize a new information communication and technology program better able to keep pace than the present journalism school with changes in the digital age.

The committee could recommend that the school remain as is, close, or fold pieces of the curriculum into the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society Institute, which includes programs enabled by information and communication technology. The CU Board of Regents would decide whether to close the journalism school.

In August, Voakes said he might return to teaching. "I took stock of where we are in the process that began Aug. 25, and I realized that this was probably the most opportune moment because I understand that the release of the (committee report) is imminent," he said Wednesday. "That will signify the major turning of a corner in our process. I thought this would probably be the very best time in which I could step to the side."

Voakes, who came to CU from the Indiana University School of Journalism in 2003, will take a substantial cut in his present $170,642 salary. Full professors at the CU journalism school earn $90,000 to $130,000.

"It is all part of the process. I knew I was never going to be a high-salaried dean forever," he said. "You live your life accordingly. I just turned 60. You just start thinking, 'How do I want to finish up my working life?' And the answer is as a professor."