Changing the definition of "professor"?

Grand Text Auto recently posted a description of an open tenure-track position at U of Baltimore:

"Assistant Professor, Information Arts and Technologies

The School of Information Arts and Technologies at the University of Baltimore invites applications for a tenure track assistant professor to begin August 2007. Doctorate or other terminal degree in computer science, interactive media, instructional technology, or human-computer interaction is highly desirable. Advanced degrees in other areas may be considered.

The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to teaching, demonstrated success in research and publication, and the ability to teach a range of courses in our two undergraduate and two graduate degree programs. We particularly seek candidates with background in programming, interactive media, game and simulation development, user-centered design, and/or media studies."

What I thought was really interesting about this description is that although they're looking for a professor, and they certainly want the person they hire to have academic credentials (i.e. Ph.D, have published work), there is also a fairly big emphasis in the description on practical skills. The idea candidate is someone who has actual programming, development, and/or design experience-- in addition to a Ph.D and published papers.

Is this perhaps the future of media studies? Will professors need to have the practical skills to create the media they are studying?

Or is this really a very old phenomenon? (Chemistry, biology, physics, etc. professors are expected not only to possess extensive knowledge about their field, but also to have done extensive research and made findings of their own.)