Following the release of its report, an accreditation committee is giving the School of Journalism and Mass Communication provisional accreditation this year.
The Accreditation Council for Education of Journalism and Mass Communication visits the SJMC every six years in order for the school to renew its accreditation.
This year, the school has received not full accreditation, but provisional accreditation, meaning the school now has a two-year period to address and fix any problems the site team found.
The report listed both the strengths and weaknesses found in the journalism school’s undergraduate and graduate programs.
According to the report, there were some strong aspects the team noticed in the undergraduate program, including the passion of the student body.
“Excellent students who are passionate about the school and appreciative of their experience here, and who have been admirably protected by the current chaos by the faculty,” the report stated, going on to express similar praise for the graduate program. “A curriculum that combines skills-focused and conceptual courses and offers flexibility for students in meeting their professional goals.”
The report also noted that the SJMC’s strengths included a strong record of intern placement for students, and professional placement for graduates, and a recognition of the the Digital Media Test Kitchen, which is a new effort at national prominence.
Some of the weaknesses the site team uncovered included issues with diversity and faculty.
“Diversity needs to be much more thoroughly incorporated into the curriculum,” the report stated. “Too many classes are not being taught by regular faculty… The site team did experience some frustration at finding faculty in their offices and that some classes had guest speakers during the visit.”
According to the report, the team also found an issue with Armory, noting that the building was too small, causing classes to have to be taught all across campus.
As far as graduate education is concerned, the report stated the team has issue with the difficulty of some courses.
“Rigor across courses does not seem to be consistent,” the report stated.
The accreditation committee also acknowledged the possible discontinuance, and reported it as part of their reason for provisional accreditation.
“As the [discontinuance] process moves forward, an effective structure must be built that includes and acknowledges the high demand for journalism and mass communication education,” the report stated.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Isa Jones at Alexandra.i.jones@colorado.edu.
