Guidebook to help
new Council members

Former Council presidents Jerry Ceppos and Saundra
Keyes have co-authored a booklet titled “An Unofficial
Guide for Members of the Accrediting Council.”

The easy-to-read booklet provides a quick overview of expectations and responsibilities of Council members.
It also offers insight into the Council’s culture and
operations. In addition, a listing briefly describes member organizations, outlining the scope of Council participation.

This booklet was written for new members, but it is
available to anyone by contacting Cheryl Klug, ACEJMC,
785-864-3973 or e-mailing cklug@ku.edu.

Doug Anderson replaces Pam Creedon on Council

Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications at Penn State University, will replace Pam Creedon, associate director, external relations, on the Accrediting Council for the May meeting. Creedon, who represented the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, resigned this fall from the Council. Anderson is a former member of the Council and also has been chair of the Accrediting Committee. He is a team chair for site visits each year.

Site team training planned

Twenty-seven participants are scheduled to attend
a site team training program Nov. 8-9 in Portland, Ore., at the Westin Hotel. ACEJMC Executive Director Susanne Shaw said the training was an important and necessary component of becoming
a site team member.

Scheduled speakers – all former or current
Accrediting Committee and Council members – include Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications at Penn State; Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian; Trevor Brown, professor emeritus at Indiana University’s School of Journalism; Jerry Ceppos, dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Nevada; and Pam Luecke, Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism at Washington and Lee University. Several of the sessions will take a “how-to” focus; other sessions will provide insight into the various roles of site team members.

The training workshops are designed to better prepare site teams. Shaw said the training likely
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Council helps build better understanding

Clarification of the Assessment of Learning Outcomes standard, along with discussions led by four experienced team chairs were part of the Aug. 29 Council meeting in Chicago. Many Council members described it as one the best fall meetings they had attended.

The morning session was devoted to a discussion of assessment, led by Accrediting Committee member Trevor Brown, who presented a concise, one-page clarification guide for Council members. The main focus was the value of assessment for improving learning, the different purposes of grading and assessment, and the distinction between direct and indirect measures. Brown’s presentation was suggested by Council President Peter Bhatia after lengthy assessment discussion at the spring meeting. Forty-seven percent of schools seeking accreditation or re-accreditation in 2007-08 were judged out of compliance on the assessment standard. Copies of Brown’s guide and discussion points, along with the minutes, were sent to Council members and site team chairs.

The afternoon session focused on helping Council members understand what happens
on a site visit and the collaboration required among team members. Former Accrediting Committee Chair Doug Anderson outlined the self-study process and discussed how site teams build consensus during an accrediting visit. He emphasized the need for schools
to feel they have been treated fairly. Anderson and Brown were joined by Pam Luecke, chair of the Accrediting Committee; Carla Lloyd, vice chair of the committee; and Tom Kunkel, immediate past chair of the Accrediting Committee, for discussion of writing
the assessment report and the importance of getting it right. Also during the afternoon session, Kunkel spoke briefly about the Carnegie-Knight Foundation initiative and how
it could affect journalism and mass communications education.

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Callahan will head Appeals Board

Chris Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, was named chair of the Appeals Board by Council President Peter Bhatia.

Others appointed to the Appeals Board by Bhatia include Merrill Rose and Dorothy Bland. Rose is an independent public relations consultant in New York City; Bland is director of Florida A&M University’s Division of Journalism. 

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Member and program updates

Fred Young, senior vice president of news for Hearst Argyle Television, will represent the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation on the Council. Young, who has been with Hearst-Argyle since its formation in 1977, oversees news operations in 21 states. He is past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and serves as chairman of the Telecommunications Advisory Committee of Pennsylvania State University.

The College of Communication at Marquette University has named Lynn Turner interim dean. John Pauly, former dean, is now provost.

John R. Tisdale is the interim director at the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University, replacing Tommy Thomason.

The 2008-2009 Council's directory lists an incorrect e-mail address for Mary Hoffman, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. The correct e-mail is hoffmamf@uwec.edu.

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Reinardy joins ACEJMC staff

Cindy Reinardy joined the ACEJMC staff Sept. 8 as a half-time assistant to Executive Director Susanne Shaw. She will focus primarily on communications and publications. Reinardy has more than 20 years of newsroom experience, working at newspapers in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in positions of writer, section editor and design editor. From 2000 to 2005, she was a clinical instructor of design and copy editing at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, working with the Missourian newspaper’s student staff. Before moving to Lawrence, Reinardy was the project specialist and communications coordinator for TEAMwork for Quality Living, a nonprofit grassroots organization in Delaware County, Ind. Contact Reinardy at creinardy@ku.edu or at 785-864-7640.

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Meetings calendar

Accrediting Committee
Saturday, March 14 – Sunday, March 15
Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue
Chicago

Accrediting Council
Friday, May 1 – Saturday, May 2
Westin Hotel
Portland

Accrediting Council
Aug. 28
Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue
Chicago

Accrediting Committee
Saturday, March 13 -- Sunday, March 14, 2010
Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue
Chicago

President, Accrediting Council
Peter Bhatia
Executive Editor, The Oregonian
1320 S.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
(503) 221-8393; Fax (503) 294-5012
E-mail: pbhatia@news.oregonian.com

Vice President, Accrediting Council
Jannette Dates
Dean, John H. Johnson School of Communications
525 Bryant St. NW
Howard University
Washington, D.C. 20059
(202) 806-7694; Fax (202) 232-8040
e-mail: jdates@howard.edu

Chair, Accrediting Committee
Pam Luecke
Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism
Department of Journalism and Mass Communications
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450
(540) 458-8435; Fax (540)458-8845
e-mail: lueckep@wlu.edu

Vice Chair, Accrediting Committee
Carla Lloyd
Associate Dean of Scholarly and Creative Activity
School of Public Communications
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244

Executive Director
Susanne Shaw
Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045 - 7575
(785) 864-3986
e-mail: sshaw@ku.edu

Assistant to the Executive Director
Cindy Reinardy
Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045 - 7575
(785) 864-7640
e-mail: creinardy@ku.edu

Office Staff
Cheryl Klug
Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045 - 7575
(785) 864-3973
e-mail: cklug@ku.edu

Council Web site:
http://www.ku.edu/~acejmc