Twenty-three schools and one re-visit will be reviewed at the Accrediting Committee meeting Saturday and Sunday, March 14-15, in Chicago at the Westin Hotel, 909 N. Michigan Ave. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the hotel’s Mayfair Room and adjourn by 4:30 p.m. The meeting resumes Sunday and will end by noon.

Following is the review schedule. This schedule is tentative because it is impossible to know
the length of discussion for each school.

Two new Council members named

Diana Rios and Sheri Broyles were appointed by AEJMC to serve as its representatives to the Accrediting Council. They will replace Hubert Brown and Fred Blevens, whose terms expire with the May meeting. Rios is an associate professor for the University of Connecticut’s department of communication sciences. Broyles is an associate professor in the department of journalism at the University of North Texas. Broyles and Rios both will serve three-year terms on the Council, effective with the August meeting.

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Cochran to retire from RTNDA

Accrediting Council member Barbara Cochran will retire in June as president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. During her 12-year tenure at RTNDA, Cochran has championed First Amendment rights of electronic journalists and upheld standards of ethics and excellence in the industry. Before joining RTNDA in 1997, Cochran was Washington bureau chief for CBS News, the first woman to hold that position for a television network. She also has been executive producer of Meet the Press, vice president for news at National Public Radio and managing editor of the Washington Star. Cochran will continue as an Accrediting Council member through 2010 and plans to continue with RTNDA as a consultant in the role of president emeritus.

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Member and program updates

Effective Jan. 1, Southeast Missouri State University department of communication became
two departments: communication studies and mass media. Stuart Towns is chair of the new communication studies department. Tamara Baldwin will serve as interim chair of the new mass media department. A search is under way for a full-time chair.

Jeff Fruit has been named interim dean of the College of Communication and Information at
Kent State University, replacing Jim Gaudino, who is now president of Central Washington University. Greg Blase has been named interim director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

John Lumpkin, Associated Press vice president for U.S. and Latin American newspaper markets, will become director June 1 of the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University, replacing interim director John R. Tisdale.

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The group of 26 workshop participants, which included professionals and journalism educators, was given
an overview of the site team visit process and guidelines for assessing the nine standards.

Site-team training workshop held in Portland

Participation by professionals and journalism educators at a site team training workshop helped accentuate the overall message: It’s the synergy of both groups that leads to successful site team visits.

The 26 participants at the ACEJMC-sponsored workshop Nov. 8-9 in Portland were given an overview of how a site team operates. The training emphasized how each individual team member contributes to the team’s success.

The teams are a “blend of expertise, talent and balance that make the visits work,’’ Accrediting Council member Doug Anderson said, adding that educators can bring an insight into faculty governance and the tenure process. “They understand the structure. They have a sort of sixth sense about faculty dynamics.” Anderson, dean of the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, is an Accrediting Council member and has served as team chair on many site visits.

Peter Bhatia, president of the Accrediting Council, told professionals to rely on their strong journalism skills to help bring “depth and context” to the team report.

“Professionals bring strong, trained, question-asking skills to the team,’’ Bhatia said. “Use those skills. Report, report, report.” Bhatia is executive editor of The Oregonian and has served on
several site teams.

Trevor Brown, Accrediting Committee member, reminded both professions of the importance
of bringing their analytic thinking skills and expertise to the table – and leaving any biases or prejudices at the door.

Other presenters were Pam Luecke, vice chair of the Accrediting Committee; Jerry Ceppos,
former Council president; and ACEJMC Executive Director Susanne Shaw.

Speakers also provided insight on how to assess each of the nine standards, specifics on how to
write a team report, and the process of how the report moves from the team to the Accrediting Committee and Council.

Workshop participants were recommended by Council members or had expressed an interest in
being considered for a site team. Shaw said the workshop is necessary to become a site team member.

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Meetings calendar

Accrediting Council
May 1-2
Westin Hotel
Portland

August 28
Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue
Chicago

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

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2009–2010 site visit schedule

The Council will send 26 site teams to schools in the 2009–10 academic year.
Schools marked with an asterisk seek initial accreditation. In addition, four schools will have re-visits.

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ACEJMC Ascent

Newsletter of the Accrediting Council on Education
in Journalism and Mass Communications

Vol. 16, No. 1, February 2009

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