Paluszek to lead Global Alliance

John Paluszek, ACEJMC Council member and a senior counsel at
Ketchum in New York, is the new chair of the Global Alliance
for Public Relations and Communication Management. The alliance
is an umbrella organization linking public relations professional
associations worldwide.

Paluszek will help guide the organization in a new five-year strategic
plan, which was endorsed at the June 1 meeting in Vancouver. The
primary objective of the plan is to increase the value of the Global
Alliance to member associations by raising standards, sharing knowledge, advocating for the profession and strengthening public relations associations.

Paluszek's two-year term begins July 1.

Brown appointed visiting administrator at Columbia

Trevor Brown, former dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism, will be a visiting administrator for the 2009-10 year at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Brown will be assistant dean for curriculum development. Among his responsibilities will be working with the school's assessment of learning outcomes plan and curriculum enrichment of the Carnegie-Knight Journalism Initiative.

Brown has been chair and vice chair of the Accrediting Committee and served two terms as a committee member. He also was chair of the Accrediting Council's Standards Review Committee.
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August Council meeting to include discussions
on changing landscape in media industry, academics

ACEJMC will have its fall meeting Friday, Aug. 28, in Chicago at the Westin Hotel, 909 N. Michigan Ave. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Mayfair Room and conclude around 4 p.m.

The meeting will begin with a discussion of some possible minor changes to the standards language to reflect discussion at the May meeting, with stronger emphasis placed on current media and technology.

Doug Anderson will report from his committee, which is addressing questions of how programs operating within unique cultural or religious perimeters are to be considered during the accreditation process. The committee also will make recommendations about international programs and the diversity standard. Other committee members are Pam Luecke, Joe Foote and John Paluszek. The committee will meet in Boston.

The keynote address will focus on the changing media landscape; a panel discussion after lunch will focus on how these changes affect accreditation standards and education of students.

Deadline to make hotel reservations at the Council rate of $169 per night is July 31. To make reservations, log on to http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/accrediting or call 1-888-627-8385.
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Information session at AEJMC convention

ACEJMC’s annual information session at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's convention will be from 8:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the Sheraton Boston. Presenters will be ACEJMC Executive Director Susanne Shaw, Accrediting Council President Peter Bhatia and Accrediting Committee chair Pam Luecke. The session will provide general information about the accreditation process and include time for questions from school representatives about upcoming site visits and self-study preparation.
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New Council members named

New Council members have been named and will attend the August meeting in Chicago. Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, will represent accredited programs for the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. Don Heider, dean of the School of Communication at Loyola University College, will represent unaccredited programs for the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. Diana Rios, associate professor in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Connecticut, and Sheri Broyles, associate professor of Advertising in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, will represent the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
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Member and program updates

Will Norton, dean of the University of Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, has been named founding dean of the Edwin and Becky Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. He begins this post July 1. Norton was chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Mississippi for 13 years before becoming the journalism dean in 1990 at Nebraska.

ASNE members voted in April to replace “newspapers” with “news” in its name, becoming the American Society of News Editors. Members also agreed to open membership to leaders of online news providers and journalism education.

The annual Accrediting Council publication will be available in late July. The booklet will include the following changes in administration and contact information.

• Charlyne Berens will serve as interim dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska.
• Kevin Klose, president emeritus of National Public Radio, is now dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
• Lori Bergen has been named dean of the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University, effective July.
• Bruce L. Smith will serve as interim director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University – San Marcos.
• Margaret Fitch-Hauser is the new chair of the Department of Communication and Journalism at Auburn University.
• Brian O'Donoghue is chair of the University of Fairbanks' Department of Journalism.
• David D. Perlmutter has been named director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa.
• Sandra Ellis is the new chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin -- River Falls.
• José Luis Benavides is chair of the Department of Journalism at California State University, Northridge.
• Walt Harrington has been named interim dean for the College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Council discusses diversity standard issues,
accredits schools, elects Committee members

During its May 1-2 meeting in Portland, the Council made 25 accreditation decisions, elected Committee members, and initiated discussion in two areas of the diversity standard where more guidance and clarity in the language is needed.

ACEJMC Executive Director Susanne Shaw told the Council she was increasingly getting questions about how international faculty were to be considered in the diversity standard. Shaw said guidelines were needed. The Council discussed how to embrace a global society while preserving the original intent of the standard – inclusion of those historically under-represented American minorities.

The Council also was asked to provide guidance when judging units operating within parameters of a church-based or cultural environment that present diversity limitations. Committee Chair Pam Luecke said the Committee struggled with this issue during its March meeting in Chicago and asked the Council to provide language guidelines. Shaw said these unique religious and cultural situations would become more prevalent as the number of international schools seeking accreditation continues to increase.

Council President Peter Bhatia asked Doug Anderson to lead a committee to work on the language.

Committee members elected
The Council re-elected two Accrediting Committee members and elected four new members to three-year terms. Ben Holden, vice president and executive editor of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, and Judy VanSlyke Turk, director of the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, were re-elected. New members elected were: Chris Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University; Will Norton, who begins July 1 as dean of the Edwin and Becky Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi; Jan Slater, head of the advertising department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Rick Rodriguez, former editor and vice president of The Sacramento Bee, who now has a consulting firm, Rodriguez Media Consulting, in Sacramento.

Accrediting decisions
During the Council’s accreditation decisions, the undergraduate program in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University received accreditation, and the undergraduate program in the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls was removed from provisional status and given full re-accreditation.

The Department of Mass Communication at Iona College received provisional re-accreditation for both its undergraduate and graduate programs. The following schools received provisional re-accreditation for their undergraduate programs: Department of Mass Communications at Jackson State University, Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Department of Journalism at Central Michigan University.

The Council also re-accredited the undergraduate and graduate programs at the following schools: School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Communication at American University, School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University, College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. The Council re-accredited the following undergraduate programs: Department of Communications, Brigham Young University; Department of Communications, University of Southern Indiana; Department of Journalism, Baylor University; Department of Communications, California State University-Fullerton; School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kent State University; School of Journalism and Telecommunications, University of Kentucky; School of Journalism, University of Texas; Department of Mass Communication, Winthrop University; Department of Journalism, University of Connecticut; College of Communications, Arkansas State University; W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Marshall University; School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Texas State University-San Marcos; Gaylord College, University of Oklahoma; Department of Contemporary media and Journalism, University of South Dakota; Department of Communication, University of Washington.

The Council now accredits 114 schools, including one outside the country.
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Strategic plans earn high marks from visit teams

The value of strategic planning in ACEJMC's accreditation process is evident from the start. It’s addressed in the first indicator in the first standard -- Mission, Governance and Administration. During the 2008-09 accreditation process, several schools were praised in team reports for their long-range planning and its positive effects on their program. Following are excerpts from some of those team reports.

San Diego State: “The provost and dean praised the School’s annual (strategic) plans for its visions and impressive balance between aspiration and action, between goals and actions. They said the detail and persuasiveness of the plans explained why the College and University approved the search and hiring of a new faculty member during a full-time faculty hiring freeze.”

American University: “This is a school of strategic planners. Long-range strategic planning informs decision-making, guides implementation of new initiatives, and helps the School maintain and leverage its strengths. There is concrete evidence of this….”

Brigham Young University: “The department has a clear mission and strategic planning is focused on that mission. The department submits the plan to the College annually. The department also has a five-year strategic plan with four goals. Each includes a number of sub-goals, assessment elements and strategies. Related resource needs are also addressed.”

University of Oklahoma: “The college has an ambitious strategic plan to help guide the future … . The self-study states that the college is ‘positioning itself for national prominence.’ ”

University of Alabama: “The College’s strategic plan has helped faculty and administrators in attaining an impressive list of accomplishments …”

Arkansas State: “The College of Communications has a well-defined mission statement and comprehensive strategic planning.”
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Meetings calendar

Accrediting Council
Friday, Aug. 28
Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue
Chicago

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

Accrediting Council
April 30 – May 1, 2010
Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel
801 N. Glebe Road
Arlington, Va.

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ACEJMC Ascent

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

Vol. 16, No. 2, June 2009

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