Key Documents: Section III. Journalism Education: Preparation for Change - Accreditation Standards in Journalism Education

Introduction

Accreditation is a process used across the United States for weighing academic quality in higher education. Instead of one national regulating entity, there are numerous accrediting agencies charged with assessing a wide range of institutions and programs—including those that concentrate on a single discipline or profession. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) is the only organization specifically responsible for evaluating higher education in journalism that is focused on professional (pre-career) education. The council accredits about 100 of the roughly 400 journalism and mass communication degree programs in the country, many of the latter not seeking accreditation as they are rooted in broader liberal arts concerns and do not focus on pre-professional work.

In devising its latest Accrediting Standards for professional journalism and mass communications programs, the ACEJMC pushed certain key values and priorities. The organization has a stated mission for journalism education that includes preparing students with a definable body of knowledge, a clear system of inquiry, and appropriate scholarship and career training. The ACEJMC also puts great emphasis on journalism's commitment to diversity and inclusiveness in reporting and the educating of prospective journalists. As a result, programs are asked to document efforts to include women and representatives from diverse ethnic and racial groups in both the faculty and student body—and to expand the professional opportunities for these particular students.

The Accrediting Standards, however, do not mandate a specific curriculum or list of courses for all schools to adopt. There is also no single method of instruction prescribed for programs to follow. The ACEJMC Council puts great stock in protecting the “unique situation, mission and resources” that each program takes on. The council merely judges the program's efforts against the broad framework and standards it embraces for preparing students in the field.

The council openly supports the value of a liberal arts and sciences curriculum, as well as journalism-specific training courses, in its Accrediting Standards. The ACEJMC governing body also pays close attention to student services, professional and public service, assessment of learning outcomes, and resources, facilities and use of equipment. Yet, given the enormous technical advances in the general journalism and media environment, the Accrediting Standards for training students on new technology is not as rigorous as might be expected. This could be traced to mass communications programs placing less of an emphasis on the role of technology than journalism schools.

—Glenn Lewis Volume Editor

ACEJMC Accrediting Standards

Preamble

Institutional uniqueness

The Accrediting Council does not define specific curricula, courses or methods of instruction. It recognizes that each institution has its unique situation, mission and resources, and this uniqueness is an asset to be safeguarded. The Council judges programs against the objectives that units and institutions set for themselves and against the standards that the Council sets forth for preparing students for professional careers in journalism and mass communications.

Format for each standard

Indicators

Units should demonstrate that they meet the expectations defined for each of the indicators. However, the site team may recommend a waiver of the expectations for any indicator if the unit provides a compelling reason for the waiver. In such cases, the team must provide justification in the site report for its decision as part of its discussion of the standard. Units requesting evaluation of their professional master's program(s) are expected to demonstrate how those graduate programs meet all appropriate indicators.

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