Journalism Department reaccredited, receives 'seal of approval'

By Jenny Cullen

It serves as a seal of approval for the Journalism Department in showing UW-River Falls has a quality program. Indeed, being reaccredited is something very important to the journalism program, students and faculty/staff.

The UW-River Falls Journalism Department was reaccredited last May by a unanimous vote from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in Washington, D.C.

“Being reaccredited is important because it shows that outside people have looked over every aspect of our program and said they view the program as high quality,” said Colleen Callahan, Journalism Department chair. “This is a way of making sure we are keeping high standards and improving our program.”

The Journalism Department is up for reaccreditation every six years.

In the year before the site visit, the department spent a massive amount of time preparing.

The first step was a group of four full-time faculty, practicing journalists and students meeting and discussing every aspect of the Journalism Department. This provided information on strengths and weaknesses of the department.

In addition to the group meetings, Professor Mike Norman prepared a self-study report about the department.

Upon arrival on campus, the site team reviewed the department, conducted interviews with students and administrators.

Having an accredited program is something that is definitely important for both students and faculty members in the Journalism Department.

“Every program that seeks accreditation must be judged on the same standards,” Callahan said. “This means that our program is meeting the same standards as the big schools. That means our students are receiving a high quality journalism education.”