With its tradition of maintaining a high standard of education excellence, it’s not surprising that the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Iowa State University has held continuous professional accreditation since in 1948.
And in 2015, Greenlee faculty and staff are working to continue that decades-old tradition as the school reached the six-year benchmark for reaccreditation.
A higher education facility only receives reaccreditation when it maintains certain standards, and to director Michael Bugeja, it is the most valuable status any journalism and mass communication program can achieve.
The school receives its accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC), which is sending a review site team to Hamilton Hall from Oct. 25–28. During this time, the site team will study the school, interview students, faculty and staff and and create a final report with their findings. The final decision on whether Greenlee will be reaccredited will be reached in May.
In order to earn reaccreditation, the school must meet ACEJMC’s nine standards. This includes the requirement of the school’s internship program, an inclusive and diverse curriculum, an environment that supports and rewards faculty research and innovation, specific curriculum on First Amendment freedoms and much more.
Already, the school has conducted a self-study that includes its mission, opportunities, accomplishments and plans for the future.
In her role as program coordinator, Alyssa Rutt helped to complete the self-study and prepared the school for the site team visit. Preparing the self-study was a two year process and includes involvement from the school’s standing committees and faculty. Since the school’s last reaccreditation visit in 2009, the school has continuously collected data on the nine standards it must meet.
- Mission, Governance and Administration
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Diversity and Inclusiveness
- Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty
- Schoalrship: Research, Creative and Professional Activity
- Student Services
- Resources, Facilities and Equipment
- Professional and Public Service
- Assessment of Learning Outcomes
- The process is significant, Rutt said, because it is important for school officials to know their current methods are fulfilling high standards. She said it is a very reflective process and an opportunity for improvement.
“For Greenlee, I think it’s not only important to keep up that tradition, but to keep that promise to our students that we are going to continually look at what we’re doing and to continually assess the learning environment they’re a part of from every angle to make sure students are getting the best experience possible,” Rutt said.
Bugeja agreed.
“I am confident that I am serving in one of the best journalism schools in the country, so I look forward accreditation in the same way a student looks forward to the final grade,” he said.