The University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication returned to full accreditation status Saturday.
The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication recommended the accreditation at its San Francisco meeting.
“We thought it was warranted, and we were glad to see they agreed with that,” said Robert Scott, acting director of the journalism school.
In January 1995 the school was placed on provisional accreditation because of deficiencies in budget and governance administration, two of the 12 evaluative standards. The school then had one year to address these problems.
In February, Don Schultz, a professor of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University, and Susanne Shaw, a professor of journalism at the University of Kansas, visited the University of Minnesota. Based on their visit, they said they would recommend the school for full accreditation to the council.
The council’s report on the school stated the program had excellent faculty, a strong doctoral program and students who had proved themselves both in the field and classroom.
“Is (seeking accreditation) still worth the effort? This is something the school still believes,” Scott said.
— Kari Siegle