Accreditation frustration!

I decided to come to Winston-Salem State because of cost, proximity to my home and because of the Mass Communications major offered. Like many freshman Mass Comm. majors, when I arrived at WSSU I heard the Department of Mass Communications is not a nationally accredited program. Let me set the record straight. 

The DMC is accredited because WSSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools  – SACS. 

However, there is an "extra accreditation"  the DMC can seek: Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. ACEJMC accredits 114 programs in journalism and mass communication at colleges and universities in the United States, including one at a university outside the country. An accredited program indicates that the school has been judged by ACEJMC to meet its standards. Of the more than 500 colleges and universities that offer degrees in mass communications, only 120 have ACEJMC accreditation, and nine of those schools are HBCUs. In North Carolina, the current schools with ACEJMC accreditation are Elon, NC A&T SU and UNC-Chapel Hill.

More information on ACEJMC is available at www2.ku.edu/~acejmc/STUDENT/STUDENT.SHTML.

Dr. Philip Jeter, DMC chair said that programs seek accreditation because it is one way to market a program by pointing to a specialized accreditation.   Some foundations will only entertain grant proposals from ACEJMC accredited programs.  Some student awards and competitions are only open to students enrolled in ACEJMC-accredited programs, he said.

There is good news for those of you who worry employers will not consider you because DMC's program does not have the ACEJMC's "Stamp of Approval."

 Jeter said that ACEJMC accreditation is least important to journalism and mass communications organizations that employ students.  These organizations are looking for graduates who can help their company make money. As long as a person can contribute to that company's bottom-line and productivity, employers are receptive to students, graduates, no matter what their major was or whether they graduated from an ACEJMC-accredited program.

Let's remember graduating from an accredited program does not guarantee that dream job or any job. So don't let the accreditation "elephant in the room" consume you.  Instead, use your energy to engage, to learn and to participate in as many activities that will place you ahead of the competition. It's really about who you know (networking) and what you can do (knowledge, skills and internships). But for those who are still worried, the DMC has plans to apply for the ACEJMC team to revisit during the 2011-2012 year.