The journalism and mass communications programs at UNM haven't been accredited for almost six years, but they took a major step toward reaccreditation Wednesday.
A team from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications recommended the program be accredited after a three-day review that began Monday, Communications and Journalism chairman John Oetzel said.
"They found us in full compliance with every standard and are recommending us for accreditation," he said. "It was a culmination of about two and a half to three years of work. I'm thrilled. This is the best possible decision we can have."
The majors in the program up for accreditation include advertising, public relations and print and broadcast journalism.
An accreditation council will make the final decision in May, but the team's recommendations almost guarantee the programs will be approved, lecturer Karolyn Cannata-Winge said.
"You're talking about four independent people who came in with no biases, and they sat in on our classes and talked with students and faculty," she said. "So, it would be very unlikely that the final council goes against their recommendations."
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The team found the programs in compliance with all of the council's nine standards, including curriculum, diversity, student services, resources and equipment and professional and public service.
None of the team members were available for comment.
Oetzel couldn't say when accreditation would apply or if this year's class will graduate from an accredited program.
The program first received accreditation in 1955 but lost it in 2002 after the department failed to reapply.
Associate professor Richard Schaefer said the department was going to reapply in 2002 but decided to pull out when it was told its application would fail.
"The team came here and said we had significant governance issues as well as other issues," he said. "So, we indeed made a decision to withdraw, but it was a decision that was made with a shotgun to our head somewhat, in that we were going to be rejected if we didn't withdraw."
The department combines communications and journalism but didn't have separate budgets, which the accreditation team wanted to see, Schaefer said.
It also wanted more faculty and administration involvement working on a day-to-day basis to meet accreditation standards, he said.
Schaefer said the problems have been solved, and the department is more responsive to students and offers them more resources than in past years.
However, it still needs to improve in one area, he said.
"We have to teach our students much better about math and statistics," Schaefer said. "As a result, we're going to ask them to take the stat class as their math class. But we have to refresh that throughout our curriculum, and it's still something that's left to be done."
Student Natalie Spencer, an advertising major, said getting accredited would be a leap forward for the program and its students.
"It's important because it will make my degree look better," Spencer said. "It will also help the department get more money and funding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
She said all the students in the accreditation meetings she attended were positive and gave the department good reviews.
"We were honest about things that aren't great, but most things in the department are strong," she said. "I'm really confident in the program, so I didn't have to embellish."
Oetzel said accreditation wouldn't make it easier for students to get jobs after they graduate but would give the program a higher academic standing.
"It doesn't necessarily affect job placement," he said. "That's more about students' work."
Schaefer said the team's recommendations are mostly a symbolic victory and won't result in any noticeable changes in the classroom.
"For the students of the program, I don't think it will make much difference really," he said. "For the program, it means that what had been something of a public relations problem is off our back, assuming all goes through. And we really expect that to happen."
