Schieffer School reaccreditation is approved

Fort Worth, TX

4/30/2010

            The Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University has been formally reaccredited by the academic agency that establishes standards for journalism and mass communications programs and administers the accrediting process.

            The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications – known as ACEJMC – voted unanimously in a meeting Friday in Arlington, Va., to reaccredit the Schieffer School’s undergraduate programs in journalism and strategic communication.

            “TCU is proud of the record of its journalism and strategic communication programs in accreditation and the latest reaccreditation of the Schieffer School becomes a part of that legacy,” said Dr. R. Nowell Donovan, University Provost. “We want TCU to be in the forefront of media studies in this era of great change, and reaccreditation is a foundation for that."

            The journalism program at TCU was the first at a private institution to be accredited and is one of only 18 private universities among the 113 overall that currently have ACEJMC accreditation.  Reaccreditation is for six years.

            Accreditation is a year-long process and includes the compilation of a comprehensive self-study, an on-site investigation by a four-member team of academicians and professionals and votes at the committee and full council levels.  The Schieffer School was one of 27 programs scrutinized in the 2009-10 academic year.

            The council assesses a program’s scholarship, resources, curriculum, governance, diversity, student services, alumni, research, professional activity, quality of faculty and learning outcomes, among other criteria.  The site team’s report cited “strong faculty attention to students” and “enthusiastic and engaged students who take considerable pride in their school.”

            The report also noted the $5.6 million expansion and renovation of the Schieffer School facilities and its new Convergence Center, designed to prepare students for the multi-platform future of news, advertising and public relations.  In addition, the site team identified as an asset “a strong set of student media outlets for students to practice newfound skills.”

            “This is great news and well-deserved recognition of the work that John Lumpkin and his team have been doing. I see this as just one more step in making our school the best in the nation. Congratulations to one and all,” said Bob Schieffer, senior CBS News correspondent and a TCU alumnus for whom the school was named in 2005.

            This year, broadcast journalism major Christina Durano of Albuquerque, N.M., became a Fulbright Scholar, the Schieffer School’s first.  Alumnus Steve Buttry was named national Editor of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine.  In 2009, the Schieffer School’s campaign team went to the national finals of the student competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation for the third year in a row, a record not exceeded by any other institution.

            The Schieffer School is part of the College of Communication at TCU and has 600 majors.  The journalism program, established in 1927, is one of the nation’s oldest.  Advertising and public relations programs were subsequently added and grew to be ranked in the top 25 in the country by PR Educator. The student-run newspaper, The Skiff, was launched in 1902 and the school now has a full-length award-winning magazine, Image, and a television news operation, TCU News Now. 
Schieffer School students produce three media-related websites as well, and http://www.dailyskiff.com won a national competition for multi-media coverage of TCU football this past season.

            This fall, five seniors from the school will participate in the first class for the Schieffer School in Washington in partnership with The Washington Center. The students will have full-time internships in news and strategic communication organizations, including CBS News and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as continuing their formal studies away from campus.

            “The ACEJMC team report is evidence of the quality of our students and faculty and also the support that the TCU administration and trustees have given the Schieffer School,” said director Lumpkin.

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For more information about the Schieffer School of Journalism at TCU, see http://www.schiefferschool.tcu.edu.