'A standard of excellence': Florida A&M's journalism program receives accreditation

After decades of being accredited, Florida A&M University's journalism program is keeping the momentum with its continued status of meeting high standards.

FAMU School of Journalism & Graphic Communication Dean Mira Lowe announced May 1 that the school's journalism division received reaccreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication  (ACEJMC). 

"As we strive to equip students for success in an evolving media landscape, ACEJMC reaccreditation affirms that we've succeeded in our ongoing efforts to uphold a standard of excellence and build on a four-decade legacy of premier journalism training," Lowe, who has been the school's dean since 2021, said in a prepared statement. 

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ACEJMC is an agency that evaluates journalism and mass communication programs at colleges and universities to ensure they meet the highest standards in education. 

The agency's council voted unanimously during a May 1 meeting in Washington, D.C. – which Lowe attended, according to ACEJMC Executive Director Patricia Thompson – to award the FAMU journalism program reaccreditation.

FAMU's School of Journalism & Graphic Communication  was founded in 1982 and is made up of journalism, visual communication and mass communication programs. Prominent individuals such as former ABC News President Kimberly Godwin and ESPN Commentator Tiffany Greene are products of the journalism division in what is commonly known as the J-School.

According to the university's dashboard, the school had an enrollment of 481 students in the fall with 137 of them being on a pre-journalism track, 128 in journalism, 84 in public relations and 132 in graphic communication.

FAMU was one of 18 universities on the schedule for a reaccreditation review of its journalism program this year. While the schools are usually up for evaluation every six years, the process changed to every seven years for this cycle due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago.

When the school's journalism program was accredited by the agency in 1982, it became the nation's first at an HBCU (historically Black college or university) to hold the distinction. Since then, the division – which includes journalism and public relations tracks – has earned reaccreditation from ACEJMC in 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2020, according to the university.

But before the program's 2020 accreditation, it received a provisional accreditation in 2018, where it had two years to correct issues related to the agency's standards on scholarship and the assessment of learning outcomes before it was reviewed again and reaccredited. This year, the journalism division achieved full accreditation.

Other standards used by the accrediting agency when evaluating journalism programs include governance and administration, curriculum and instruction, facilities and equipment, student services, and faculty. Currently, FAMU's journalism program has adequate staffing, though additional resources may be required in the future as it continues to grow and evolve, Lowe said.

After conducting a self-study to determine how well the journalism division aligned with its standards, the agency visited FAMU's campus to review the program by interviewing faculty, students and administrators a few months ago. The last steps of the process included evaluating findings and making a final decision about what the program's accreditation status would be.

"We commend Dean Lowe and the entire SJGC team for setting a high bar in journalism education and for preparing career-ready graduates to thrive in today's dynamic communications industry," FAMU's Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Allyson Watson said in a university release.

Tarah Jean is a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at  tjean@tallahassee.com . Follow her on X:  @tarahjean_ .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Journalism program at FAMU receives accreditation from agency