Moving Toward Accreditation
Department Moving Toward ACEJMC Accreditation
As you may know, the Communication Department has been talking for some time about accreditation. Well, it's in the works. We are formally seeking affiliation with the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Right now, we are preparing a self-study (currently 354 pages and growing). This fall, we will host a team of academic and professional representatives who will review our program and make a recommendation on our accreditation.
In the world of higher education, virtually every school is accredited academically. Buffalo State is accredited through the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges. But in addition to the normal academic certification, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognizes 46 oversight organizations that accredit professional programs from education to forestry, from podiatry to counseling. ACEJMC is the body that accredits programs dealing with journalism, broadcasting, public relations, advertising and similar programs.
Of the 800 or so U.S. colleges offering communication degrees, only 109 are accredited by ACEJMC. Only five are in New York State, none of them SUNY schools. Accreditation would put Buffalo State's communication program in the company of Syracuse, Columbia and NYU. Pretty good company!
This in turn should have a major impact on our recruiting efforts, our ability to generate scholarship funds and on the value of our degree to both our current students and alumni.
If you wish to write a note for our accreditation file, please send a letter to me at Bishop 210 (ACEJMC), Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo NY 14222-1095, or e-mail a note to communication@buffalostate.edu (subject: ACJEMC). We particularly invite comments from graduates of the Communication Department (or the former Journalism-Broadcasting-Speech program), as well as media professionals familiar with our program.
Learn more about accreditation at the Communication Department homepage (www.buffalostate.edu/communication) or at www2.ku.edu/~acejmc.