By Jennifer W. Sanchez
Tribune Reporter

The chairman of the University of New Mexico's communication and journalism department said he's not concerned that the journalism program will lose its accreditation next fall.

"I don't think the accreditation is a major issue for the university," said department chairman Brad Hall.

The department decided to withdraw its application for accreditation earlier this week, he said, after a campus visit from an accrediting committee.

Hall said faculty members did not think the program would meet the standards set by the Accrediting Council on Education on Journalism and Mass Media, an independent Kansas-based group of professionals and educators.

The accreditation committee had been concerned about the lack of independent status for the journalism program, Hall said.

Journalism and communication, which were once separate departments at UNM, were merged in 1992.

Hall said lack of accreditation is not necessarily a black mark, noting that some respected universities have unaccredited programs.

More than 400 universities in the United States offer formal journalism programs, but only about a fourth of them have accreditation, according to the council.

By next year, New Mexico State University will have the only accredited journalism and mass communications department in the state.

One veteran Albuquerque journalist said a department's accreditation is important when students are applying for internships and jobs.

"I always wanted to know about the applicant's academic background," said Bob Johnson, who retired from The Associated Press after 42 years and is now executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. "When people hire reporters, they'd like to know that they've gotten good professional training."

Johnson said that in order to improve, the program needs to recruit more experienced journalists to teach and needs to be become a separate department.

The department will review its decision with faculty, students and alumni, and it might apply again for accreditation in a few years, Hall said.

Programs vying for accreditation are rated on a variety of standards, including: money for programs, curriculum, student achievement, professional activities, faculty instruction and student and faculty diversity, according to the accreditation council.

Karl Linzmeyer, a junior in advertising, which is part of the UNM journalism program, said he's worried he might be passed up for a job or graduate school because UNM will lack accreditation.

"I want to have a degree that has weight and that's accredited," he said.

UNM Communication and Journalism Department

Annual budget: About $1 million

Faculty members: 20

Part-time instructors: 12

Graduate students: 65

Undergraduates: 614 (292 communication students, 322 journalism students.)

Source:UNM communication and journalism department.

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