Dean Paul Voakes

Regardless of your level of confidence, being evaluated is always a little nerve-racking.

So if you were to ask me how the 2004-05 school year went, I'd have to say it was a little nerve-racking – because of an extraordinary evaluation. But the outcome, so far, has been extraordinarily positive.

I imagine many reactions to the statement that our school is accredited would be something like, "OK, but what does that really mean?" Allow me to explain. Of the several hundred collegiate journalism programs around the country, only about 100 are accredited. That determination is made by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, which is composed of leaders in journalism, public relations, advertising and, of course, academia. To be accredited, a program must survive an inspection every six years – and this was our year.

The process starts with a self-study, for us a 140-page document that (with its 12 tables and 41 appendices) fills a 3-inch-thick binder. But the racking of nerves occurred with the three-day visit of a five-member team in January. (An early omen was that the winter sun shone warmly all three days, and the inspectors continually marveled at the Flatirons.)

They concluded, from reading the self-study and observing for themselves, that the School is in compliance on all 12 standards of accreditation:

• The administration of the School has the confidence of the faculty and the campus administration, and faculty members effectively determine educational policy;
• The School's budget is adequate to its mission;
• The curriculum balances professional training and liberal arts education;
• The School's advisers give students the guidance they need;
• The quality of teaching is high;
• The faculty (both full-time and part-time) is well qualified;
• The students have access to meaningful internships;
• The equipment and facilities are adequate to meet the School's objectives;
• The faculty maintains a high level of research and/or creative work;
• The School provides public service at local, state and national levels;
• The School maintains good contact with alumni;
• The School is committed to increasing its diversity.
  

Compliance on all 12 is fairly unusual. Before they left campus, the team filed a 40-page report with high praise elaborating the points above. Their recommendation (that we be re-accredited for another six years) was unanimously approved by the national Accrediting Committee meeting in Chicago on April 3. But the final arbiter, and toughest set of judges, is the Accrediting Council. It met May 7 and approved our re-accreditation, unanimously again.

On those late nights of revisions, tabulations, collations and exhortations, I may have lost sight – well, for just a moment or two – of why schools do this. Now that we can step back a few paces, the rewards of accreditation do seem plain. It's good to be able to state – to students, parents, alumni, donors and the professions we serve – that we're certified as one of the best. Certain student competitions and scholarships are available only to those at accredited schools, so we want to keep those avenues open. The introspection of the self-study was internally valuable. But most important, this has been the ultimate exercise in public accountability. It's easy to claim vaguely that you're an excellent school, but it's quite another thing to open your books, your résumés, your syllabi and your classrooms to a team of outside examiners and let them judge. It feels good to have publicly stood up for who we are and what we do.