The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications lauds both with its formal votes at an April 27-28 meeting.
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The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications unanimously voted to reaccredit the School of Communications and to grant first-time accreditation to the M.A. in Interactive Media program at its April 27-28 meeting in Arlington, Va.
Elon becomes the ninth private college or university in the nation with an accredited professional master’s degree. The other eight are Columbia, Syracuse, New York University, Iona, American, Northwestern, Marquette and the University of Southern California. Seventeen public universities also have accredited professional master’s degree programs.
Elon’s School of Communications hosted an ACEJMC site team last fall that called the growth in the school’s quality and quantity “nothing short of spectacular,” citing talented faculty, enthusiastic students and an innovative leadership team as keys to building “a positive educational environment” with “an exemplary culture of collegiality.”
The School of Communications, founded in 2000, gained initial accreditation in 2005-06. ACEJMC has a six-year renewal cycle, and this time Elon also put forward its iMedia graduate program, which began in 2009. The site team last fall found both the school and the iMedia program in compliance on all standards, and the Accrediting Council formally voted to grant six-year terms to both, through 2017-18.
In praising the M.A. in Interactive Media program, the site team listed these strengths:
- Dedicated facilities and coursework for graduate students; the master’s program is not an “afterthought” or simply an add-on to the undergraduate programs.
- Energetic, qualified faculty, impressive facilities, up-to-date equipment and technology.
- A nimble, flexible curriculum.
- A strong built-in public-service component.
- Strong, systematic support for students in job placement after graduation.