The associate professor in the Strategic Communications Department was one of four members on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications accreditation site visit team evaluating the Cathy Hughes School of Communications in Washington, D.C.
Jessica Gisclair, associate professor in the Strategic Communications Department, recently served as a member of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) accreditation site visit team at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
During a four-day visit held Feb. 12-15, Gisclair traveled to Howard’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications to collaborate with fellow team members Earnest L. Perry Jr., associate dean for graduate studies and research at the University of Missouri School of Journalism; Rosanna Fiske, global chief communications officer for the Royal Caribbean Group; and Dan Shelley, president and CEO of the Radio-Television Digital News Association. Perry chaired the site visit team.
ACEJMC is the agency responsible for the evaluation of professional journalism and mass communications programs in colleges and universities in the United States, Puerto Rico and outside the country. The council currently has 119 fully accredited programs, including Elon’s School of Communications.
“Accreditation is a voluntary and essential part of professional journalism and mass communications programs,” Gisclair said. “Our visits allow academic and professional colleagues to provide peer-assessment of academic quality.”
Site visit teams are trained by the council and selected by the executive director in consultation with its officers. ACEJMC maintains a pool of potential team members, including female and racial/ethnic minority practitioners and educators. The School of Communications has been active in past accreditation visits, with Interim Dean Kenn Gaither serving as a past site visit team member, as well as Dean Emeritus Paul Parsons and Associate Professor Emeritx Don Grady.
Gisclair said the visits allow for a thorough review of the unit and the institution concerning the quality of the program. “The result is a sharing of best practices that prepare students for future careers as media professionals,” she added.
In recent years, Gisclair has served on accreditation site visit teams at Washington and Lee University, the University of Idaho, and Florida International University.
Founded in 1867 by Civil War hero General Oliver O. Howard, Howard University is among the top-ranked Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States, and its journalism program has been accredited since 1986.
Elon University’s School of Communications has been an ACEJMC-accredited program since 2006.