The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications has been accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications since 1954 and is the only accredited journalism and mass communications program in Nebraska.
Up for reaccreditation in 2023, the site team’s recent report praised our “do from day one” mantra, strong administrative team, research momentum, curricular innovation, facilities and collegial, collaborative “can-do” faculty. The report also indicated areas for improvement, including the need for a more consistent advising experience, systematic assessment plan, dedicated affinity groups for underrepresented students and a sustainability plan for the Experience Lab. The accreditation team’s recommendation: full reaccreditation.
While we still have work to do, as I look back over this last year—over these last four years—I am blown away by how far we have come and how much we have accomplished. The cover of this report says it all. I am so insanely proud of this college.
I’m proud of the Nebraska Nightly crew who were twice given the option to skip a newscast before heading into a holiday weekend and twice voted to stay behind to cover the news. I’m proud of the students who are coming back from the holiday break early in the ethical pursuit of truth to uphold our democracy. Their coverage of the Iowa Caucuses will be shared with community news organizations across the state through the Nebraska News Service.
I’m proud of our staff and student workers who traveled to high schools across the state to share our “do from day one” experience and recruit future Huskers, who spent their nights and weekends responding to students in distress and took on more and more with every budget cut.
I’m proud of our alumni who invested in our students and the future of journalism and mass communications to help offset those budget cuts and shared their wealth of experience and wisdom as guest lecturers and advisory board members.
I’m proud of our faculty who taught innovative classes in AI and social media data mining and foundational classes in media ethics and law, conducted cutting edge research on climate resilience and media literacy, fought bureaucracy and a myriad of other issues to host a two-day media blitz for high school basketball teams and bring clients into the classroom to produce videos for the Cornhusker State Games and Pershing Mural Art Project, build social media content for Biological Systems Engineering and Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands and develop full campaign plans for Tide and BraveBe Child Advocacy Center. It would be so much easier if we had our students produce work for made-up brands and clients.
But that’s not who we are. That’s not what we do. Our vision is to be a national leader in experiential journalism and mass communications education, and that takes hard work, collaborative problem solving and a commitment to our mission to nurture curious and creative minds to thrive in the ever-changing media and communication professions.
The ACEJMC site team validated that we are living out that mission and leading the way by pursuing truth and solving real problems to create a better future for our students, our industry partners and our state.
I am proud of the work we have accomplished. But most of all, I am proud of the people who make up this incredible college.
Shari R. Veil, MBA, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
