UNDERGRADUATE SELF-STUDY REPORT FOR ACCREDITATION VISITS IN 2014–2015
SJSU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Self-Study Report
for Accreditation in Journalism
and Mass Communications
Undergraduate site visit during 2014–2015
Submitted to the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications
Name of Institution:
San José State University
Name of Journalism/Mass Communications Unit:
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Address: San José State University,
One Washington Square, San José, CA 95192-0055
Date of Scheduled Accrediting Visit:
Nov. 16–19, 2014
We hereby submit the following report as required by the Accrediting Council on Education
in Journalism and Mass Communications for the purpose of an accreditation review.
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SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications scholarship winners for 2013 outside the
school’s Dwight Bentel Hall with director Robert Rucker (center).
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Table of Contents
Page
Part I: General Information .....................................................................................................................
5
Part II: Supplementary Information .......................................................................................................
15
Standard 1: Mission, Governance, Administration ................................................................................
32
Standard 2: Curriculum and Instruction ................................................................................................
47
Standard 3: Diversity and Inclusiveness ................................................................................................. 59
Standard 4: Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty ........................................................................................ 86
Standard 5: Scholarship: Research, Creative and Professional Activity ................................................. 96
Standard 6: Student Services .................................................................................................................. 110
Standard 7: Resources, Facilities and Equipment ................................................................................... 125
Standard 8: Professional and Public Service........................................................................................... 138
Standard 9: Assessments of Learning Outcomes .................................................................................... 178
Degree Programs — Self Narratives
Journalism Degree Program – Self Study Narrative ..........................................................................
230
Advertising Degree Program – Self Study Narrative ............................................................................ 258
Public Relations Degree Program – Self Study Narrative .................................................................... 273
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UNDERGRADUATE SELF-STUDY REPORT FOR ACCREDITATION VISITS IN 2014–2015
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PART I:
General Information
This general information section will be included in its entirety in the site team’s report, and it
must present the most current information available. Before the site visit, the unit should review
its responses to the questions below (especially 12 – 20) and update them as necessary. The unit
then should print a copy of this updated section for each team member when they arrive on
campus. A digital copy in Word document format of the updated responses also must be
provided to the team chair to be included in the digital team report sent to the ACEJMC office.
In addition, if any significant changes not covered in this section have occurred since the original
self-study report was submitted, the unit should describe and document those changes and
present this new material to the team when members arrive.
Name of Institution: San José State University
Name of Unit: School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Year of Visit: 2014
1. Check regional association by which the institution
now is accredited.
___ Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
___ New England Association of Schools and Colleges
___ North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
___ Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
___ Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
x Western Association of Schools and Colleges
If the unit seeking accreditation is located outside the United States, provide the name(s) of the
appropriate recognition or accreditation entities: N/A
2. Indicate the institution’s type of control; check more than
one if necessary.
___ Private
_x_ Public
___ Other (specify)
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3. Provide assurance that the institution has legal
authorization to provide education beyond the secondary
level in your state. It is not necessary to include entire
authorizing documents. Public institutions may cite
legislative acts; private institutions may cite charters or
other authorizing documents.
The individual California State Colleges were brought together as a system by the Donahoe Higher
Education Act of 1960. In 1972 the system became the California State University and Colleges; in 1982
the system became the California State University. CSU is the largest comprehensive higher education
system in the nation with 23 unique campuses serving more than 437,000 students with 44,000 employees
statewide. The campuses of the CSU include comprehensive and polytechnic universities and, since July
1995, the California Maritime Academy, a specialized campus.
The system is governed by the Board of Trustees, most of whom are appointed by the governor, and serve
with faculty and student representatives. The CSU chancellor is the chief executive officer, reporting to
the trustees. The campus presidents serve as the campus-level chief executive officers. The trustees,
chancellor and presidents develop system wide educational policy. In 1963 the CSU Academic Senate
was established to act as the official voice of CSU faculty in system wide matters. The presidents, in
consultation with the academic senators and other campus stakeholder groups, render and implement local
policy decisions.
The oldest campus, San José State University, was founded as a normal school in 1857, and became the
first institution of public higher education in California. In1961, it became part of the CSU system as San
José State College. In 1974, it became San José State University (SJSU).
In the heart of Silicon Valley, San José State University is located at One Washington Square, San José,
CA 95192-0001. Mohammad Qayoumi is president.
The CSU is committed to the continual development of innovative programs, services and opportunities
that will give students the tools they need to meet their full potential. (Source: San José State University
Catalog 2014–15)
4. Has the journalism/mass communications unit been
evaluated previously by the Accrediting Council on
Education in Journalism and Mass Communications?
_x_ Yes
___ No
If yes, give the date of the last accrediting visit: 2008
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5. When was the unit or sequences within the unit first
accredited by ACEJMC?
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC School) has been accredited since 1956.
6. Attach a copy of the unit’s mission statement. Give date of
adoption and/or last revision.
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7. What are the type and length of terms?
Semesters of 15 weeks
Quarters of _____ weeks
Summer sessions of 6 to10 weeks
Intersessions of 3 weeks
8. Check the programs offered in journalism/mass
communications:
x Four-year program leading to Bachelor’s degree
x Graduate work leading to Master’s degree
___ Graduate work leading to Ph.D. degree
9. List the specific degrees being reviewed by ACEJMC.
*Indicate online degrees.
The three undergraduate degrees are being reviewed in 2014: Journalism, Advertising and
Public Relations. There is no online degree.
10. Give the number of credit hours required by the university
for graduation. Specify semester-hour or quarter-hour
credit.
The Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism, Advertising or Public Relations requires 120 semesterhour units. In 2002, it required 124 semester-hour units; prior to 1998, 132 semester-hour units were
required. The Master of Science degree in Mass Communications is 30 semester-hour units.
11. Give the number of credit hours students may earn for
internship experience. Specify semester-hour or quarterhour credit.
Students enroll for a 240-hour required internship, which must be approved by the JMC
School and professionally supervised. The course credit is 3 semester-hour units.
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12. List each professional journalism or mass communications
sequence or specialty offered and give the name of the
person in charge.
Name of Sequence or Specialty
Person(s) in Charge
Advertising degree program
Timothy Hendrick
Journalism degree program:
Convergence
Public Relations degree program
Richard Craig: Reporting/Editing
D. Michael Cheers/Kim Komenich: Photojournalism
Diane Guerrazzi: Electronic/Broadcast
Scott Fosdick: Magazine
Matt Cabot
13. Number of full-time students enrolled in the institution:
San José State University
Fall 2014 enrollment: 32,595
Fall 2014 full time equivalent enrollment: 26,445
Spring 2014 enrollment: 29,164
Spring 2014 full-time equivalent enrollment: 23,570.94
Fall 2013 enrollment: 31,278
Fall 2013 full-time equivalent enrollment: 25,406.90
Spring 2013 enrollment: 27,503
Spring 2013 full-time equivalent enrollment: 22,180.24
Fall 2012 enrollment: 30,448
Fall 2012 full-time equivalent enrollment: 24,530.08
See additional enrollment and FTES information at the end of this section of the self-study.
14. Number of undergraduate majors in the unit,
by sequence and total (if the unit has pre-major students,
list them as a single total):
Name of Sequence or Specialty
Undergraduate majors
Advertising
Journalism
Public Relations
Total
158
185
194
537
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15. Number of students in each section of all skills courses
(newswriting, reporting, editing, photography, advertising
copy, broadcast news, etc.). List enrollment by section for
the term during which the visit will occur and the
preceding term. Attach separate pages if necessary.
Include a separate list for online courses.
There are no online courses.
JMC School – Skills Class Enrollments
Skills Courses:
Advertising 116
Advertising 124
Advertising 125
Advertising 126
Journalism 61
Journalism 61
Journalism 61
Journalism 61
Journalism 61
Journalism 95
Journalism 132
Journalism 132
Journalism 133
Journalism 135 / MCOM 180*
Journalism 135 / MCOM 180*
Journalism 135 / MCOM 180*
Journalism 136
Journalism 142
Journalism 153 / Journalism 155
Journalism 164 / Journalism 165
Journalism 166
MCOM 63
MCOM 63
MCOM 63
MCOM 163
MCOM 100W
MCOM 100W
MCOM 100W
MCOM 100W
MCOM 100W
MCOM 111
MCOM 199A / MCOM 199B
Section
Number:
01
01
01
01
05
06
08
09
10
01
01
02
01
01
( 1 unit )
02
( 2 units )
03
( 3 units )
01
01
J155 01
J164 01
01
01
02
03
01
01
02
05
06
08
01
01
Enrolled
Spring 14:
9
24
27
16
23
18
18
18
24
20
22
9
13
12 / 4
2/9
1/ 6
18
9
10
6
18
38
40
N/A
23
24
21
10
25
12
42
26
MCOM199B
Section
(#)
-
Enrolled
Fall 2014
(01) 11
(01) 19
(01) 19
(01) 20
(01) 19
(02) 20
(03) 20
(04) Not Offered
(05) Not Offered
(01) 23*
(01) 25*
(02) Not Offered
(01) 20
(01) 12 / 23*
1 unit
(02) 1 / 10
2 units
(03) 1 / 14
3 units
(01) 20
(01) Not Offered
J153 (01) 12
J165 (01) 13
(01) Cancelled
(01) 25*
(02) 26*
(03) 22*
(01) 18
(01) 20
(02) 20
(03) 21*
(04) 20
(05) Not Offered
(01) 44**
(01) 29*
MCOM199A
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PR 190
PR 190
PR 191
PR 191
PR 199
01
02
01
02
01
28
24
22
24
35
(01)
(01)
(01)
(01)
(01)
-
19
20
23*
20
31*
* The overload was due to a university directive to accept students graduating within the year.
** This is not a classroom skills course. Students meet with one-on-one with a faculty internship coordinator to confirm
eligibility requirements and monitor the workplace learning experience.
During fall semester 2014 all departments were advised to accommodate graduating seniors. This is the
only reason JMC School faculty were permitted to exceed designated enrollment limits in skills courses.
16. Total expenditures planned by the unit for the 2014 – 2015
academic year: Percentage increase or decrease in three
years: Amount expected to be spent this year on full-time
faculty salaries:
The total unit base budget for the 2014–15 academic year is $1,436,966.30. This includes full-time
faculty salaries of $925,606 and part-time faculty salaries of $322,844 which total $1,248,450.
The JMC School learns its total budget at the end of the academic year. The final amount will be over two
million dollars. In comparison, the total budget was:
$ 2,048,375.53 in 2013–14
$ 2,107,944.12 in 2012–13
$ 2,304,265.04 in 2011–12
Overall, there has been a decrease in state funding over the past three years. It should be noted that
additional operating funds are often added to a departmental budget.
17. List name and rank of all full-time faculty. (Full-time
faculty refers to those defined as such by the university.)
Identify those not teaching because of leaves, sabbaticals,
etc.
Full-time Faculty
Rank
Teaching Fall 2014
William Tillinghast
Diana Stover
Scott Fosdick
Robert Rucker
Kathleen Martinelli
Professor
Professor
Professor
Assoc. Prof.
Assoc. Prof.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No (*FERP)
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SJSU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Richard Craig
Matt Cabot
D. Michael Cheers
Timothy Hendrick
Diane Guerrazzi
Kim Komenich
John Delacruz
Assoc. Prof.
Assoc. Prof.
Assoc. Prof.
Assoc. Prof.
Assoc. Prof.
Asst. Prof.
Asst. Prof.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
*FERP designates professors on the University’s Faculty Early Retirement Program. These professors do not take
part in unit committee work and usually teach a partial load (one or two courses).
18. List names of part-time/adjunct faculty teaching at least
one course in fall 2014. Also list names of part-time faculty
teaching spring 2014. (If your school has its accreditation
visit in spring 2015, please provide the updated list of
faculty at time of visit.)
Part-time Faculty
Spring 2014 Course
Fall 2014 Course
Robert Nelson
Michael Brito
Christine DiSalvo
Stephen Eckstone
Cynthia Fernald
Tim Mitchell
Dona Nichols
Halima Kazem
Lisa Fernandez
Thomas Ulrich
Larry Sokoloff
Ralph Nichols
Robert Barlow
ADV 121
MCOM 139
PR 193
JOUR 61
MCOM 100W
MCOM 136
MCOM 72
JOUR 61
JOUR 61
JOUR 132
MCOM 101
MCOM 100W
Not Assigned
Not Assigned
MCOM 139
PR 190
ADV 121
MCOM 100W
136
MCOM 105
JOUR 61
JOUR 61
JOUR 153
MCOM 101
JOUR 61
PR 191
19. Schools on the semester system:
For each of the last two academic years, please give the
number and percentage of graduates who earned 72 or
more semester hours outside of journalism and mass
communications.
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72 or more semester hours
outside of journalism and mass communications
Year
Total
Graduates
Number
Percent
2013–14 academic year
2012–13 academic year
194
201
194
201
100%
100%
See SJSU Table at the end of this report.
20. Schools on the quarter system:
Not Applicable
For each of the last two academic years, please give the number and percentage of graduates who earned 104 or more quarter
hours outside of journalism and mass communications.
104 or more quarter hours outside of journalism and mass communications
Year
Total
Graduates
Number
Percent
2013–14 academic year
--------
--------
--------
2012–13 academic year
--------
--------
--------
Additional San José State University Information – Question 13.
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Additional Information: College Breakdown – Question 19.
Journalism and Mass Communications: 5 Year Breakdown: Degrees Awarded by Ethnicity and Gender
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Part II:
Supplementary Information
1. Complete and attach here in the main body of the selfstudy report the following tables:
SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Five year period SJSU breakdown:
Note: ‘Mass Communications’ were degrees conferred in the JMC School graduate program.
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2. Describe the history of the unit in no more than 500
words.
From humble beginnings in 1934, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications is now one of the
largest, most comprehensive and respected programs on the West Coast. It offers three undergraduate
Bachelor of Science degree programs — advertising, journalism, and public relations — and a Master of
Science degree program in mass communications. There are more than 500 undergraduate majors and
more than 20 full- and part-time faculty members.
It began as a program in journalism/English with the first B.A. degree in journalism granted in 1936. The
name of the unit evolved from Department of Journalism and Advertising to Department of Journalism
and Mass Communications in the early 1980s to more broadly reflect the comprehensive nature of the
school’s curriculum. A public relations degree program was added along with specialties in newseditorial, magazine, broadcast and photojournalism.
The unit switched to a B.S. degree in 1990, primarily because university policy allowed departments with
that degree to require more academic units. Faculty members decided to offer a 132-unit program so
students could take more courses in their major while still meeting standards of the Accrediting Council
on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. In 2000, the unit reverted to a 124-unit B.S.
degree program, considered more attractive, and the ACEJMC standards then allowed a maximum of six
semester units in the curriculum to be counted as part of the 90 units “outside” the major requirements.
Projected enrollment increases in California, dubbed “Tidal Wave II,” forced statewide streamlining of
curricula to enable quicker graduation. Thus the degree requirement was reduced to the current 120 units.
In the 1990s, the university upgraded several departments with substantial enrollments to “school” status.
As a result, the current name of the unit is the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. It has
two distinguishing characteristics: (1) it continues to publish its newspaper Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday along with Friday online emphasis and broadcasts a weekly television newscast as part of its
classroom curriculum, and (2) the school requires all majors to complete a 240-hour internship.
The JMC School offers the most comprehensive journalism curriculum in Northern California.
An extraordinary $8.7 million gift from the estate of Jack and Emma Anderson in 2013 enabled
the school to develop a cutting-edge educational environment designed to address 21st century
technology and global communication needs. Unique “Education: Wheels Up!” projects offered
international learning opportunities in Cuba, England, France, Spain, and Thailand. Diversity
understanding and appreciation became essential to the educational mission. Silicon Valley
collaborations with Hewlett-Packard and Adobe have enhanced student online multimedia
presentations, and enabled global distribution and study of their efforts worldwide.
Distinguished graduates have received six Pulitzer Prizes, four since 2000, plus numerous local
and regional Emmy Awards, and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award. In 2011 Steve Lopez,
widely acclaimed Los Angeles Times columnist, book author and film producer of “The Soloist”
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was awarded an honorary doctorate by the CSU Board of Trustees and San José State University.
The JMC School takes pride in its motto “Learn by Doing.”
3. Describe the environment in which the unit operates, its
goals and plans, budgetary considerations, and the nature
of the parent university.
A severe and prolonged financial crisis in California has greatly affected how all state universities
operate, set goals, make plans and work to develop responsible operating budgets and program
allocations. When JMC School Director Robert Rucker and CASA Dean Charles Bullock co-authored an
Aug. 17, 2012, letter to ACEJMC requesting a one-year extension for the school’s re-accreditation
process, they cited excerpts from a cover story in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Under the headline
“At Calif. Public Colleges, Dreams Deferred,” the story said “a system admired for opening doors to
opportunity was now being hobbled by repeated budget cuts, booming demand, and conflicting
mandates.” The article went on to say “the 23 Cal State institutions, including San José State University,
have been cut by almost $900 million” and “those cuts may soon deepen sharply.”
Two years later, a 2014 California State University website posting titled “CSU/Higher Education
Funding — Recovering from Crisis” suggested a turnaround that would enable all 23 campuses in the
system to eventually realize their goals. Still, support funding remained uncertain. The depth of the
financial hole was so deep, it said, that “during a half decade of state fiscal crisis, state support fell to a
low of $2 billion. State appropriations and California FTE/S served from 1999–2000 to 2013–14” was
nearly one-third below the peak level of state support of $2.97 billion in 2007–08. A funding recovery
began with the enacted 2013–14 state budget. Nevertheless, the current level of state funding is less than
what was provided in 2000–01 (13 years earlier) when the CSU general fund appropriation was $2.47
billion. This comparison makes no adjustment for inflation. Moreover, in 2013–14, the CSU is teaching
almost 58,000 more California-resident, full-time-equivalent students (FTE/S).”
The state report concluded that “California’s near-term and long-run prospects for economic recovery and
prosperity, and for social cohesion and harmony, depend on the ability of its higher education institutions
to sharply boost the numbers of Californians attaining higher education degrees. The passage by the
voters of Proposition 30 allows the state to invest once again in the California State University. The
CSU’s 23 campuses are the source of almost half the bachelor’s degrees awarded each year in California
and nearly one-third of the master’s degrees. Yet years of fiscal crisis have constrained the CSU’s
capacity to admit students. In the Fall 2012 term, the CSU had to deny admission to more than 20,000
eligible California undergraduate applicants. While the state still faces fiscal uncertainties, the CSU has
legitimate funding needs in order to carry out its critically important mission for California of student
access, success and completion. This 2014–15 support budget request is tempered by recognition of the
state’s ongoing fiscal challenge, yet represents a credible statement of the university’s key funding
needs.”
As the statewide financial crisis intensified, San José State University was building an unprecedented
financial shortfall. At the outset of the Fall semester in August 2011 in his opening address to the campus
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community, new SJSU President Mohammad Qayoumi announced a $32.5 million deficit. He further
stunned the community by saying he had made an agreement with the CSU chancellor and Board of
Trustees to eliminate that deficit in two years. In Phase 1 of his plan, $16.5 million would be recouped
through a major belt tightening of unit budgets including major cutbacks in course offerings, degree
programs and part-time faculty positions. Student tuition would be increased for a second time in five
years, and a new and significant campuswide student success fee (SSETF) would be mandated to help
raise millions to support academic unit goals to upgrade instructional technologies.
In January 2013 California Gov. Jerry Brown came to SJSU and joined the SJSU president, his provost
and the head of a Silicon Valley firm called Udacity to announce a new online learning initiative. Massive
Open Online Courses, more commonly referred to as MOOCs, were identified as a promising new way to
teach and graduate large numbers of students for fees that would generate significant revenues and cut
expenditures associated with classroom-based education. Top SJSU officials were quoted in the New
York Times as fully endorsing this idea and reported plans for a major test run with a Spring semester
offering. The news report, however, noted that some educators in the Bay Area and across the nation had
serious concerns: “MOOCs certainly present challenges. Can learning be scaled up this much?
Grading is imperfect, especially for nontechnical subjects. Cheating is a reality. Some students are
also ill prepared for the university-level work. And few stick with it.” SJSU administrators went
forward with their plan and allocated significant funding. In a Nov. 18, 2013, article in the Chronicle
of Higher Education titled “Angered by MOOC Deals, San José State Faculty Senate Considers Rebuff,”
it was noted, “Some professors involved in the experiment praised the Udacity platform, but the results
of the spring trial were not promising; students in the ‘Udacified’ versions of the courses performed
significantly worse overall than did their classroom counterparts.”
With revenues in short supply, and overall capital campaign fundraising not rising to the level of the two
other major universities in the Bay Area (Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley), faculty,
student and reportedly midlevel administrators have expressed concerns about top administration decision
making and shared governance at San José State University. Growing academic unit discontent, the
Chronicle of Higher Education reported, led to the SJSU Academic Senate considering a new policy that
would forbid the university to sign contracts with outside technology providers without the approval of
tenured and tenure-track faculty members in whatever department would be affected.
Calling it a “head-on reproach of Mr. Qayoumi’s administration,” the newspaper also identified low
campus morale when it reported that the Academic Senate overwhelmingly approved “a measure asking
the chancellor of the California State University system to review governance at San José State.”
Chancellor Timothy White appointed a three-member team, including the CSU vice chancellor and a
former SJSU interim president, to come to campus in the Spring semester 2014 and meet with a wide
range of groups about the growing discontent on campus. In April, a letter from White acknowledged
receiving a thorough report and encouraged Qayoumi to be more responsive to campus community
concerns. Shortly after the president acknowledged the chancellor’s recommendation and committed his
administration to being more collaborative and transparent, the SJSU provost announced that another toplevel administrator was retreating to the faculty. In July 2014, CASA Dean Charles Bullock, widely
known and respected across campus, became the 10th mid- to upper-level administrator, dean or member
of the president’s cabinet, to depart their position since August 2011.
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See below for a discussion of goals and plans.
4. Describe any recent major changes in the mission, goals,
or programs and activities of the unit.
In 2010 the School of Journalism and Mass Communications approved a comprehensive strategic plan.
This included a revised mission statement that addresses the changing needs of the program, the
university and the community it serves.
Today this unit “embraces the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley, emphasizing cultural and intellectual
diversity, the First Amendment and the free flow of ideas. The school prepares students to excel in
advertising, journalism and public relations by teaching professional skills and advanced information
technologies, by developing the capacity for critical and original thinking, and fostering creativity and a
passion for communications.”
JMC School Core Principles and Values excite student interest so as to:
Inspire integrity and ethical practice.
Foster diversity understanding, inclusion and respect.
Encourage learning by doing.
Instill professional responsibility and personal discipline.
Teach applied and theoretical perspectives.
Promote the pursuit of personal and professional development.
Incorporate advanced multimedia technologies.
In Spring 2012 dramatic and widespread national and international changes by news and information
consumers, enabled by major technology advancements, were triggering a rapid growth in the popularity
and demand for online and social media information sources. Institutions of higher education began
grappling with the cost of the technology needed to keep media degree programs viable and the training
of hiring new faculty members to keep up with the demand to incorporate new technology in advertising,
journalism and public relations instruction. A resulting craze for “citizen journalism” versus reporting
rooted in traditional journalism education led to a slow but clear reduction in the number of SJSU
students declaring journalism as their major.
Based on these trends, the JMC School quickly and dramatically changed our journalism program focus.
We went from four specialty sequences to a convergence journalism program. This is explained in the
Journalism Degree Narrative, which follows.
In April 2013 JMC faculty members also decided to reduce the publishing schedule of the Spartan Daily
because of budgetary concerns. From a four-day Monday–Thursday schedule it went to a three-day
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Tuesday–Thursday publication. On the fourth day each week student media shifted their focus to
producing stories and multimedia reporting online.
Fortunately, on Feb. 6, 2013, a major gift of $8.7 million from the estate of two close friends of the JMC
School would specify that the funds must be exclusively used to update JMC School technology and
faculty training to help students continue to be competitive in ever-changing global media job markets.
5. If the unit was previously accredited, summarize each
deficiency noted in the previous accreditation report,
followed by a response to each, explaining actions taken to
address the problems and the results. If the unit was in
noncompliance in the same standard(s) on the previous
two visits, identify these standard(s), the reasons cited, and
how these problems have been addressed.
The JMC School 2008 summary from the site visit report lists four weaknesses, including one standard
where the program was not in compliance (faculty research and creative projects.) We took those
concerns about our weaknesses seriously, and made a concerted effort to resolve these problems. We also
addressed additional deficiencies highlighted in that summary.
Deficiency A: Lack of sustained strategic planning (for access to technology, assessment, diversity
and program development.)
Solution: In 2010 the JMC School faculty adopted a strategic five-year plan that covers the school
through 2015. It includes all these items: access to technology, assessment, diversity and program
development. In upgrading our building and initiating a new major, we have made access to technology
an important goal. In 2012, the JMC School petitioned the SJSU president and was awarded the Cisco
Telepresence System. Faculty members are now able to include in our classes media experts and guest
lectures using the 360p-to-full-HD multiparty conferencing and collaboration technology. For example,
second floor classroom DBH 225 was upgraded in late 2012, and professors now video conference there
with advertising agencies in New York City during class time.
In 2013 JMC faculty members established an assessment committee. Members of this team created new
standards and a plan to require every class to be assessed each semester, and for each class to be
completely evaluated every six years.
Diversity planning is part of our five-year strategic plan. The comprehensive Diversity Mission Statement
was established in 2011, and is attached to our accreditation self-study.
To address professional and academic trends, journalism faculty members refocused their degree program
and created a convergence journalism major in 2013. We researched, developed, received approval and
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initiated the combination of our journalism curriculum in less than two years.
Deficiency B: Limited resources for technology.
Solution: Resources have been allocated to this area. The entire building is now served with wireless
Internet access, something we accomplished by 2010. The Spartan Daily newsroom was remodeled and a
converged student media newsroom operation began in Fall 2013. Several rooms in our building were
renovated in Summer 2014. This includes a new high-definition television studio, content storage system
and control room digital equipment and software. Over the past six years, electronic news instructors have
ordered both still and video camcorders, light kits, microphones and cables that students use while
covering stories in the community.
The 2013 convergence newsroom remodel dramatically changed the ways our student journalists report
the news. It now features three wall monitors for Internet access screening of global news events. We
removed nearly 20 outdated computers, so students can more easily use laptops. By the end of Fall 2014,
the newsroom will be equipped with a live TV camera and lights mounted on the wall, along with three
microphone connections for live student reports from an update desk. This technology is being integrated
with the new HD television studio in rooms 139/141. Students now have the ability to stream breaking
campus news on the Internet.
Deficiency C: Limited research, especially by senior faculty.
Solution: After being cited for being out of compliance with this standard in 2008, JMC faculty held a
workshop in 2009 and brought in an AEJMC accrediting council representative for a faculty retreat to
discuss accreditation expectations. We are proud of our faculty's sustained efforts since that meeting,
especially in light of budget cuts at the university. CVs that are part of this self-study show that senior
faculty members have markedly increased their research, creative and professional efforts.
Matt Cabot wrote the instructor’s manual and text bank for the textbook “Think PR,” Allyn & Bacon,
2010; “Re-Thinking Public Relations Ethics: New Directions in Research, Instruction and Practice,”
VDM Verlag, 2010; “Barry Bonds vs. The Media” for Mass Media Ethics, 2011; and “Educating Global
Citizens for the 21st Century: The SJSU Salzburg Program” for The Journal of Corporate Citizenship.
D. Michael Cheers produced two documentaries: “Dream Fulfilled, Dream Deferred” and “African Tech
Women Meet Silicon Valley” in 2013, and has “The Barbershop Diaries” in post-production this Fall.
Richard Craig published these textbooks: “News Writing and Reporting: The Complete Guide for
Today’s Journalist,” Oxford University Press, with Chip Scanlan, 2013; and “Polls, Expectations and
Elections: TV News Making in U.S. President Campaigns,” Lexington Books, to be released Nov. 15,
2014.
Diane Guerrazzi has been director of the SJSU Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program
(AJEEP) initiated by the U.S. State Department since 2011. Before she ends her duties in 2015, she will
have trained Afghan instructors at Herat University; hosted and taught some of them at San José State;
instructed more at Balkh and Kabul universities; conducted related academies in Dubai, UAE, and
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Hyderabad, India; and watched at a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, last summer when the teaching
template she conceived was adopted as the Afghan national curriculum for journalism and public
relations. She also produced two documentaries, “From the USA to the UAE” and “Opening Oman.”
Kim Komenich wrote the feature-length documentary “Cowboys,” 2014, and a 30-minute educational
film, “The Infant Reflexes,” 2014. His trans-media documentary project, “Revolution Revisited,” a 25year retrospective about the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, for which his photojournalism in
1986 won a Pulitzer, is in post-production.
William Tillinghast was the first author on a climate-change article in four 2013 news magazines
published in the Online Journal of Communication and Media Studies and third author on a 2011 article
published in the Journal of Magazine & News Media Research about patriotism.
Deficiency D: Only about half, at most, of the full-time faculty appear to be involved actively in
research, creative or professional activity. Senior faculty members have had few publications in the
past five to seven years. Associate professors are making no visible progress toward promotion.
Other faculty members do not appear to be active in terms of creative or professional activity.
Solution: About 90 percent of the senior faculty members are involved actively in research, creative or
professional activity. Most have published in the period since our last accreditation. Our associate
professors are making progress toward promotion to full professor and are very productive. Creative and
professional activity by the faculty is very high now. This ranges from several documentaries being
developed to faculty members playing leading roles in national professional organizations and local civic
groups. One example is the creation of a new Bay Area PBS public affairs program by Associate
Professor Diane Guerrazzi. The JMC School director hosts the program. The self-study will showcase
many other examples of wide-ranging activities.
Deficiency E: Limited software for students.
Solution: Since the 2008 review, we have worked closely with university officials to arrange many new
software options for students. This includes Adobe software, which was procured by working closely
with our instructors and alumni who have close ties to Silicon Valley businesses. There is also software in
DBH 225, provided by the university, to support the JMC global learning initiative through the Cisco
Telepresence System.
Examples of our software include Adobe Creative Suite with Photoshop and InDesign, Premiere Pro and
Dreamweaver. Students also work with HTML, CSS and jQuery coding software along with Adobe Muse
and Edge Animate, as well as Apple Final Cut Pro X.
The DBH 221 electronic/broadcast newsroom also uses specialized state-of-the-art closed-caption
software. The new Ross / EZ News computer writing and teleprompter system is integrated with
television studio technologies.
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With these new sources of technology, the JMC School has become a leader and model for enhancing
student learning.
Deficiency F: A student/faculty/classroom ratio imbalance in skills and lab sections.
Solution: There were times when we were out of compliance with this in recent years, as university
budget mandates led to some larger classes in skills and lab sections. We continue to raise this issue with
our deans and press for smaller classes. As of Fall 2014, most of our skills and lab classes (listed
previously in the Skills Class Enrollments table) are in compliance. Eleven out of 41 skills classes have
more than 20 students.
An example of how we have tried to reduce enrollment is Mass Communications 63: New Media
Technologies. The numbers of students per class decreased because we added a section.
Deficiency G: Some syllabi do not mention diversity as a class competency.
Solution: We continue to work on this, and faculty members are reminded each time they prepare their
syllabi to include this information. We planned to achieve 100 percent compliance in our Fall 2014
syllabi.
Deficiency H: Students have few details on how to achieve 80 credits outside the school.
Solution: ACEJMC and school credit requirements, revised in 2012, now require 72 outside credits. We
inform students about curriculum matters through a variety of platforms. Some of them are new since the
last report. They include:
Mandatory direct advising year-round for all students with either the full-time assigned JMC academic
adviser or school director.
Required universitywide orientation sessions for freshmen and transfer students, where departments
provide academic credit advising.
Online information available on the new JMC School website.
Monthly email blasts to all students.
Postings on electronic and physical bulletin boards around the building.
Faculty announcements in classes.
Since our last accreditation visit, the Student Success Center in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts
(CASA) was created. It now provides additional advising for undergraduate students majoring or wanting
to major in programs offered in all CASA departments and schools.
Guidance is given to students with questions about changing majors, academic policy, meeting peer
advisors, and/or attending various regularly scheduled presentations and workshops.
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Deficiency I: There is not a lot of evidence that data such as enrollment, retention, graduation rates
are being analyzed for better understanding.
Solution: We discuss this frequently at faculty meetings. In February 2014, we met with staff members at
the University Institutional Effectiveness & Analytics division to discuss their data.
Enrollment information is regularly discussed during the year at faculty meetings. The JMC Assessment
committee, which began in 2013, continues to analyze class assessment reports. In Spring 2014, we
created a schedule to closely review a designated number of JMC School classes each semester.
Two JMC associate professors are heavily involved in raising public awareness about African-American
student enrollment, retention and graduation issues at the university. One is co-chair of the university task
force charged with developing effective new strategies.
Deficiency J: The broadcast journalism facility needs to be upgraded, and its software should be
upgraded.
Solution: Given the limited resources coming from the state, JMC School broadcast faculty members
have submitted yearly funding requests for supplemental instructionally related activities (IRA) to help
cover student technology and software needs. Those requests were never fully funded. Since 2013, private
donor funding has enabled major technology and software upgrades. In 2013–14, with the development of
the convergence journalism program, we significantly upgraded the facilities for electronic/broadcast
journalism. More than $1 million was spent on a comprehensive integrated system. That included a new
high-definition television studio, a convergence newsroom update desk for live reporting, and a content
management system for student video and multimedia productions. Students now can stream or broadcast
their efforts in compliance with FCC standards. See an itemized list of new technologies in Standard 7 of
the self-study.
We addressed the software upgrades above in the response to Standard 5.
Deficiency K: The school does not have an advisory board of alumni.
Solution: Faculty members agree that this is an important issue. University cutbacks in staff and lack of
time, however, have delayed finalizing arrangements for a full JMC School advisory board. Faculty
members have offered a list of names of potential alumni media experts. The director regularly contacts
alumni on key issues, and communicates with thousands of alumni via emails and surveys. We encourage
alumni to contact us via our website to let us know their opinions, suggestions and career progress.
In Fall 2012, two Spartan Daily faculty members created an unofficial professional advisory board with
SJSU graduates and professionals worldwide. They include:
Max Becherer, independent photojournalist covering Middle East conflict. He’s based in Egypt and is
represented by Polaris Images.
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Doreen Carvajal
Investigative reporter for the International edition of the New York Times, specializing in art theft.
Kevin Fagan
San Francisco Chronicle investigative and feature reporter.
Karla Gachet
Independent photojournalist and International-Photo-of-the-Year winner who works out of Ecuador.
Mark Katches
Editor of the Oregonian in Portland. He previously led a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative team
to a Pulitzer in 2008, then became editorial director of the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Steve Lopez
Los Angeles Times columnist, author of “The Soloist.”
Carla Marinucci
Senior political reporter for the Chronicle.
Ryan Sholin
User-generated content director for Gannett Digital.
Dai Sugano
From the San José Mercury News. He became the first newspaper photojournalist to win an Emmy for his
multimedia and video efforts.
David Willman
Washington bureau investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times who won the Pulitzer in 2000.
The board members are too far-flung to meet, but we have exchanged emails about the ever-changing
future of the delivery of news. Richard Craig, Kim Komenich, Mack Lundstrom and Jan Shaw, who
retired in 2013 and now serves as an ex-officio member of the board, keep in contact with many other
Daily alums.
Deficiency L: The assessment plan has flaws.
Solution: We have fully overhauled our assessment planning in a number of beneficial ways.
As a result of the university's need to meet national accreditation requirements through WASC, we have
established several new processes. These include development of program rubrics, individual course
assessments and a long-term evaluation schedule.
We no longer rely solely on class grades as a major assessment tool. Instead, we’ve incorporated the use
of papers and class projects to get more in-depth responses.
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SJSU now requires the use of University Goals and Standards (UGS) as the foundation for developing
Program Learning Objectives that are tested, evaluated, and reported on through Classroom Learning
Outcomes. Since Spring 2013, all classes have been assessed each semester.
Our new JMC assessment plan now requires each class to be evaluated every six years to ensure that the
school meets objectives.
Students now go online to evaluate each course and instructor every semester, rather than fill out forms in
class. This has led to increased participation and feedback.
All this occurred after our primary assessment coordinator, a member of our faculty took ill several years
ago and retired. In 2011 Bob Rucker recognized this as a top priority when he became the new school
director. A year later the university mandated campuswide assessment protocols, creating more incentive
for a robust and forward-thinking program.
6. Describe the process used to conduct the self-study,
including the roles of faculty members, students and
others. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the
program discovered during the process, and describe any
changes undertaken or planned as a result.
Associate Professor Robert Rucker became interim JMC School director in February 2011, after the
previous director resigned suddenly at the end of Fall semester 2010. Rucker was appointed permanent
director in January 2012. He is now serving a four-year term until 2016. In September of 2013, because of
budget uncertainties, then-CASA Dean Bullock and Rucker jointly requested and received a one-year
extension for renewing the school’s national accreditation with AEJMC.
During that next year, Rucker held a series of faculty meetings and discussions about preparing for the
accreditation process while at the same time grappling with university pressures to eliminate low-enrolled
classes. Ultimately the dean and JMC School faculty members agreed to revise the journalism curriculum
quickly to address that issue. In the meantime, Larry Sokoloff, part-time media law and ethics lecturer,
agreed to help with the self-study project by attending the March 2013 ACEJMC committee meeting in
Chicago and researching more thoroughly the expectations of the reaccreditation process.
At the September 2013 JMC School faculty meeting, Rucker announced and distributed a plan to address
the needs of the JMC School Self-Study. Full-time faculty members were assigned as small teams to each
of the nine standards. They were asked to research and develop updated information in each section.
Some part-time faculty members also volunteered to assist in the effort. Faculty members were asked to
submit their assigned standard updates in December 2013. See below JMC faculty assignments:
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Continued on the next page.
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In March 2014 the director, along with all the other college chairs and directors, was advised that in
addition to meeting individual discipline accreditation requirements all assessment efforts in CASA units
would also have to meet the needs of the university’s national accreditation effort for WASC, the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges. Kinesiology Professor Emily Wughalter was named by the dean’s
office as CASA’s assessments coordinator. One by one, she reviewed all CASA department assessment
reports, and asked to meet with and advise individual departments on how to address additional needs for
WASC.
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William Tillinghast, JMC School assessment coordinator; Rucker; and JMC School Assessment
Committee members Richard Craig, D. Michael Cheers and Kim Komenich met with Wughalter by midMarch 2014. She confirmed that JMC School records (developed and reported by Cecilia Baldwin, JMC
assessment coordinator for most of the past 10 years who retired in 2010) had met previous SJSU
assessment requirements. Wughalter identified new WASC reporting requirements and helped the JMC
Assessment Committee clearly identify additional information needed from the JMC School by the SJSUimposed campus deadline of June 1, 2014. The JMC School committee advised Wughalter of its diligent
efforts to meet 2012 revised ACEJMC Assessment Standard 9 requirements, including the creation and
implementation in Fall 2013 of a new JMC School faculty online assessment tool for all faculty members
to use at the end of that semester. Tillinghast collected reports about all JMC School classes, and included
the results in the JMC School Spring 2014 WASC report.
Our first detail-focused reporting tool, while comprehensive in approach, also identified a clear weakness
that needed to be addressed immediately. The first assessment tool proved to be cumbersome and time
consuming. Tillinghast, a research specialist, also discovered a serious problem among JMC faculty
members with inconsistent reporting of information. That significantly lengthened the amount of time it
took to analyze the data and offer a detailed and meaningful overall school assessment report for WASC
and ACEJMC. In Spring 2014 the JMC Assessment Committee completely revised the online form and
incorporated the use of Qualtrics software, which allows our faculty to collect, analyze and act on
relevant data. This software was made available free by SJSU Academic Technology to all faculty, staff
and students at SJSU. More information about this system is online at:
http://www.sjsu.edu/at/ec/qualtrics.
Craig developed the new JMC online assessment tool in Qualtrics based on faculty concerns and
suggestions, and Tillinghast was provided the Spring class data during Summer 2014 for an updated
Standard 9 assessment report in the accreditation self-study report.
Several program strengths and weaknesses were revealed through assessment efforts since
2007.
The weaknesses include:
learning that we need to emphasize our mission in all class and school activities,
university systems do not facilitate quick curriculum changes,
campus finances do not enable us to hire enough tenure-track faculty with diverse skill sets,
faculty members are stretched very thin and have limited time to pursue scholarship aggressively,
an aging but historic building presents periodic infrastructure problems, and
our original assessment efforts depended too heavily on one person’s leadership.
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Our strengths are that we:
have broadened our overall mission to meet changing times and bolstered our diversity goals to be more
inclusive,
discovered how quickly we can address and implement curricular changes and create a new major,
incorporated diversity on a wide variety of levels,
draw on a world-class talent pool in Silicon Valley to instruct our students,
create innovative media projects and inspire insightful and dynamic public discussions,
find ways to use limited resources to serve all our students, including those with special needs,
excite student learning while using cutting edge technologies made possible with several recent upgrades
and renovation,
have created a new approach to assessment of our programs.
7. Provide copies of pages of the undergraduate catalogs
and other publications that describe the mission and scope
of the unit, its curriculum, administrative and graduation
requirements. (These items may be presented in the
appendices binder.)
Copies provided in the JMC School Appendices.
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Part II, Standard 1.
Mission, Governance and Administration
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Describe the administrative structure of the unit, including
to whom the unit administrator reports
to within the university. Include names and titles.
The information should extend from the lowest level
of administrative responsibility within the unit to the
institution’s chief executive officer.
See organization chart at end of the section. The chief executive officer of San José State University is
Mohammad Qayoumi, president. The chief academic officer is Andrew Feinstein, provost and vice
president for academic affairs. Reporting directly to Feinstein are the college deans. They are: (l) David
Steele, College of Business; (2) Elaine Chin, College of Education; (3) Andrew Hsu, College of
Engineering; (4) Lisa Vollendorf, College of Humanities & the Arts; (5) Michael Parrish, College of
Science; (6) Jan English-Lueck, College of Social Sciences; and (7) Alice Hines, College of Applied
Sciences & Arts.
The School of Journalism & Mass Communications is a unit of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.
CASA houses seven departments and four schools with more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate
students, and more than 400 faculty and staff members. CASA is home to applied and professional
disciplines serving dynamic societal needs and dedicated to promoting a healthy, ethical, and enlightened
global community through innovative application of knowledge and scholarship. The 11 academic
disciplines in CASA:
(1) Aerospace, (2) Health Science and Recreation, (3) Hospitality Management,
(4) Justice Studies, (5) Kinesiology, (6) Nutrition, Food Science & Packaging,
(7) Occupational Therapy, (8) Journalism & Mass Communications, (9) Information (formerly Library &
Information Science), (10) The Valley Foundation School of Nursing, and (11) Social Work.
The mission of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts is to provide liberal and professional education
and, through application, to empower graduates to be exemplary members of a diverse and global
community. CASA is committed to excellence in undergraduate and graduate programs and improving
the quality of life for present and future generations. CASA Strategic Directions:
Improve governance and operational models.
Ensure options and opportunities for collaboration.
Define standards and accountability for faculty development and renewal.
Define standards and support student success.
Enhance revenue streams.
Focus operations on strategic planning, advice and support, effective communication.
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CASA department chairs report directly to Alice Hines, interim dean. The dean is responsible for
allocating operating funds to each unit, establishing target enrollments (FTE/S), distributing faculty
allocations (FTE/F), approving new faculty positions and hires, recommending faculty promotions and
tenure in the RTP process, college and department fundraising, and generally administering the human
resources and fiscal resources of CASA based on the guidelines and policies established by the provost
and the president.
JMC School Director Robert Rucker reports directly to the college dean. He accepted a one-year interim
appointment in February 2011 and was elected to a full four-year term beginning in January 2012. Rucker
succeeded William Briggs, who had served as director for five years.
The primary responsibilities of the school director:
Administer the school budget,
Supervise the office staff and IT persons,
Plan and determine semester course schedule,
Hire faculty members and assign teaching loads,
Develop a long-term vision and strategy for fundraising in the private sector,
Supervise school event planning and promotional efforts,
Oversee curriculum advancement efforts,
Advise faculty assigned to supervise professional internship opportunities,
Facilitate direct alumni outreach,
Coordinate community outreach and student recruitment projects,
Oversee planning and purchases of new technologies,
Oversee the planning and budgeting for school facility upgrades,
Represent the school at the college and university level, and
Generally administer all operations of the school.
Additional duties include teaching a class during the academic year, overseeing the
development and writing the final accreditation reports, and serving as the chief morale
booster for the students, faculty and staff in the JMC School.
The programs have lead professors:
Timothy Hendrick in advertising;
Matt Cabot in public relations,
Richard Craig, Diane Guerrazzi, D. Michael Cheers, and Kim Komenich in convergence journalism.
Scott Fosdick is coordinator and student adviser in the graduate program.
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William Tillinghast serves as JMC School assessments coordinator.
Because of severe budgetary restraints, these faculty members no longer receive release time for these
duties. Each teaches a full class load, which at San José State University is four classes, three units each.
Cynthia Fernald, JMC adjunct professor, serves as coordinator of undergraduate advising for more than
500 students, and receives 0.4 (or two classes of) release time.
Prior to academic year 2013–14, the journalism degree program had areas of specialized concentrations.
Each had either a contractually specified or a de facto coordinator. They were: (l) Rucker in broadcast
journalism, (2) Fosdick in magazine, and (3) Cheers in photojournalism. Craig served as the lead faculty
member in the area of news-editorial or reporting and editing.
With Rucker’s move to JMC School director in 2011, and the faculty’s decision to move to a convergence
journalism curriculum in 2013, Guerrazzi became the lead electronic/broadcast journalism professor and
Komenich assumed new duties as the multimedia, new technology and multiplatform de facto
coordinator.
The primary duties of each of these faculty members are to: (l) work with the director to determine
strategies for advancing and achieving school goals and objectives; (2) serve as a liaison with other
faculty members in each degree program; (3) help determine faculty course assignments, technology
upgrades and fund allocations from degree program discretionary accounts held by the SJSU Foundation;
(4) interview applicants for full- and part-time teaching positions; (5) answer inquiries from prospective
students; and (6) generally assure that the curriculum in each degree meets program learning outcomes
(PLOs) that prioritize fulfilling contemporary needs and expectations in media higher education.
In 2011, CASA Dean Bullock recommended to the JMC School faculty that the graduate program be
fully reviewed and revised to provide more clarity and focus of its mission. Admissions to the JMC
School graduate program were restricted for a year until faculty researched academic trends nationwide
and developed new strategies and courses. During this time SJSU administrators also closed Spring
semester university admissions for two years. The JMC graduate program was fully reinstated in Fall
2012, but admissions were restricted by the university in Spring 2013.
Given the newness of the revised graduate program and the reduced number of students
in the pipeline, JMC School faculty members decided to give the graduate program
more time before seeking ACEJMC national reaccreditation.
2. Describe the unit’s process for strategic or long-range
planning. Attach a copy of the unit’s written strategic
or long-range plan. This plan should give the date
of adoption/revision and any timeline for achieving stated
goals. Discuss how the plan provides vision and direction
for the unit’s future.
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In accord with SJSU policy, program planning is designed to:
1. Promote a continuous internal review to provide programs with purposeful direction.
2. Serve as a vehicle to help programs support the mission of the university, college, and department
(school).
3. Provide an opportunity for programs to systematically assess course offerings, achievement of
student learning outcomes, and the faculty and instructional resources necessary.
All academic programs at San José State University were advised in 2010 to update or develop a new
five-year academic plan. In 2011 JMC School faculty revised its plan to address the constantly changing
developments in the three professional media fields of advertising, journalism and public relations, and
update strategies to meet new university initiatives.
The Mission Statement of San José State University was revised by a campus task force commissioned by
President Mohammad Qayoumi shortly after he assumed campus leadership in 2011. In part, it states “In
collaboration with nearby industries and communities, SJSU faculty and staff are dedicated to achieving
the university's mission as a responsive institution of the state of California: To enrich the lives of its
students, to transmit knowledge to its students along with the necessary skills for applying it in the service
of our society, and to expand the base of knowledge through research and scholarship.”
Subsequently new University Learning Goals (ULGs) were established for SJSU graduates to develop:
Specialized Knowledge in each degree program as identified by its program learning outcomes,
Broad Integrative Knowledge with a mastery in each step of an investigative, creative or practical project,
An understanding of the implications of results or findings from a particular work in a societal context,
An understanding of critical components of broad academic areas, the arts, humanities, social sciences,
and sciences and their integration,
Intellectual Skills including fluency in the use of specific theories, tools, technology and graphical
representation, and abilities necessary for lifelong learning through critical and creative thinking and
collaborative activities,
Applied Knowledge with the ability to integrate theory, practice, and problem-solving to address practical
issues,
Social and Global Responsibilities to act intentionally and ethically to address a global or local problems
and include diverse and global perspectives through engagement with the multidimensional SJSU
community.
To meet additional SJSU administration goals for more aggressive academic initiatives to develop new
community partnerships that would advance fundraising efforts in the private sector, in 2012, JMC
School Director Rucker incorporated the JMC School Strategic Plan in a new marketing strategy. His
vision stated “By 2023, this program will be recognized internationally as the nimble, adaptive and
innovative leader in new media and social media research in higher education, which reflects the energy
and determination of Silicon Valley to invent new solutions for challenges in the 21st Century.”
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After meeting with local and statewide business leaders, and stressing the priority that the JMC School’s
global reputation always remain one for ethical and responsible media education, the new marketing
strategy focused on enhancing JMC School strengths and raising the international profile of the program
by:
Building on the JMC School’s motto “Learn By Doing,” and a seven-decade international reputation for
excellence in advertising, journalism, public relations and new media higher education. Prioritizing timely
and responsible curriculum advancements has helped us keep pace with ever-changing global media
goals, needs and expectations.
Expanding the JMC School’s mission to include new partnerships with individuals, companies and
communities who value top quality, innovative and responsible uses of new technology to produce unique
and meaningful media productions that have a positive impact on consumers and society.
Facilitating media industry expectations for providing a well-educated and fully prepared diverse
workforce that welcomes and incorporates ideas and approaches that connect with more cultures and
communities, and open up a broader range of global cultural interactions.
Establishing a contemporary Center for Media Research focused on gathering, interpreting and sharing
timely information, big data and analysis, and effective assessment strategies to evaluate the impact
traditional, new media and social media messaging is having in the world.
In the past year, this plan has enabled the JMC School to develop and secure more than $300,000 in
planned gifts, and technology donations from corporations like Hewlett-Packard and Adobe.
Program planning for accredited programs at SJSU is coordinated with the production of the self-study
report and the site team visitation. For the JMC School the strategic plan is included herein, and is
required by SJSU to be revised and resubmitted during the Fall semester 2014. Please see the most current
JMC School Five-Year Strategic Plan included at the end of this section.
Under the current budgetary scheme, personnel issues such as new tenure-track hires or
the number and assignment of adjunct faculty are based on the unit’s ability to fund in the
current academic year. However, annual budgets are based on enrollments and other factors.
In good growth cycles, personnel growth, equipment outlays and other expenditures can be
anticipated. But spikes or dips can offset prior planning. National news reports for many years since 2007
have highlighted severe budget problems in California due to reduced tax revenues statewide. Support of
the California State University system has dropped from 70-80 percent 25 years ago to less than 30
percent in academic year 2013–14.
3. Describe the unit’s policies and procedures for faculty
governance. Provide copies of faculty policy manuals,
handbooks or other documents specifying policies,
procedures and the roles of faculty and students
in governance and in development of educational policy
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and curriculum. (These may be included in the appendices
binder or in a digital file.)
The educational policies of the JMC School are determined on four levels. At the highest level is the
California State University (CSU) system. The chancellor’s office sets policies and procedures on a broad
level that involve enrollments, formulas for allocation of fiscal resources, and even curricular priorities.
Faculty personnel policies, which are systemwide, are somewhat dictated by the collective bargaining
agreement with the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the California State Employee’s
Association (CSEA).
The second level is the university, which has some autonomy in setting specific standards for
implementation of CSU system guidelines. Many, if not most, of the campus policies and procedures
originate in the Faculty Senate and are then signed into policy by the president of the University. A
second area of policy implementation is at the administrative level. The office of the provost — including
such areas as faculty affairs, graduate studies, and enrollment services — often sets the procedures and
guidelines for deadlines, forms and required reports.
The third level is the College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA). The college takes great pride in its
degree programs which provide students with a theoretical base developed and tested through research;
knowledge that can be applied in diverse systems; processes that incorporate human understanding and
cooperation; and supervised practice through internships, practical and/or preceptorships in a variety of
career-related settings. The dean’s office receives general fund, student fee and other resources from the
university, recommends FTES targets, provides budget allocations, oversees fundraising efforts and
enforces university and college policies in all units.
The fourth level is the JMC School itself. As a general principle, policy formulation in the school is
conducted on a collegial basis. Policies affecting the unit as a whole are approved by the general faculty
at regular or special meetings. School voting rights are guided by University policy as described in the
policy statement included in this section. University policy does allow departments to determine their
own policy regarding proxy votes. The JMC School does have such a policy, enabling faculty members to
vote on important school matters if they are unable to attend for health or professional reasons. Policies
on Department Faculty Voting and the School’s Proxy Vote policy are at the end of the section.
Curricular policies affecting all undergraduate degree programs are established by the JMC School
Curriculum Committee; the Graduate Committee performs the equivalent function for the M.S. program.
If the policy affects the entire school curriculum, the general faculty votes on the recommendations put
forward by these two committees. Special policies and procedures that are primarily internal matters for
individual degree programs or concentrations are determined by the respective faculties of that degree
program. All such policies are subject to review by the full faculty and the director.
Retention, tenure and promotion of faculty are governed by Appointment, Retention, Tenure, and
Promotion Criteria, Standards, and Procedures for Regular Faculty Employees, University Policy S-94-6.
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Each tenure-track faculty member and all RTP Committee members are furnished with the complete
policy.
The policy incorporates language from the collective bargaining agreement between the California
Faculty Association (CFA) and the Trustees of the California State University. A copy of the
Appointment, Retention, Tenure, and Promotion Criteria Standards, and Procedures for Regular Faculty
Employees is included in this section of the self-study. A copy of the CFA/CSU agreement will be made
available to the Accreditation site team members upon request.
4. How often did the faculty meet during the most recent
academic year?
The full faculty has met ten times, at least once a month, to discuss and take action on timely issues and
new business. Adjuncts are invited and welcome to attend. Faculty members have also, in recent years,
elected to meet at noon on the second Wednesday of the month to discuss planning for the Anderson Gift
endowment.
JMC School committee meetings, however, are usually held at noon on various days Monday through
Thursday. On occasion, the Graduate Committee or the Personnel Committee also meets at noon,
depending on the amount of business to be conducted. All JMC School committee meetings are scheduled
on the campus Google Calendar System.
The minutes from recent faculty meetings will be available to the visitation team.
5. List faculty membership on and responsibilities of the
unit’s standing and ad hoc committees. (The list should
include the names of faculty serving on each committee.)
The JMC School has several standing committees that perform functions essential to school operations
and activities, and each committee has policy-making authority within the scope of its special
responsibilities but subject to review by the general faculty and the JMC School director.
The following are standing committees and their respective members for
2013–14 academic year:
CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
John Delacruz, Advertising (Chair)
Diana Stover, Journalism
Richard Craig, Journalism
Kim Komenich, Journalism
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Matt Cabot, Public Relations
Robert Rucker, JMC director
ASSESSMENTS COMMITTEE
Robert Rucker (Chair)
William Tillinghast
Richard Craig
D. Michael Cheers
Kim Komenich
Larry Sokoloff
RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE
Kim Komenich
John Delacruz
Scott Fosdick
Richard Craig
SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE
Richard Craig (Chair)
John Delacruz
Matt Cabot
Silvia La Rosa (staff)
Robert Rucker, JMC director
TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
Diane Guerrazzi, (Chair) Richard Craig,
Timothy Hendrick
Kim Komenich
Diana Stover
CONVERGENCE EDITORS SELECTION COMMITTEE
Richard Craig – Chair
Scott Fosdick
Kim Komenich
Lloyd LaCuesta
Mack Lundstrom
Robert Rucker
(RTP) RETENTION, TENURE & PROMOTION COMMITTEE (RTP),
JOURNALISM EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (JEC Anderson Gift Committee),
AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
Robert Rucker, JMC director
Timothy Hendrick, Advertising
Matt Cabot, Public Relations
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Diana Stover, Journalism
Bill Tillinghast, Journalism
Richard Craig, Journalism
Scott Fosdick, Journalism
Michael Cheers, Journalism
Diane Guerrazzi, Journalism
*John Delacruz, Advertising
*Kim Komenich, Journalism
*Full-time probationary faculty not eligible to serve on the RTP Committee
HEARST VISITING PROFESSIONAL AWARD COMMITTEE
Bob Rucker, JMC director
Diana Stover, Journalism
Chris DiSalvo, Public Relations
Diane Guerrazzi, Journalism
Scott Fosdick, Journalism
COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND ARTS
(CASA) COMMITTEES
RTP — Scott Fosdick
Curriculum — Richard Craig
CEED/Multicultural/Diversity — Robert Rucker
Telepresence Coordination — John Delacruz
Professional Leaves — Richard Craig
The committee most governed by university policy is the Personnel Committee, which handles retention,
tenure, promotion (RTP) and faculty searches. The Personnel Committee is a committee-of-the-whole in
the respect that all tenured and tenure-track professors serve on this committee. However, only tenured
faculty members serve on the RTP Committee. Within the university, the committee-of-the-whole is a
somewhat unusual situation. The school committee, operating within the guidelines set by the university,
has the authority to devise supplemental guidelines if they are consistent with the overall institutional
policy.
In general, the school director appoints the degree/program faculty members to committees. This is
usually done in consultation with the faculty at the first full meeting at the start of the academic year. In
many cases, individuals will volunteer to chair a committee or be a member. This is the case in such
committees as Scholarship, Technology, Hearst Visiting Professional, etc.
The chair of the Curriculum Committee is elected by the faculty for a two-year term and serves as the
school representative to the college Curriculum Committee. The chair of the Personnel Committee
(particularly for the RTP process) is elected by members of that committee. Under terms of the California
Faculty Association (faculty bargaining union) contract, the RTP Committee has the sole authority to
invite the school director to serve on the committee and, if invited, the director may choose to serve on
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the committee or may decline in favor of making an independent evaluation and recommendation
regarding candidates for retention, tenure or promotion.
The JMC School has traditionally invited the director to be a member of the RTP committee (which is
part of the Personnel Committee) and he has accepted. For the past several years, the director has also
been elected chair of the committee.
Student participation on school committees has not been done for several years. One reason is the
difficulty of recruiting students who have the interest, time and commitment to attend such meetings.
SJSU is very much a commuter campus and a large percentage of students work. The JMC director has
made an effort to periodically meet with the presidents of the student clubs such as PRSSA, Ad Club,
NPPA, etc., to get their ideas and feedback on school policies, facilities, and procedures.
6. Describe the procedures for selecting unit administrators.
See No. 7 immediately below.
7. Describe the process for evaluating unit administrators
and summarize the results of the most recent evaluation.
Selection and Review of Department Chairs (S90-4) is the university policy governing administrative
review of department chairs and school directors. Normally the review takes place in the first semester of
the fourth year of the appointment. In general, school faculty members elect a peer review committee to
evaluate the director’s performance and present a written report to the College dean. The dean then
discusses the report with the school director before reporting the findings to the full faculty of the JMC
School.
Faculty members then vote in secret ballot to recommend a person to be appointed director for the
following four-year term. The current director, or anyone else on the full-time faculty, may be a candidate
for the position. The faculty vote constitutes a recommendation to the college dean who, in turn, makes a
recommendation to the provost. The recommendation is not binding on the provost or the university
president, but the general pattern is to endorse the faculty recommendation. A copy of the policy is
included in this section.
The faculty may request a review of the director at any time by presentation of a petition signed by at
least 50 percent of the school’s electorate. The director is evaluated by his/her peers and the dean during
the regularly occurring post-tenure review process.
JMC School Director Rucker is in the second year of a full four-year term, and comes up for formal
review in 2016. He served nearly one year as interim director before being appointed director in January
2013.
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8. Describe the unit’s process for timely and equitable
resolution of complaints and concerns expressed by
faculty, staff or students.
The JMC School director makes himself available daily to address any concerns expressed by faculty,
staff and students. With faculty and staff he addresses timely concerns (i.e. with DBH building or campus
construction matters, important deadlines, internship issues, etc.) via regular emails and posting in the
main office. He provides time for students to visit him in the main office, or offer complaints or feedback
via email and surveys.
Faculty primarily discuss concerns and complaints at monthly faculty meetings. Special sessions are also
called as needed to address timely issues like overrun on costs related to expenditures from the Anderson
Gift. Consistently CASA Deans have also made themselves available to hear and address faculty
complaints either in person or via emails or memos. In all cases, concerns are addressed as expeditiously
as possible.
Students are the lifeblood of the JMC School, and a concentrated effort is made to assure that they are
heard if they have concerns or complaints about faculty, facilities and policies. Students have a number of
concerns, ranging from disputes about a grade to more serious matters such as being uncomfortable with a
professor’s actions or comments.
In the case of a grade dispute, the student is encouraged to first contact the instructor and make an
appointment to discuss the situation. In most situations, such a conversation resolves the problem or
complaint. If the situation is not resolved, the student then comes to the school director and explains his
or her side of the situation. The school director will then make some inquiries and talk with the instructor
of the course. Faculty members are required to publish their grading criteria in their syllabi, along with
their office hours.
Generally, students may challenge the accuracy of establishing a grade but may not challenge the faculty
assessment of work itself. If it appears that the instructor has good grounds for the awarding of the grade,
the school director then informs the student that he or she should contact the university ombudsperson if
the student wishes to pursue the complaint. The university has in place formal complaint procedures that
give the student every opportunity to be heard.
Sometimes, the student complaint is more serious and involves instructor conduct that is unprofessional
and even may constitute sexual harassment. If a student brings such a complaint to the director, university
policy requires the director to immediately report the situation or incident to the University’s Office of
Equal Opportunity and the Office of Faculty Affairs.
The director also informs the student about various avenues that can be pursued. If the incident is minor,
the director will speak to the instructor. In the discussion, the instructor is counseled that he or she should
cease any activity that may be causing “a hostile situation in the workplace.” If a pattern of complaints
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against an instructor exists, the director may also place a letter in the individual’s personnel file. The
student is also counseled on his or her rights to file a formal complaint against a faculty member. At other
times, the school director may work with the university Counseling Center if the student is emotionally
upset or highly agitated.
The university’s approach is to resolve any situation involving possible harassment or unprofessional
conduct before it becomes a legal matter. At the same time, the university is fully committed to assuring
that the campus remains a secure place of learning for all students. A hostile environment of any kind is
not tolerated.
The JMC School director strives to deal with any situations in a timely manner. He has an “open door”
policy and, if available, will speak to any student immediately without an appointment. The director
makes inquiries and follows up with the student so he or she knows that something was done. The
director also keeps a file of written student complaints and writes notes about the date, situation and
resolution.
Additional Information
See SJSU Organizational Charts over the next few pages.
SJSU Top Administration
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Academic Affairs
Administration and Finance
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Advancement
Student Affairs
Note: In Spring 2014 William Nance stepped down, and Renee Barnett Terry was appointed interim VP.
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Part II, Standard 2.
Curriculum and Instruction
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Discuss any testing of language competence required
of students entering or graduating from the program.
International undergraduate students whose native language is not English or who have not had three
years of secondary education taught in English also must provide proof of English proficiency. If,
however, a first-time freshman international applicant is academically qualified but cannot pass the
English language proficiency requirement by the time of application, that student may be issued a
conditional admission letter.
CSU campuses use the TOEFL to measure English proficiency. The TOEFL test is given year-round at
permanent testing centers around the world. The test has two versions, paper and Internet-based. A
minimum score of 500 on paper or 6.0 on the Internet is required. All applicants with fewer than three
years of full-time study in which English is the primary language of instruction must submit official test
scores that meet the language requirement. (Students who have completed 60 transferable semester units
and the basic skills courses at a U.S. college or university will be exempt from the English language
proficiency requirement).
Additional accepted exams — undergraduate and graduate
 Minimum scores: International English Language Testing System (IELTS): 6.0 for
undergraduate applicants and 7.0 for graduate applicants
 Pearson Test of English (PTE): 68
2. Describe the unit’s curricular efforts, whether onsite or
online, to develop in its majors ACEJMC’s 12 professional
values and competencies. This discussion should include
efforts to respond to professional expectations of current
digital, technological and multimedia competencies.
The JMC School has adopted the 12 ACEJMC core values and competencies. It requires that faculty
members incorporate the 12 core values and objectives in our four Program Learning Objectives (PLOs).
In the interest of academic freedom, faculty members have the prerogative of slightly rewriting a value or
competency as stated by ACEJMC so that it is measurable and/or so that it fits a particular course. An
objective can be rewritten only “if great care is taken with the wording and the meaning and intent is
preserved.” The school has adopted the following four core values and competencies as Program
Learning Objectives for all courses — writing, diversity, technologies, and critical thinking. Faculty
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members are expected to incorporate these four PLOs into all of their courses. We feel they encompass
the essence of the 12 ACEJMC core values and competencies.
To encourage our students to develop the skills and competencies necessary to flourish in a technologyled culture the JMC School is working to go beyond ACEJMC PLO No. 1, which relates to teaching
students “to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they
work.”
Our journalism curriculum has been upgraded to better reflect the realities of working as a journalist in a
converged media environment. The newly redesigned converged newsroom exposes students to
producing news in a multimedia environment. The Spartan Daily publishes on a number of media
channels integrating social and digital media with traditional print. MCOM 63 and 64 are required
courses, and the introduction of new courses that focus on digital and social media are actively
encouraged. The latest is Michael Brito’s MCOM 139: “Strategic Social Media,” which has proven very
popular. In the three years it has been offered, enrollment has grown from 20 to 60 students. A new
course number (MCOM 170) has been designated for this course in the future.
DBH 139/141 is a new electronic media studio. It enables all students in the JMC School to familiarize
themselves with digital broadcast and recording technologies.
Room DBH 225 is our NextGen technology classroom with state-of-the-art Cisco Telepresence at its
core. This room is scheduled for a number of classes but can also be used for specific needs in courses not
usually held there. ADV 129: “Campaigns,” for instance, is scheduled in this room. This is the advertising
program’s capstone class and students learn from professionals in the advertising industry. With an onsite panel, they have also held briefings synchronously from industry professionals in London and New
York. They have also pitched their campaigns to an external client in San Diego along with a senior
member of an advertising agency in Los Angeles. This experience was made possible by technology in
the room similar to what they will encounter upon entering the workplace.
The JMC School, and indeed the university, has a relationship with Adobe providing all students free
access to the full suite of Creative Cloud software. They are able to download and otherwise access the
software on their own computers. This has enabled students to experience and develop their skills in the
latest industry standard software.
The school also encourages the use of Canvas, a learning management system (LMS) that has pushed the
boundaries of the traditional LMS. Faculty members are able to conduct meetings with students online,
for example, and students are provided with their own group spaces where they can work on documents
real-time. They can chat, meet and thus prepare themselves for working in a number of globalized
industries where teamwork happens online as well as offline, and geographical boundaries and time zones
become increasingly redundant. Students in the ADV 129 class use the group facility within Canvas to
organize themselves and develop their team-working skill base beyond the classroom. This has led to an
increase in productivity among teams that fully adopt the use of this application.
The school redesigned the journalism curriculum in line with the theme of convergence effective Fall
semester 2013. The converged newsroom reflects the change in direction and the emphasis on preparing
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our students for the workplace. The new electronic studio features state-of-the-art broadcast equipment
and is an asset to other programs besides journalism. Advertising students, for example, may make use of
these facilities to aid production.
The JMC School remains committed to a curriculum that reflects national standards and current student
needs. (Please see specifics of the assessment of curriculum process, measures, findings and action taken
in Section 9, “Assessment,” in this report.)
3. Explain how the accredited unit ensures its online courses
and online degrees meet ACEJMC’s standards.
During Fall semester 2014 the JMC School does not offer any online courses. In the past seven years we
have offered several online hybrid courses, including Journalism 61A: News Writing and Reporting, and
Journalism 134: Advanced Online Reporting. In the summer of 2014, a complete online course was
offered. It focused on social media business to business communications. However, due to the cost of
summer school tuition, it did not get enough enrollment and had to be canceled. We intend to offer it
again in Spring 2015. All online courses must meet ACEJMC standards, which are incorporated in the
four JMC School Program Learning Objectives.
See attached in Appendix the syllabus for the upcoming class.
4. If the unit has a core curriculum, briefly list and describe
the courses required.
Core Curriculum for the JMC School: All are 3 units.
MCOM 063. New Media
Introductory multimedia skills training with emerging new media technologies. Print and
web page design, blogging, podcasting, videocasting, RSS, and creation of multimedia
presentations by combining still photos, graphics, and video with music and/or audio.
MCOM 072. Mass Communication and Society
Mass communication and its relationship to society. Basic theories in mass communication,
contemporary issues, and milestones in our understanding of media effects.
MCOM 100W. Writing Workshop: Mass Communications
Advanced writing across the media in advertising, journalism and public relations. Writing
and research for an increasingly convergent media with multiple media formats from the
Web to print and broadcast, including writing to accompany audio and visual images.
California State University mandated upper division writing course.
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MCOM 101. Media Law and Ethics
Principles and case studies of mass communications law and ethics. Constitutional
guarantees, libel, privacy, contempt, privilege, free speech, FCC, FTC regulatory law, and
copyright.
Complete two courses from:
MCOM 070. Visual Communication for Modern Media
Introduction to design for television, newspapers, advertising, public relations, magazines,
film and video. Modules include designing and impact of visual imagery and how to apply
sound ethical principles.
MCOM 104. Introduction to Mass Communications Research
Introduction to social science research in mass communications; emphasis on public opinion
research, including sampling, survey research design, measurement; also precision
journalism, content analysis, and external data bases; may include class project.
MCOM 105. Diversity in the Media
Identifies and evaluates the impact of ethnicity/culture, alternative lifestyles, and gender
issues on advertising, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and public relations.
Examines attitudes, trends, and perceptions that help shape mass communication messages.
MCOM 106. Global Mass Communication
Societal factors behind gathering and disseminating information and entertainment content
among mass communication systems of the world. Basic theoretical concepts about
international communication and international relations. Impact on economy, politics,
culture, and governmental communication policies.
5. Describe the ability of students to plan individualized
programs of study to meet their special interests
and needs.
Undergraduates can use elective courses, minors and academic focus areas to tailor programs to fit their
individual needs. The advertising degree offers students the option of following either a management or
creative track. Students are encouraged, but not required, to select minors or focus areas in the liberal arts
and sciences. Students both majoring and minoring in the school are counseled that they must still meet
national accreditation requirements of 72 units outside the major, 65 of which must be in liberal arts and
science courses.
Students are also able to focus their interests within assessment assignments in some courses. For
example, ADV 91: “Introduction to Advertising” has two strands of tailored assignments. The first is an
individual blog in which topics are suggested but students focus on their own interests in their weekly
entries. The other assignment is a group magazine, which sits under broad thematic umbrellas. Student
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teams focus the theme via their own interests. For example, under the broad theme of gender, a student
team may focus on a specific area for discussion — gender stereotypes in fashion advertising, gendered
children’s advertising, masculinity, etc.
MCOM 180: “Global Leadership” traditionally has been our independent studies opportunity for one, two
or three units of credit. This is advanced independent work for majors only in which students meet with
advisers regularly to work on a pre-approved project.
Faculty members work with students to explore their individual interests in developing a deeper
understanding of the thinking, expectations, practices and research in the fields of advertising, journalism
and public relations. At the outset they work together to develop a readings list of pertinent and
timely scholarship, industry publications and audio/video productions, as well as a professional media
contact list for direct communications about changing needs and the impact of technological
advancements.
The university also offers an opportunity to structure interdisciplinary degrees in which students create
their own programs of study with advisers from the relevant departments. Approval for an
interdisciplinary degree is required from the designated major department where the student will do a
majority of her/his work, as well as from Undergraduate Studies. Although it is not a common
occurrence, the JMC School has been involved from time to time in individualized programs.
6. Describe the unit’s involvement in service courses
to non-majors.
The JMC School offers one core general education course, MCOM 72: Mass Communication and
Society, which all students in the university can take to fulfill their lower division Area D (social science,
social issues) requirement. The class was certified by the university’s Board of General Studies; it had to
meet rigorous standards regarding the inclusion of (1) social science content; (2) extensive writing
assignments; (3) oral presentations; (4) use of library resources; and (4) the systematic measuring of
student outcomes.
MCOM 72 provides non-majors a opportunity to learn and participate in a wide range of mass
communications experiences, exercises and assignments focused on timely public affairs developments.
ADV 91: Introduction to Advertising is another lower division course that attracts students from across
the university. This is a required course for advertising majors and minors and is also popular with
students majoring in design; business; television, radio, film and theatre; and even kinesiology.
PR 99: “Contemporary Public Relations” also attracts students who are not PR majors even though it is a
required course in the PR curriculum. This is a popular course that draws students from the wider faculty
and the university.
ADV 91 introduces non-majors to all aspects of professional advertising, creative and business practices.
Students get experiences, exercises and assignments focused on timely industry expectations.
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7. Describe the teaching of ethics, law, history and theory of
journalism and mass communications. If these subjects are
taught as separate courses, describe instructors’
qualifications. If these subjects are included in skills or
other courses, tell how the faculty regularly evaluates the
effectiveness of the teaching of these subjects.
All students in the JMC School are required to take MCOM 72: Mass Communications and Society,
which is primarily a theory class, and MCOM 101: Media Law and Ethics. The school offers three
sections of MCOM 72 and three sections of MCOM 101 each semester. Since MCOM 72 is a university
wide general education course, the course as well as the instructors’ qualifications were reviewed and
approved by the university; the course is taught by instructors with both doctoral and master’s degrees.
This lower division course may also be completed at a community college if the JMC School has
approved an articulation agreement. The lead instructor for “Media Law and Ethics,” which is a combined
law and ethics course, has a doctorate with a cognate area in media law and public policy. The lecturer
who teaches the course is a lawyer.
The school monitors the effectiveness of the teaching of all courses in three ways: faculty peer visits to
classes taught by assistant and associate professors and lecturers and official course evaluations. In
addition, a JMC School directive requires that diversity and ethics be taught in all courses. This is
identified in all syllabi.
Ethics, law, history and theory are taught across the curriculum. In addition to the specialized courses
discussed above, almost every course in the JMC School includes aspects of these four conceptual areas
in their courses through readings and assignments and in lectures by guest speakers. Two introductory
courses — ADV 91: Introduction to Advertising and PR 99: Contemporary Public Relations — provide
students with field-specific knowledge of these conceptual areas. The lower-division MCOM 72: Mass
Communications and Society provides students with a broad perspective on different facets of ethics,
law, history and theory.
Faculty members often take advantage of news events to integrate critical thinking about these conceptual
areas into their courses. They provide the students with a historical context and a basis for a discussion of
media ethics and media responsibility. For example, the issue surrounding the stereotyping of race and
gender in advertising is discussed in ADV 91: Introduction to Advertising. Advertising images and
commercials are discussed; often these examples are difficult and unpleasant, but it is important to
understand the discipline’s historical context to understand our contemporary perspective. One recent
discussion point focused on a mixed-race “Cheerios family” and the responses generated on social media,
both negative and positive. This encouraged students to understand how advertising includes discussions
of culture, race, gender and ethics.
In ADV 128: Integrated Marketing Communications students learn about copyright, trademarks and
administrative law as promulgated by the FTC, FDA and the FCC. Public relations students in PR 99:
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Contemporary Public Relations and PR 190: “Media Writing in the Information Age” are assigned a
chapter in their texts on media law with an emphasis on copyright, trademarks and libel. In most
journalism skills courses, faculty members discuss such issues as how to avoid libel, individual privacy
versus the right to publish and how to ensure the legality of recorded conversations. Faculty members also
take advantage of current events to discuss media law issues.
Every course in the school’s curriculum has to address issues in ethics and diversity. To further these
curricular efforts, PR Associate Professor Matt Cabot has been organizing the Annual Spuler Ethics
Symposium. The focus changes each year. For example in 2013 the symposium featured a panel of
advertising professors and industry professionals who discussed ethical practices. In 2014 the focus
shifted to broadcast media and diversity with a panel consisting of a television news anchor, a former TV
bureau chief who is now an adjunct professor, a communications studies professor and a former
broadcaster who is now also an adjunct professor.
Rather than creating a separate required ethics course, the JMC School teaches a combined media law and
ethics course, which faculty members feel works well, especially because all faculty members have a
shared responsibility to discuss ethics as it relates to the subject matter of their individual courses.
To keep the material in the media law and ethics course fresh, much of the ethics part of the course is not
based on specific assignments because the instructors prefer either (1) to discuss court decisions and then
to use the cases as the basis of class discussion on whether it was ethical to publish (the ethical line) rather
than on what legally can be published (the legal line); or (2) to use stories in the news as the basis for
class discussion on media responsibility. For example, after a discussion of the Cox Broadcasting Co. v.
Cohn (1975) case, Professor Diana Stover has the class discuss whether the press should use the name of
a rape victim or a juvenile charged with a crime. Also, lecturer Larry Sokoloff has groups of students
study the ethics of professional communication organizations. The groups then present the material to the
class. Students also write about their own ethical values. Sokoloff discusses the importance
of developing/examining ethical values before joining the workforce, along with privacy issues and other
timely ethical questions.
Instruction on professional ethics and ethical behavior is stressed in professional skills courses.
Chris DiSalvo, a lecturer who runs her own public relations firm, usually starts each of her public
relations classes with a 10-minute discussion of what is in the news. She looks for news and designs
exercises that present ethical dilemmas. For example, her students discussed authors and journalists who
plagiarized. She designed a hypothetical exercise where students were asked to write a press release about
a product that wasn’t available yet. Associate Professor Tim Hendrick also uses hypothetical situations in
his advertising classes to teach students about ethical behavior. His students discuss whether they should
work on campaigns involving cigarettes or alcohol. They also discuss what they would do if a senior
executive asked them “to do something that was deemed not ethical.”
Students apply knowledge and learn from mistakes in real-life situations on internships, and in
convergence journalism and advertising staff courses. The interns file weekly reports with the faculty
internship adviser about ethical issues if any arise. They are urged to contact or meet with the faculty
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adviser immediately if the situation warrants. In staff courses, ethical issues are discussed in faculty
critiques and guest speakers are invited to discuss ethical problems with media performance.
8. Tell how the unit ensures that the objectives
of courses with multiple sections are achieved
in all sections.
It is the responsibility of all full and part-time faculty to understand, incorporate, and assess all JMC
School PLOs in every course with multiple sections. Careful study and review, collaboration and
agreement are required. This is not easily achieved in a journalism and mass communications program for
three reasons: academic freedom concerns, the independent-minded faculty members who teach in such
programs and the fact that some sections are taught by part-time lecturers.
The JMC School’s two general education courses — MCOM 100W: Writing Workshop: Mass
Communications and MCOM 72: Mass Communications and Society, which have been certified by the
university — have not been a problem. Both courses have identical PLOs, which instructors who teach
the courses must use, and their PLOs are assessed each semester. The coordinator for the 100W course
meets several times during the semester with faculty members who teach the course.
Because of the emphasis the school and the university have put on assessment, JMC School faculty
members adopted a policy to ensure that students were learning the same thing in courses with multiple
sections, but at the same time, to preserve academic freedom. The policy for information that must be
included on green sheets is as follows:
If there is more than one section of a course, the learning objectives must be identical. Although the
objectives must be the same, instructors have the academic freedom to teach the course in very different
ways with very different assignments and different textbooks. However, they must meet in advance to
ensure that parity of learning will take place.
The Curriculum Committee has reviewed green sheets to determine whether PLOs are, in fact, the same
across all sections. In addition, faculty members are working on providing better mentoring for part-time
lecturers who are assigned to teach a course with multiple sections.
9. List achievements in teaching in the past six years: awards
or citations for high-quality teaching; grants or other
support for development of curriculum or courses;
publications and papers on teaching; etc.
Faculty members have, over the past six years, achieved great things in teaching, from international
exposure on a grand scale to more discrete local efforts. For example, Associate Professor Diane
Guerrazzi was successful in August 2013 when the Afghanistan National Journalism Conference, meeting
in Kabul, unanimously adopted the curriculum she developed as the national journalism curriculum for
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Afghanistan. She had devised the curriculum for Herat University in 2011, and at the 2013 meeting the
group of more than 70 journalism professors, recommended that the Afghan Ministry of Higher
Education expand it nationwide. Guerrazzi’s project enabled other JMC faculty members to share their
expertise. John Delacruz developed a course in Social Media Strategy and demonstrated effective ways of
teaching the course to a group of Afghan professors. Tim Hendrick and Matt Cabot also developed
courses in advertising and public relations. In fact most, if not all, full- and part-time JMC faculty
members have developed courses available online for universities in Afghanistan. This is known as the
AJEEP initiative and is discussed in more detail in Standard 7 and 8.
Part-time lecturer Dona Nichols was nominated for one of the highest teaching excellence awards at SJSU
level and was supported by numerous current students and alumni as well as faculty colleagues in pursuit
of this award.
In the advertising program teaching excellence is evidenced through student success. For example,
student teams in the DB&H agency have placed first in three out of the last four years in national
competitions for such brands as Chevy, Honda and AT&T. The agency has been awarded more than
$5,000 for these wins. Student teams have placed second and third the last seven years in the regional
American Advertising Federations’ National Student Advertising Competition. Associate Professor Tim
Hendrick was named outstanding professor by the provost’s office and was awarded the prize during the
SJSU/Navy football game.
Assistant Professor John Delacruz has focused his research on pedagogical spaces and processes and
presented research papers on
“Creative Learning Spaces” at the SCUP or Annual Conference, University of Colorado, Denver in 2013,
and
“Applying Next Generation Technologies to enhance Teaching and Learning” at both the SJSU High
Tech, High Impact Conference in 2013 and Social Innovation Leadership Forum (SILF) Annual
Conference in San José in 2014.
He is also working on developing this research further for presentation at the E-learning and Innovative
Pedagogies Conference at Pacific University in Oregon, 2014.
Associate Professor Matt Cabot was a Salzburg Fellow in Austria. SJSU Salzburg Fellows are selected as
part of San José State’s efforts to develop a critical mass of change agents who will work together across
institutional boundaries to globalize the campus in more coherent ways. Fellows are chosen from
different units all over SJSU—including senior administration, academic colleges and departments,
student affairs, and advancement—because our Program focuses on strategies and activities that are
intended to transform a wide range of curricular, co-curricular, and operational aspects in the University
as a whole. Cabot’s selection led to the creation of a very successful study abroad program taking
students to Paris and Madrid during the Summer semester each year:
Global Leadership (SJSU FLP: France/Spain, Summer 2014)
Global Leadership (SJSU FLP: France/Italy, Summer 2013)
Global Citizenship (SJSU FLP: France, Summer 2012)
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International Public Relations (SJSU FLP: France, Summer 2011)
In the process he also created an instructor’s manual and test bank for “Think PR,” a textbook originally
developed by JMC Professor Emeritus Dennis Wilcox (Allyn & Bacon, 2010).
The Salzburg program is a prestigious international weeklong seminar for American academics. The JMC
School leads all other departments on campus in participation in this program. In addition to Cabot, past
participants include Christine DiSalvo, Tim Hendrick, Diane Guerrazzi, Diana Stover, and Larry
Sokoloff.
10. Describe professional development programs, workshops
in teaching, or other methods used to stimulate and
encourage effective teaching.
Our faculty members participate in a range of in-house workshops and international efforts. For example,
Guerrazzi organized and ran curriculum and teaching workshops at the Journalism Summer Skills
Academies in Dubai (2012), India (2013) and Turkey (2014).
Delacruz and Cabot have also participated in Blackboard and Canvas Workshops and Cabot was a guest
speaker at Classroom Without Borders in 2011.
11. Describe the importance of teaching in promotion and
tenure decisions.
As noted earlier, retention, tenure and promotion decisions at San José State University are governed by
Academic Senate Policy S98-8. Two criteria must be met:
(1) effectiveness in teaching and (2) scholarly or artistic or professional achievement.
Both criteria are equally important since neither tenure nor promotion is granted without evidence of
strong teaching and a strong record of scholarly/creative/professional achievement.
In teaching under S98-8, “contribution to the teaching mission of the university” is crucial for tenuretrack faculty. The expectation is that a candidate must “show increasing effectiveness in teaching, or
consistent effectiveness in the case of individuals whose teaching is fully satisfactory from the start” and
that faculty members “should not be retained if their performance in teaching and in other aspects of their
academic assignment is not sufficient to warrant a reasonable expectation that tenure will be granted at
the end of the probationary period.” The university, noting that “the award of tenure requires more than
potential or promise,” requires a candidate to meet the following standard: “demonstrated effectiveness in
academic assignment, above all in teaching,” and that “tenure should not be granted without evidence of
good, solid performance in the variety of courses taught during the probationary years.” To be considered
for early tenure, the candidate must demonstrate “exceptional effectiveness in academic assignment.”
This means that even in cases in which a candidate has demonstrated significant scholarship, early tenure
would not be granted unless there is evidence of “excellence in teaching.” Promotion to associate
professor requires “a well- established, consistent pattern of good teaching and general effectiveness in
academic assignment, which normally should include contributions to collegial governance.” Promotion
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to full professor requires “a continuing pattern of good teaching and, normally, increasing effectiveness in
the other aspects of academic assignment.”
All faculty members are required to participate in student evaluations using a standard form, Student
Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE), developed and validated by the university that includes
quantitative measures as well as qualitative evaluations. (See SOTE form in Exhibits and Appendices)
Faculty members are required to have a minimum of two courses evaluated each year. In addition, to
provide evidence of the quality of their teaching, all tenure-track faculty members must include in their
dossiers a minimum of two peer evaluations a year. The peer visits give senior faculty the opportunity to
visit the classroom to assess whether the teaching is effective and whether the course is being taught to
student learning objectives.
12. Describe any special recognition that the unit gives to
outstanding students. Exclude scholarships,
which are summarized in Table 9, “Student Aid.”
Once each academic year, the top 10 percent of students in the JMC School are inducted into Kappa Tau
Alpha. It is the national college honor society that recognizes academic excellence and promotes
scholarship.
13. Attach a copy of the unit’s internship policy.
JMC School Internships.
SJSU students majoring in advertising, journalism and public relations are required, as part of their degree
program, to work a 240-hour professional internship. The company and location are selected by the
student from a wide range of pre-approved traditional and new media opportunities.
Students must successfully complete prerequisite coursework in their majors, meet minimum grade-point
average requirements, and submit a completed internship agreement, signed by faculty advisers and onsite professional supervisors before the internship may be started.
Student progress during the internship is carefully monitored by school faculty and on-site supervisors.
Examples of professional efforts generated by students (i.e. copies of news stories or clippings, online
postings, press releases, tape productions, etc.) must be submitted to the school, during the internship, for
review and evaluation. And post-internship supervisor evaluations are required.
The JMC School is proud to report that SJSU students consistently receive the highest commendation for
top quality service in all professional media internships. The full document is included in the appendix
14. Describe the methods used to supervise internship and
work experience programs; to evaluate and grade
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students’ performance in these programs; and to award
credit for internships or work experiences. Provide copies
of questionnaires and other instruments used to monitor
and evaluate internships and work experiences. (These
documents can be placed in the appendices binder.)
Students are required to submit a report (a form) every 40 hours describing their activities. Students can,
but are not required to, attach sample work. They are encouraged to correspond at any time with the
faculty internship adviser by telephone, through email or direct visits to campus. The faculty internship
adviser also interacts with employer supervisors at the various internships, as needed. The adviser
investigates student or employer concerns or complaints, works with both to facilitate resolutions, or
terminates experiences which
At the end of the 240-hour internships, students are required to complete a questionnaire designed to
assess their internship experience — including whether they would recommend the internship to another
student.
Likewise, the internship supervisors must submit a "sign-off" letter confirming their interns fulfilled their
240 hours and their specific internship requirements. Employers are also asked to briefly evaluate the
student’s efforts, skills and competency, and offer any recommendations for improvement. Many times
employers use this as an opportunity to write letters of recommendation for students to use when job
hunting.
Part II, Standard 3.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
Executive summary
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The JMC School is located in one of the most diverse cultural communities in the United States. People
with family histories and roots in nearly every nation of the world reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The School is charged with engaging individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences.
In addition, JMC faculty adopted a Diversity Mission Statement to acknowledge, welcome and encourage
students, faculty and staff members to join our efforts to identify common interests and foster deeper
understanding of all cultures. It states:
“As an integral part of our overall educational mission, we recognize and value public understanding of
all expressions of cultural diversity. Through our academic degree programs and public service efforts,
we prepare future media professionals in all forms of global communications with a commitment to
responsible outreach and inclusion of all people. We do this best by respectfully identifying and
addressing, in a timely, fair and truthful way, issues of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
religious cultures and disability in our nation and global community.
We accomplish this by:
Hiring faculty from diverse communities with significant research, teaching and/or contemporary
professional experiences to work to excite interest in diversity understanding, appreciation and inclusion.
Admitting students of all ages, economic and cultural backgrounds, and challenging them to listen, learn,
interact, share information, think critically, and look for common values, then respectfully include
diversity in their academic efforts and postgraduate pursuits.
Creating a supportive educational climate where the campus and global communities are engaged by
inviting all voices and perspectives to be heard, discussed, valued and incorporated in all media outreach
efforts.
Assessing and updating regularly our curriculum, school programs and special events to ensure that they
address timely, important, and ever-changing aspects of diverse life experiences.
Exploring creative, innovative and ethical uses of new technology to broaden public awareness and
enable better understanding of the meaning and impact of diversity in our society and world.”
The following provides a clearer snapshot of the relevant features of our program.
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More than half of the unit’s majors are ethnic minorities, including Asians, 21 percent; Hispanics, 27
percent; and blacks, 6.4 percent. Females represent 63.9% of JMC School students. Of the 12 tenuretrack faculty, more than half are white men. One-quarter are women and ethnic minorities.
Two-thirds of the unit’s 201 bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2013 - 2014 were received by women. Nearly
two-thirds (65.0 percent) of those new graduates were ethnic minorities.
We prioritize the discussion of diversity related issues in all JMC School classes, and work to include
timely issues in our advertising, journalism and public relations degree programs.
Our MCOM 105: “Diversity in the Media” class is one of the most popular SJSU campus community
course offerings. Hundreds of students from a wide range of life experiences come together to identify,
discuss and assess the impact of traditional and new media messages focused on diversity.
Numerous community forums developed and hosted by the JMC School provide campus and Bay Area
residents with opportunities to learn and share unique perspectives on timely, sensitive and controversial
diversity issues. In 2012 reporter Tom Peele spoke on the murder of African-American investigative
reporter Chauncey Bailey, an alum of our program. In 2013 a JMC School student-produced documentary
on gun violence in Bay Area communities was presented at several forums in San José. In Spring 2014
the JMC School hosted Jose Antonio Vargas, nationally known immigration rights activist and journalist.
Our school provided the first West Coast screening of his film “Documented” to a community gathering
of more than 600 people. JMC also arranged for CreaTV, a local cable television company, to record,
broadcast and video stream on the SJSU website a powerful interaction between Vargas and Bay Area
undocumented immigrants.
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In response to major local and national news coverage of a serious race incident in a San José State
University dormitory in Fall 2013, the annual JMC School-sponsored Spuler Ethics Symposium in Spring
2014 focused on diversity in the media and discussed how important it is for media professionals to
develop a deeper understanding of all diversity issues to help better educate the public. More than 250
JMC School and university students attended and participated in the wide-ranging and candid exchange
of information about media portrayals of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disabilities.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Complete and attach the following tables
Table 4. Area Population Service Area: Describe here the unit’s geographic service area as far as
student enrollment is concerned (region, states, counties, etc.).
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the population of the state of California in 2013 was
38,332,521. San José State University is part of Santa Clara County. Its estimated population in
2013 was 1,862,041. Women made up 49.7% of the local population, as compared to 50.3% of the
state population, and 50.8% nationwide.
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Table 5, “Student Populations” - San José State University:
Headcount, Gender and Ethnicity Fall 2013 Total University
*
Ethnicity & Gender University Total American Indian Head % Count Total New Students
New
Under
grad Transfer
New Credential First‐time
Graduate
Male
Female
First‐time
Freshman
31,049 100% 15,285
15,764
3,736
3,766
182 1,920
45 <1% 19
26
<1%
<1%
‐ <1%
1,020 3% 508
512
4%
3%
2% 2%
10,089 32% 5,379
4,710
39%
30%
15% 16%
Hispanic 6,858 22% 2,978
3,880
27%
24%
13% 13%
Total Minority 18,012 58% 8,884
9,128
71%
57%
30% 32%
White 7,466 24% 3,656
3,810
18%
26%
49% 25%
Foreign National 2,690 9% 1,359
1,331
4%
6%
3% 35%
Other 2,881 9% 1,386
1,495
8%
10%
19% 8%
African American Asian Undergraduate Student Populations
Show numbers of male, female, minority, white and international students enrolled in the unit, the percentages they
represent of total journalism and mass communications enrollment, and the percentages these racial/ethnic groups
represent of the total institutional enrollment.
Use figures from the most recent academic year for which complete data are available.
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Academic year: 2013 – 2014
Journalism and Mass Communications
Group Male Female Black/African American White American Indian/Alaskan native Asian Hispanic/Latino (any race) Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander Two or more races Other race International students (any race) 8 73 0 48 48 1 N/A 18 N/A 29 102 1 73 106 1 N/A 36 N/A % of total in unit 6.4% 30.5% 0.17% 21.1% 26.9% 0.34% N/A 9.4% N/A % of total in institution 6.6% 48.4% 0.29% 65.4% 44.4% 1.4% N/A 18.6% N/A Table 6, “Faculty Populations” – San José State University
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Table 6. Faculty populations, JMC School Full-time Faculty Academic year: 2013 – 2014 Show numbers of female, male, minority, white and international faculty members and the percentages they represent of the unit’s total faculty. (Report international faculty the same way the university reports them.) Journalism & Mass Communications: (12 Total) % of total % of total Group Female faculty Male faculty Black/African American 0 0 % 2 16 % White 2 16 % 6 50 % American Indian/Alaskan native 0 0 % 0 0 % Asian 0 0 % 0 0 % Hispanic/Latino (any race) 1 9 % 0 0 % Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander 0 0 % 0 0 % Two or more races 0 0 % 0 0 % Other race 0 0 % 0 0 % International (any race) 0 0 % 1 9 % Faculty populations, JMC School Part-time Faculty
Academic year: 2013 – 2014 Journalism & Mass Communications:
(12 Total)
% of total % of total Female faculty Male faculty Black/African American 0 0 % 0 0 % White 4 34 % 6 50 % American Indian/Alaskan native 0 0 % 0 0 % Asian 0 0 % 0 0 % Hispanic/Latino (any race) 0 0 % 0 0 % Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander 0 0 % 1 8 % Two or more races 0 0 % 0 0 % Other race 1 8 % 0 0 % International (any race) 0 0 % 0 0 % 64
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Table 7. Full-time Faculty Recruitment
Provide the following information for any searches for full-time faculty members conducted by the unit
within the past three years.
Academic years: 2011 ‐ 2012 2012 ‐ 2013 2013 ‐ 2014 1 0 0 Total applicants in hiring pool 25 0 0 Females in hiring pool 11 0 0 Female finalists considered 1 0 0 Offers made to females 0 0 0 Offers accepted by females 0 0 0 Minorities in hiring pool 9 0 0 Minority finalists considered 1 0 0 Offers made to minorities 0 0 0 Offers accepted by minorities 0 0 0 11 0 0 International faculty considered 1 0 0 Offers made to international faculty 1 0 0 Offers accepted by international faculty 1 0 0 Openings International faculty in hiring pool Table 8. Part‐time/adjunct Faculty Recruitment Academic years: 2011 ‐ 2012 2012 ‐ 2013 2013‐ 2014 Openings 4 3 2 Total applicants in hiring pool 4 3 2 Females in hiring pool 1 0 2 Female finalists considered 1 0 2 Offers made to females 1 0 2 Offers accepted by females 1 0 2 Minorities in hiring pool 1 0 1 Minority finalists considered 1 0 1 Offers made to minorities 1 0 1 Offers accepted by minorities 1 0 1 International faculty in hiring pool 0 0 0 International faculty considered 0 0 0 Offers made to international faculty 0 0 0 Offers accepted by international faculty 0 0 0 65
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2. Attach a copy of the unit’s written plan for achieving
an inclusive curriculum, a diverse faculty and student
population, and a supportive climate for working
and learning. This plan should give the date
of adoption/last revision, any designated timelines
for reaching goals, the unit’s definition of diversity and
the under-represented groups identified by the unit.
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3. Describe how the unit assesses its progress toward
achieving the plan’s objectives.
Given where we are located and our student body, diversity interactions happen naturally. Historically it
has also been a cornerstone of our program. We regularly discuss this in faculty meetings when talking
about curriculum, course lessons, student activities and the student publications. Student media discuss
this on a daily basis as they prepare to report campus news to our diverse population. JMC School class
guest speakers are specifically asked to discuss industry and academic perspectives on initiatives being
taken.
Our tenured/tenure-track faculty members appreciate, value and are committed to improving diversity in
news coverage, and advertising messages and public relations campaigns. They are advised continually to
make a point of integrating such coverage into the curriculum through readings, assignments and
activities. Faculty members regularly identify and share general and media industry news and information
about diversity issues for the purpose of incorporating timely diversity-related topics in course
instruction.
Our biggest challenge in recent years has been the severe budget deficit and declining enrollments,
specifically in journalism, which have made it extremely difficult to persuade university officials to
approve faculty recruitment proposals. It is difficult to attract and retain diverse faculty members because
of the ever-increasing cost of living in California and the Bay Area.
We also assess our progress in diversity understanding in classroom and student media assignments, and
end-of-semester faculty online assessment surveys. We also survey media internship employers and
alumni to learn their views and invite their input on how to encourage students from diverse cultural
communities to express their perspectives, ideas and creativity when working on media projects.
We also constantly inquire about student comfort with cross-cultural understanding to help identify
shared beliefs, values and goals.
4. Describe the unit’s curricular efforts to foster
understanding of issues and perspectives that are inclusive
in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and
sexual orientation.
Diversity is woven into the JMC School curriculum, and all faculty members have been advised to
include, reference and use the JMC School Diversity Mission Statement in all instruction. For more
thought-provoking and dynamic discussions about timely diversity issues in the media, the JMC School
has long offered a course designed to engage students across academic disciplines. Originally titled
“Minorities and the Media,” the MCOM 105 course was redesigned by Associate Professor Robert
Rucker in the mid-1990s. Rucker recognized that Bay Area, statewide and international students were
expressing concerns about media reporting and messages about all aspects of diversity, including race,
gender, religious culture and sexual orientation. He also noted that reporting on the life experiences of
people with disabilities was quite limited, even though in his professional journalism career as a major68
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market medical reporter and national news correspondent, he was often assigned to do feature stories
about this community, which triggered great public interest.
The course name over time has been shortened to “Diversity in the Media.” Many times Rucker shared
accounts with JMC School faculty members about the remarkable enthusiasm shown by class
participation, research efforts, and the sharing of personal growth experiences. All of this was made
possible in a learning environment that made students, faculty and guest speakers feel safe and respected
for sharing their personal truths about diversity.
Beyond the regular curriculum, JMC faculty members also encourage student-enterprise initiatives to
prioritize and embrace an appreciation of diversity understanding. In 2009 when two JMC journalism
professors took a group of students to the first Inauguration of President Obama, they created an
application process in which students from diverse cultures and life experiences across the three degree
programs were encouraged to apply. The group traveled by van through the historic sites of the civil
rights movement in America so they could report and educate their fellow students and the general public.
Their unique approach, documented in a magazine they produced, earned them national media attention
and praise.
In 2010 Associate Professor D. Michael Cheers, photojournalism coordinator, traced the history of a
prominent African-American church in the heart of Silicon Valley, and showcased its role in the
community as it grappled with social and technological change. Cheers produced a documentary called
“Soul Sanctuary,” and explored the proud history and uncertain future of a 122-year-old faith community.
It also examined the traditions, culture and impact of the oldest African-American religious community in
San José. “Soul Sanctuary” was researched, shot, and produced over a two-year period between 2008 and
2010. Locally it won the CreaTV first place award in 2010. The documentary also aired for a month on a
community television channel, and had a successful run at the Berlin International Black Film Festival.
In 2012 the journalism school led a group of 32 students and faculty on a 12-day fact-finding trip to
Cuba. Cheers drew on his global media experiences and invited two well-known and highly respected
Bay Area journalists — Rigo Chacon, a multiple Emmy Award-winning television reporter in San
Francisco, and Joe Rodriguez, an award-winning columnist for the San José Mercury News — to serve as
guest professors on the trip to help the students identify unique story angles for a magazine they produced
when they returned to campus.
During Summer 2013, multimedia journalism students worked with our faculty to develop a documentary
on gun-related killings in San José and Oakland. After meeting with the families of victims in the
African-American and Latino communities, they produced an hour long film that asked the question
“What would Dr. King think?” 50 years after his movement to focus on minorities working out problems
through peaceful solutions.
The JMC School faculty chose to award the Spring 2014 William Randolph Hearst Award for excellence
in journalism to Jose Antonio Vargas for his nationwide efforts to raise public awareness about the
undocumented in America. Immigration groups around the Bay Area were invited to screen his new film
and then interact with him about their lifelong struggles. More than 600 people attended the powerful
campus evening event. JMC tries never to miss an opportunity to help students and the public know that
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prioritizing diversity “understanding” as the most important outcome in all media inclusiveness efforts
benefits and serves society much more than simply working for “tolerance.” JMC Director Rucker’s
leadership on diversity issues in the JMC School has long focused on the very basic premise that being
“tolerated” is never fulfilling for most human beings, and rarely inspires full acceptance.
5. Describe the unit’s curricular instruction in issues and
perspectives relating to mass communications across
diverse cultures in a global society.
The JMC School sets a tone of welcome professionalism, open-mindedness and genuine encouragement
for students who want to respectfully explore diversity issues as part of their academic mission. We
realize many students who are the first in their families to attend college are curious and want to learn
how to responsibly explore a deeper understanding of wide range of diversity issues. Some also come to
our classes eager to raise questions and express concerns about how media messages sometimes distort
cultural values, misinform or reinforce stereotypes.
We are extremely fortunate in the Bay Area to have people who are open to exploring sensitive cultural
and community issues. Many undergraduates go on to graduate school with a passion for developing
unique long-form video projects that explore special topics. This includes everything from health
challenges people face in some cultural communities, to an up-close and revealing look at sexualreassignment surgery.
Faculty members in the JMC School believe curriculum must always meet university and accreditation
requirements but should also fully support “academic freedom” where both faculty and students have
opportunities to foster new ideas, technology approaches and contemporary approaches that speak to and
attract the public at large. The MCOM 180: Global Learning educational experience offers students a
chance to work directly with a professor and develop special focus research projects and reports that
excite the interest of the student.
6. Describe efforts to establish and maintain a climate that is
free of harassment and discrimination, accommodates the
needs of those with disabilities, and values the
contributions of all forms of diversity.
San José State has a long tradition of supporting and celebrating diversity and inclusiveness throughout
our campus community. As stated on the university website, “San José State believes that thinking about
diversity helps us understand and build our capacity to make a better world. The purpose of this site is to
steward the university’s embrace of diversity through providing information on the newly established
Commission on Diversity, institutional policies, educational practices, programs and current diversity
status. The goal is to move beyond thinking about the compositional diversity of our university
community in terms of demographic characteristics only, toward a more intentional, comprehensive
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approach that places diversity at the center of our university mission to foster learning.”
(http:/www.sjsu.edu/diversity)
The two founding co-chairs of the SJSU Commission on Diversity, Provost Andy Feinstein and William
Nance, former vice president of Student Affairs, reaffirmed that they were “committed to ensuring that the
mission of inclusiveness for all students, faculty and staff members as well as the broader community
remains at the forefront of our vision.” http://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/commission
San José State has embraced publicly the following “Principles and notions of diversity” in relation to our
campus members and the surrounding regional area: http://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/commission/principles
Institutional Viability and Vitality: Our capacity to plan, implement, and assess a comprehensive
diversity approach that aligns with our public mission.
Education and Scholarship: The diversity content of our courses, faculty engagement with diversity
issues and student learning related to diversity.
Access and Success: The success (retention, graduation, honors) of our various student populations by
level (undergraduate and graduate) by demographics (race, gender, ethnicity, income, etc.) and fields (the
arts, business, education, science and technology).
Campus Climate and Intergroup Relations: The individual and group social interactions among
students, faculty, staff and perceptions of institutional commitment to diversity.
Diversity: The active appreciation, engagement and support of all campus members in terms of their
backgrounds, identities and experiences (as constituted by gender, socioeconomic class, political
perspective, age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, regional origin, nationality,
occupation, language, among others, and the intersection of these aspects).
(This definition emerged from SJSU campus members via focus groups in 2008.)
Inclusive Excellence: An institutional commitment to create and sustain a context of diversity through
which all members thrive, feel valued and attain personal and professional success. One specific focus
here is to use diversity as an educational resource and knowledge domain for students, and as a central
ingredient for their academic success. SJSU President Qayoumi has defined the commission’s task as
follows: “To help [the university] assess our current status, align, integrate and improve our institutional
policies, educational practices and programs to have a more powerful impact on student learning and
achievement.” With this task in mind, the membership of the commission was carefully developed to
ensure an extensive range of representation among students, faculty, staff and administrators.
The California State University is also committed to enforcing and maintaining employment policies and
procedures that comply with applicable state and federal nondiscrimination and affirmative action laws
and regulations. CSU policies and federal and state laws protect the California State University
community from discrimination and harassment on the basis of the following:
Age: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers age 40 and over from
discrimination in employment based on their age.
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Disability-Medical Condition: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits private employers,
state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified
individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing advancement, compensation, job
training and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
Genetic Information
Marital status
Race, color, citizenship, ancestry or national origin
Religion
Retaliation: The taking of adverse actions against an individual because that person has exercised a right
protected by law, opposed discriminatory practices, filed a complaint or participated in any manner in an
investigation or proceeding.
Sex, gender or gender identity: It is illegal to discriminate against anyone based upon his or her sex,
gender or gender identity. Unwanted sexual advances or employment benefit on the condition of an
exchange of sexual favors is also illegal.
Sexual orientation: It is unlawful to discriminate against an individual in employment matters based upon
that person's sexual orientation.
Veteran status
Hostile work environment: Harassment or hostile environment is a type of discrimination. It can be verbal
harassment (epithets, derogatory comments or slurs), physical harassment (assault, impeding or blocking
movement), visual forms of harassment (derogatory posters, cartoons or drawings), or favors (unwanted
sexual advances, employment benefit on the condition of an exchange of sexual favors). Sexual
harassment is not the only form of harassment.
For more information, visit CSU Executive Order No. 927.
The CSU’s policy includes protection for employees, applicants and third party complainants from
unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation for filing a complaint. This protection is covered
under Executive Order 1089, which emphasizes the complaint procedure, training and anti-retaliation
policies. The CSU will take action to eliminate discrimination and harassment when they are aware of a
situation.
Human Resources at San José State University has been requiring MPP’s and Department Chairs to
complete a mandatory two hour AB1825 online sexual harassment course. The CSU Chancellor’s Office
provided campuses with Technical Letter HR/EEO 2013-01- http://www.calstate.edu/hradm/pdf2013/TLEEO2013-01.pdf. It states
“Campuses and the Chancellor’s Office will use the definition of supervisor provided in California’s Fair
Employment and Housing Act, which defines “supervisor” to include any individual with the authority
“to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other
employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend
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that action, if … the exercise of that authority…requires the use of independent judgment.” (California
Government Code § 12926 (s)).
Under CSU policy, irrespective of whether an employee meets the definition of supervisor under the
Higher Education Employer-Employee Relation Act, individuals who are required to complete training
include, but are not limited to:
The presidents, administrators with supervisory responsibilities, department chairs/directors, any
employee with the word “supervisor” in his/her position title, responsibilities, or position description,
faculty in roles such as “program coordinator,” “director,” etc., if those roles involve supervisory
responsibilities as defined above, employees with lead worker responsibilities, and faculty or staff who
assign work to student employees, whether or not they are the supervisor of record.
After reviewing the definition in 2013, more SJSU employees were required to take the AB1825 online
sexual harassment course including 13 faculty and staff in the School of Journalism and Mass
Communications. Each of the following individuals had six (6) months to complete the online course, and
will have to retake it in another two (2) years:
Robert Rucker (JMC School director)
Silvia LaRosa (JMC office supervisor)
Deborah Briese (Spartan Daily advertising office manager)
Timothy Hendrick and Chris DiSalvo (faculty coordinators of the DB&H Agency)
Scott Fosdick (graduate coordinator)
Cynthia Fernald (JMC academic adviser)
Richard Craig, Kim Komenich, D. Michael Cheers, Timothy Mitchell
and Lloyd LaCuesta (convergence news faculty)
Diane Guerrazzi (Afghanistan Project)
Thomas Ulrich (SHiFT magazine coordinator)
7. Describe the unit’s efforts to recruit and retain
a student population reflecting the diversity
of the population eligible to enroll in institutions
of higher education in the region or population
it serves, with special attention to recruiting
under-represented groups.
San José State University is committed to improving college access and graduation in underserved
communities. Specific outreach and recruitment efforts including the following:
(http://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/access/outreach/index.html)
Super Sunday
Super Sunday is a CSU program in which leaders and ambassadors speak at various churches across the
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state on Sundays to share information with students, parents and community members about preparing for
college, applying to a CSU campus and financial aid. Cheers actively participates in this effort.
Advancing Latino/a Achievement and Success (ALAS)
ALAS is an educational alliance uniting SJSU, the National Hispanic University and the Santa Clara
County Superintendents Association, in a mission dedicated to the growth and expansion of a collegegoing culture among our Latino/a youth.
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Initiative
The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Initiative is a CSU-wide effort to improve college
access and graduation achievement for Asian-American and Pacific Islander students from underserved
communities.
MOSAIC
The JMC School each summer hosts a special local initiative sponsored by the San José Mercury News.
The mission of the two-week workshop is to inspire high school students to pursue careers in journalism
and to improve Bay Area high school journalism. Mosaic students work in a JMC School newsroom, and
stay overnight in a supervised dormitory. They learn reporting, writing and photography from
professional journalists. Established in 1993, Mosaic has trained scores of high school students. The
program is limited to 20 students, who must be current high school sophomores, juniors or seniors. Most
applicants are from the San Francisco Bay Area and California's central coast. After graduation, many of
these students apply for admission to the SJSU JMC School and actively participate in the convergence
journalism degree program. (http://www.mercurynews.com/mosaic)
Watsonville Video Academy / JMC School Annual Tours
Each spring up to 50 high school students from the Latino, African-American, Asian-American and other
communities visit the JMC School to learn more about the critical thinking, reporting and visual
communications skills needed in the profession. Most of these students come from low-income
communities and would be the first in their family to attend college.
(https://whs-pajaroca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1295705520955)
8. Units in which admission is selective or varies
from general university admission requirements
should describe considerations given to the effects
of selective requirements on minority enrollment.
Not applicable.
9. Assess the unit’s effectiveness in retaining minority
students from first enrollment through graduation.
Describe any special program developed by and/or
used by the unit in the retention of minority students.
Note the role of advising in this process.
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San José State takes seriously the academic success and achievement of all students, including those from
historically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. Our campus has identified specific actions,
initiatives and data mechanisms to fulfill this promise of success.
The California State University Retention & Graduation Initiative “Closing the Achievement Gap” was a
concerted effort set forth by the Chancellor's Office in Fall 2009 to challenge all 23 campuses to increase
their retention and graduation rates for first-time freshmen and transfer students with the ultimate goal of
reducing the achievement gap between represented and non-represented groups by half by the 2015-16
academic year.
In Fall 2009 a Retention and Graduation Delivery Team was convened and has been meeting on a regular
basis to finalize and begin implementation of SJSU's Retention & Graduation Initiative Plan. This plan is
a "living" document that will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. See subsequent reports online:
http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/initiatives_accomplishments/graduation_initiative
San José State University embraces research as the initial step in constructing a successful studentretention program and the development of an effective "student-tracking" system.
The Institutional Effectiveness & Analytics (IEA) – Data on Student Retention & Graduation website is
designed to provide the information to monitor students' progress at university, college and program
levels. Extensive reporting on JMC School admissions and tracking may be found online:
http://www.iea.sjsu.edu/RetnGrad/programs.cfm?version=graphic&program=JOUR
Here are some an examples of their reports:
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IEA has also produced a 2013 overall “SJSU Graduation Rates Watch” presentation available online at:
http://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/docs/2013_Graduation_Rates.pdf
In partnership with SJSU's faculty and staff, Student Academic Success Services works to enrich the lives
of our students by promoting, supporting and delivering critical and quality academic services to help
students achieve their career goals for life-long learning and participation in the global workforce. SASS
units include:
Academic Advising & Retention Services (AARS) provides advising for general education, undeclared
majors, students requiring remediation, international students and those on probation or disqualified.
Transition advising is provided by this office through frosh and transfer orientations.
Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) is designed to improve student academic support of low-income,
first-generation and educationally disadvantaged students. EOP students can expect to receive
comprehensive educational and academic support services. Guardian Scholars, our foster youth program,
is also part of EOP.
Peer Connections provides a variety of academic support through its mentoring, tutoring and workshops.
Programs provided focus on holistic student development as well as content-knowledge acquisition. Peer
Connections serves all undergraduate students with priority emphasis on transitional students.
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Student-Athlete Success Services provides academic planning and study skills education for every
student athlete at San José State University. This unit also promotes student-athlete academic
achievement and personal accountability. Further, it works to ensure that all student athletes graduate and
maintain NCAA eligibility with regard to GPA, hours passed, percentage of degrees earned, and
academic progress rate (APR).
TRIO ASPIRE Program provides traditionally underrepresented students with equal access to educational
opportunities. These include students who are low-income or first-generation college students or
registered with a disability that hinders academic performance.
TRIO McNair Scholar Program encourages low-income individuals who are first-generation college
students, and/or underrepresented in graduate education, to pursue doctoral study.
Writing Center offers resources to help students become better writers, from one-on-one tutoring sessions
to various writing workshops. In addition, the university center offers online resources, informational
classroom visits, and “Homegrown Handouts” created by writing specialists. Student writing experts tutor
students of all levels (freshman to graduate) and from all disciplines. Additional SJSU student resources
may be identified online at
http://www.sjsu.edu/sass/sjsu_campus_resources
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.
The CASA Success Center provides advising for undergraduate students majoring or wanting to major in
programs offered in CASA departments and schools. Its mission is supported by:
Service for the Greater Good
Curiosity, Inquiry and Scholarship
Rigor and Academic Excellence
Learning through Doing
Embracing Equity and Diversity
Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Partnership and Collaboration
Life-Work Balance
JMC School students go to the CASA Student Success Center in MacQuarrie Hall, Room 533, for general
education advising, help with changing majors, academic policy related questions, meeting with peer
advisers and/or attending various regularly scheduled presentations and workshops. Center staff members
also work with all CASA department students who are on academic probation or have been disqualified,
and help them develop effective strategies to improve their academic outcomes and/or be reinstated in the
university. All newly admitted first-time college students at San José State University are required to attend an
orientation session. Several dates in Spring and Summer terms are also set aside for transfer-student
orientation.
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Whether incoming students are nervous or excited about coming to SJSU, staff and faculty members in all
units know that a smooth transition to college life requires some personal attention be given all students
as they try to understand and comply with new and challenging university policies and requirements. On
all levels, assistance is provided for everything from career advising, registering for classes and obtaining
parking and housing to meeting and working with people from diverse cultures and life experiences as an
essential part of their academic learning experience.
JMC School staff and faculty members take pride in getting to know students and their career goals
beginning the first day of student orientation. Students attending welcome sessions during break times or
summer sessions meet with the JMC director to discuss their plans, hopes and dreams, receive academic
planning advice, and explore how to engage faculty members and other students and join in the many
activities of the school. During the Fall and Spring semesters, a faculty member serves as full-time
adviser for all JMC School majors and minors.
Academic adviser Cynthia Fernald serves as the go-to person students must see, at least once a year for
detailed discussion and planning of future classes, internships and graduation application. All other JMC
School faculty members offer media career advising. They are required to provide walk-in or appointment
times for any SJSU student wanting to explore the possibilities of a future in new and/or traditional media
professions.
On a regular basis, all students enrolled in JMC School courses each semester receive email blasts from
the JMC School director or office inviting them to participate in exciting new learning opportunities,
including those with a unique focus on diversity issues. They are also welcome to stop by, talk about their
experiences in the school, offer any ideas or suggestions, or simply get a pep talk to help them get through
some tough class or assignment. Listening and caring are always important.
10. Describe the unit’s efforts to recruit women and minority
faculty and professional staff (as enumerated in Table 7,
“Full-time Faculty Recruitment”).
In 2007, 2008 and 2011, the JMC School conducted full-time faculty searches for teaching positions in
broadcast journalism, multimedia journalism and advertising-creative specialization.
In 2011 a total of 25 individuals applied for the creative advertising faculty position after the posting and
global reporting of the opportunity with these agencies and groups:
Chronicle of Higher Education, AEJMC Classifieds, American Academy of Advertising, Diversity and
Hispanic/Bilingual Job Fair, Asian American Advertising Federation, 19 Hispanic East Coast Advertising
Agencies, Association of National Advertisers, African-American Advertising Agency Group, GLAAD
(Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Advertising Media Program, Muslim Ad Network, and
to 70 American colleges and universities through direct telephone, email and ground mail messages.
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11. Describe the unit’s efforts to provide an environment
that supports the retention, progress and success
of women and minority faculty and professional staff.
In 2011 Bob Rucker was appointed the first African-American and gay director in JMC School history for
his vision and plans for moving the program forward. See attached summary at the end of this section, or
the complete plan in the Appendix.
Prior to his appointment, Rucker was the JMC School broadcast journalism coordinator.
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The last JMC School searches to fill full-time faculty positions resulted in the appointment of
Diane Guerrazzi, a respected San Francisco Bay Area woman television journalist;
Kim Komenich, a white male JMC School graduate who won a Pulitzer Prize for international news
photography;
John Delacruz, a man of mixed Portuguese-British cultural background from England, who is fluent in
Spanish and has extensive international advertising experience.
In 2011, Professor Joan Merdinger, then Vice-President of SJSU Faculty Affairs, congratulated JMC
Director Rucker for the search committee’s “extraordinary efforts” to identify and attract a large,
qualified and diverse applicant pool. As previously noted, ads were placed in a wide variety of
publications to reach a diverse pool of applicants.
In 2012 the JMC School also conducted a search to fill the administrative analyst position, the top JMC
School office staff offering. The person in this position works closely with the school director on
budgetary matters and strategic planning. A total of 21 individuals applied for the position. (See attached
full list of applicants.) The individual selected, Ms. Silvia LaRosa, is a native of Peru. She has an
accounting background and is bilingual. She also advises Spanish-speaking students and is working on a
master’s degree at SJSU.
When a faculty position opens up, the university requires that we advertise in a wide range of forums. For
many years it has been the practice of JMC School search committees to go beyond the easy, advertisebroadly approach, and instead post our job descriptions with both traditional and nontraditional media
groups. These include the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Society
of Professional Journalists, the American Association of Advertisers, the Ad Council, the Public Relations
Society of America, the Online Journalism Association, and the National Associations of Black, Hispanic,
Asian-American, Native American and Gay and Lesbian Journalists.
It is part of the culture of San José State University that diversity hiring always be a primary focus for
every faculty and staff search conducted since 2003. That year the SJSU Academic Senate passed a
“sense-of-the-senate resolution regarding the report of the task force on the Recruitment and Retention of
a Diverse Faculty.” It continues to provide clear guidance for all academic units. The JMC School is also
guided in its RTP considerations by S98-8, "Appointment, Retention, Tenure and Promotion Criteria,
Standards and Procedures for Regular Faculty Employees." This document describes the application of
those standards within the School. Retention, tenure, and promotion decisions are based on an overall
evaluation of the faculty member's effectiveness in academic assignment and in scholarly and
professional achievement. A faculty member must demonstrate excellence in both areas over time, though
not necessarily in equal proportion. The goal is a well-rounded faculty member who contributes both to
the teaching mission of the School at a high level and to the discipline and profession through a
significant research agenda.
To achieve this at SJSU we must evaluate each other with certain standards of achievement in mind. Two
basic criteria for evaluation apply: effectiveness in academic assignment and scholarly or artistic or
professional achievement. "Service" to students and the university is generally subsumed under the first
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criterion, while "service" to the larger community and/or to a discipline or professional community is
generally subsumed under the second criterion.
Excellence in education is dependent above all upon the quality of the faculty. The purpose of procedures
for recruitment, retention, tenure and promotion is to provide just recognition and encouragement of
genuine achievement. The basic evaluation of faculty members' potential, performance and achievement
is made by their peers both within their departments and their disciplines at large. But evaluations alone,
no matter how just and weighty the procedures, cannot ensure excellence in education. The aim of the
evaluation process should be to inform faculty members of the appropriate criteria, standards and
expectations, to apprise them of their strengths and weaknesses, and to recognize those who have earned
tenure or promotion by their achievements. To this end, college deans and department chairpersons meet
regularly with individual faculty members — especially with probationary faculty — to discuss their
review and, if necessary, to suggest possible means of improvement.
1. Decisions are based on peer review by elected committees of tenured faculty and appropriate
administrators.
2. All reviews are based only on materials in dossiers prepared by the candidate. Each reviewer sees
identical material.
3. Reasons for decisions are given at each stage of review and candidates have the opportunity to
write responses that are considered by the next level.
4. Confidentiality governs all RTP deliberations.
5. Fairness and equity require that all reviews are treated consistently in terms of procedures and
timelines.
6. Each year, the Center for Faculty Development sponsors workshops, in collaboration with the
Office of Faculty Affairs, to help faculty members understand and prepare for their retention,
tenure and promotion reviews. Center staff members are also available for individual, confidential
consultations throughout the year. The center also offers orientation programs for new tenuretrack faculty members and for new lecturers. Our goal for these programs is to help participants
feel welcomed, to help them get a sense of the range of resources available to them on campus
and to help them hit the ground running on their first day of classes. The center also provides
regular follow-up sessions for faculty members. It also offers workshops and individual,
confidential consultations to help faculty members understand and prepare for retention, tenure
and promotion reviews, and to take a more proactive role in directing their career.
7. Community learning is a significant way faculty members can contribute to a portfolio for
retention, promotion and tenure.
Enhancing teaching effectiveness
Develop more powerful curricula that provide students with a "real world" context for theory and
discipline-specific knowledge, thereby helping students to retain more relevant information.
Raise students' awareness about current social issues as they relate to academic areas of interest.
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Engage students in powerful, interactive classroom discussions that invite new perspectives and
personalize student learning.
Develop students' critical thinking, writing, and interpersonal communication skills.
Help students learn about the complexities of social systems and community problems.
Advancing research and scholarship efforts
Identify new areas for research and publication, thereby increasing opportunities for professional
recognition and reward.
Present professional papers at state, regional and national conferences.
Publish findings in higher education publications or applied academic journals.
Make work visible and emphasize quality.
Serving the university and surrounding community
Leverage ability to provide direct service and/or research benefiting the community.
Offer professional skills and expertise to the nonprofit agencies where students are serving.
Serve on the advisory board of directors for the nonprofit agencies with which the community learning
class "partners."
Increase visibility for the university by facilitating local media coverage of your community learning
projects.
Make community learning presentations.
12. If the unit hires adjunct or part-time faculty members,
describe the unit’s effort to hire minority and female
professionals into these positions (as enumerated in Table
8, “Part-time/Adjunct Faculty Recruitment”) and list those
who are minority and female professionals.
San José State University seeks women and diverse part-time faculty members who are good academic
and professional role models for students and demonstrate their knowledge and abilities through both
their success in their industries and their classroom teaching. The JMC School faculty developed and
implemented a Diversity Mission Statement to confirm our commitment to both the university mission
and the needs of professional media to attract and hire more qualified individuals from diverse
backgrounds and cultures.
Since 2008 the JMC School has hired three women instructors: Mei Fang, Halima Kazem and Lisa
Fernandez, all of whom come from diverse cultures. Fang is employed full time in the campus
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driven teaching models for the 21st century. Kazem, a journalism graduate of the JMC School, is a widely
published reporter for national and international news outlets, including the Christian Science Monitor
and Al Jazeerra English online. Fernandez is a former San José Mercury News reporter and online news
producer who has been hired full time by NBC Bay Area, the local NBC network-owned and -operated
station, to oversee their news operation’s online media coverage.
13. Provide examples of professionals, visiting professors, and
other guest speakers invited or sponsored by the unit
during the past three years whose background or expertise
served to introduce students to diverse perspectives.
René Siegel. President of High Tech Connect, a leading Silicon Valley public relations firm, and
contributing writer for Inc.com. SJSU public relations graduate from the Bay Area Asian-American
community.
Sara Ganim. 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner for her reporting on the Penn State sex scandal. She spoke with
the convergence journalism students about investigative reporting.
Valerie Coleman-Morris. Former CNN business news anchor, talked with students about financial
planning needed for careers in journalism.
Keith Flippin. Chief of staff at Cisco Systems. African-American Silicon Valley executive talked about
career advancement and diversity concerns in the workplace.
Jane McMillan. Associate director of news and programming for KCBS Newsradio in San Francisco
talked about the dramatic changes in broadcast news coverage in the nation’s fourth largest market.
Hamzah Jamjoom. Saudi Arabian film/documentary writer and director based in Chicago arranged to
speak to students via Skype about understanding the culture and issues in the Middle East.
Husain Sumra. A former Spartan Daily managing editor, is East Indian and spoke about his website
“Swiftfilm,” which posts and talks about movie reviews.
Salman Haqqi. He works for an English language news site in Karachi, spoke about reporting and
writing news stories and blogs in Pakistan.
Ysabel Duron. Anchor and reporter for KRON-TV 4 in San Francisco, talks with students about career
planning in the field of journalism and gender issues.
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Henry Wofford. Comcast Sports Bay Area TV news anchor and reporter, talked with students about job
advancement challenges and travel requirements after graduation.
Jose Antonio Vargas. As previously noted, spoke to the school and campus community about the lives
of undocumented people in America.
Damian Trujillo. An NBC Bay Area TV reporter, is Mexican-American and speaks to the convergence
news students about daily reporting.
Kiet Do. A CBS Bay Area TV reporter, is Vietnamese-American and speaks to the convergence news
undergraduate and graduate students about daily reporting.
Marcos Breton. A general columnist from the Sacramento Bee, has discussed his book “Away Games”
about Latin players who face serious problems after they leave major league baseball.
Tommy Tran. Television news and sports reporter, CBS 30 Fresno, talked with journalism students
about the critical thinking, writings skills and high performance expectations in the newsroom.
Jannelle Wang. Reporter and anchor for NBC Bay Area television, participated in the 2014 Spuler
Symposium and talked about diversity in the media issues.
Dai Sugano
Emmy winning multimedia journalist for the San José Mercury News,
reviewed student multimedia projects as part of the ‘Visual Journalism Day’ special event.
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Part II, Standard 4.
Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty
Executive summary
Any educational institution’s greatest asset is its faculty, and that is absolutely true of the School of
Journalism and Mass Communications at San José State University. While all of our faculty members are
involved in service and research or creative work, they are here first and foremost to teach, and teach they
do, at a clip of four courses per semester for full-time professors and instructors (with occasional
reductions for special assignments or grant activities).
Our 11 full-time, tenured and tenure-track professors, 12 part-time adjunct instructors and one Faculty
Early Retirement Program (FERP) professor work to offer students a full range of courses in advertising,
journalism and public relations. All courses are taught by instructors with significant professional
experience. No courses are taught by graduate students.
All JMC Faculty have distinguished themselves with their creative and innovative approaches to
community and public service.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Describe faculty balance in terms of degrees, professional
experience, gender, race and rank.
Of our 11 full-time (non-FERP), tenure-track professors:
3 are full professors, 6 are associate professors, 2 are assistant professors.
6 have doctorates; the remaining 5 have masters.
2 are women.
2 are African-Americans.
0 are Asian.
Since 2008 SJSU has maintained in its student body racial diversity matching that of the state of
California. As a faculty, we have some ways to go before we achieve that. We need to reflect more of the
diversity of Santa Clara County by hiring Asians and Hispanics as full-time probationary faculty.
2. Describe how the unit selects full-time and part-time
faculty and instructional staff.
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University policy ‘S98-8 Appointment, Retention, Tenure and Promotion Criteria, Standards and
Procedures for Regular Faculty Employees’ provides detailed criteria and procedures for recruitment,
retention, tenure and promotion. That document is online at: http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S98-8.pdf
Candidates for initial appointment to probationary positions are carefully reviewed so new faculty
members will bring to the university intellectual distinction and the potential for tenure and eventual
promotion to advanced rank. University policy states “initial appointment to a probationary position
normally requires possession of the doctorate or appropriate terminal degree from an accredited
institution. In unusual circumstances, persons may be appointed who are close to completing the required
terminal degree. An exception to the terminal degree requirement may also be made in the case of
distinguished individuals with significant scholarly or artistic or professional accomplishments in their
field, or whose achievements make a unique ability available to the campus.” More specifics are
identified in university document S98-8 which was referred to in Standard 4.
The second basic criterion for appointment and advancement within the university is scholarly or artistic
or professional achievement. Such contributions to a faculty member's discipline or professional
community are normally expected for continuation and advancement in the university. The nature of the
expected contributions will vary according to the nature of a faculty member's discipline and professional
interests. The expected scholarly or artistic or professional contributions should be clearly stated in duly
established college, school, or departmental guidelines. Scholarly or artistic or professional achievements
must be documented and evaluated if they are to be properly used in faculty personnel decisions;
departmental and/or college guidelines may address the extent and nature of the documentation that is
appropriate.
Full-time faculty hiring begins and ends with the JMC School’s personnel committee, which consists of
all full-time tenure-track professors. When the committee identifies a need — either through vacancy or
the desire to expand into a new area or better serve an existing, growing one — the director seeks
approval from the college level to initiate a search. Depending on budget constraints, the CASA dean
during the past three years has collected recruitment requests from all departments and ranked them based
on a variety of factors.
If the JMC School request is approved, the personnel committee or director drafts a position
announcement that is placed in a variety of places, always including the university HR website and many
academic and/or professional publications, such as AEJMC’s online, media association websites and
newsletter listings. Since 2011 the JMC School director has prioritized minority hiring. He delivers job
descriptions to media industry organization and academic institutions that meet the needs of underrepresented cultural communities.
The entire personnel committee reads applications, marking comments on a tally sheet. The committee
then meets to decide whom to invite to campus for what is usually two days of teaching and meeting with
committee members, administrators and students.
Shortly after the last candidate leaves, the committee discusses the candidates and votes. Although each
member of the committee has an equal vote, the tradition is to listen especially closely to the concerns of
JMC School faculty members working in the degree program for which the person is being hired. After
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the vote, the director reports the committee ranking of the finalists to the CASA dean, who officially
makes the offer.
The university offers specifics guidelines for adjunct faculty hiring. “Appointment Procedures Guides &
Terminal Degree Documents” is online at:
http://www.sjsu.edu/facultyaffairs/apptprocedureguides/index.html
JMC School part-time faculty members are hired by the director on an as-needed basis. Such faculty
members are often identified by full-time professors in the degree programs in which they teach. The
director also periodically receives inquiries and resumes from media professionals in the Bay Area and
throughout California.
Criteria vary by position and need. For appointment to a full-time tenure-track position, the terminal
degree is a doctorate, but this is also qualified by the statement, “A master’s degree and professional
experience directly related to the teaching assignment may be substituted for the doctorate in some
specialty areas.” In the past, these specialty areas have been in advertising, broadcast, magazine and
photojournalism where qualified Ph.D. applicants are fewer in number.
The journalism program also places a strong emphasis on recruitment of candidates with strong
contemporary professional experience in addition to the appropriate degrees. This enables the program to
expand its curriculum periodically to meet changing needs in society.
In recent years, with the proliferation of new media, considerable attention has been given to the ability
and willingness to lead students in mastery of new and emerging forms of communication. Although we
have come a long way in recent years, more progress needs to be made here.
3. Provide examples of published advertisements
for faculty openings in the past six years (before the selfstudy year) that show required and preferred qualifications
of candidates.
In 2011 the college approved a JMC School search for a full-time faculty member. It was for the
advertising creative position. In the Appendices for Standard 4 is the complete job description and
diversity outreach process approved by the university.
See below the 2011 AEJMC online posting for this position.
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4. Describe the unit’s expectations of faculty members
in teaching, research, creative and professional activity,
and service.
Excellence in education is dependent above all upon the quality of the faculty. University guidelines in
S98-8 provide just recognition and encouragement of genuine achievement. The basic evaluation of
faculty members' potential, performance and achievement is made by their peers both within their
departments and their disciplines at large. The aim of the evaluation process is to inform faculty members
of the appropriate criteria, standards and expectations, to apprise them of their strengths and weaknesses,
and to recognize those who have earned tenure or promotion by their achievements.
To this end, college deans and department chairpersons meet regularly with individual faculty members -especially with probationary faculty -- to discuss their review and, if necessary, to suggest possible means
of improvement. San Jose State University seeks faculty who have achieved distinction in teaching and in
their disciplines or professional communities.
Expectations are determined at the time of hiring and specified in the letter of appointment. All JMC
School faculty are expected to devote the greatest measure of their effort to teaching at San José State.
Given the high number of adjunct faculty who are not expected to serve on committees, full-time faculty
members devote a large amount of time to department, school, and college and university committees.
Service to the community and the profession is also highly valued and expected of full-time faculty.
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Probationary faculty members, for example, are expected to actively participate in the appropriate
professional/academic associations representing their particular teaching assignment. JMC School
full-time faculty members are expected to publish in scholarly journals and/or professional publications,
depending on the nature of their backgrounds and appointment letters.
Despite variations in letters of hiring, most make clear that each faculty member should, first of all, be an
effective teacher in the classroom. Indeed, RTP committees at the school, college and university level
consider effective teaching as the single most important requirement for retention, promotion and tenure.
Policies in place continually monitor teaching effectiveness, including (1) required standardized teaching
evaluations (SOTEs) of all full- and part- time faculty members; (2) peer evaluations in the classroom;
(3) completion of a required Faculty Activity Report that includes a question about teaching
effectiveness; (4) required unit and dean of college review of all tenured faculty members every five
years; and (5) regular review of faculty sabbatical and grant applications that include statements and
measurements of teaching effectiveness.
The school’s expectations of research depend on the interests and qualifications of each faculty member.
Those with doctorates are generally expected to do scholarly research and publish, but the school doesn’t
establish a production quota or a minimum expectation. The school also recognizes, as does the
university, that an equally acceptable alternative to research is major artistic, creative or professional
activity. The JMC School’s expectation is that faculty should be involved in professional/academic
organizations and even take leadership roles at the local, state, regional, and national level. Consulting is
also valued as an activity if it is directly related to a professor’s area of teaching expertise.
In regard to public service, it is expected that this be done at the university level, and is encouraged at the
community level. At the university, faculty members are expected to take an active role in the governance
of the institution by serving on various college and university committees.
5. Describe the normal workload for a full-time faculty
member. Explain how workloads are determined. If some
workloads are lighter or heavier than normal, explain how
these variations are determined.
A normal load is 15 units including 12 units of teaching and 3 units toward committee work, scholarship,
etc. Release time is given to the director of the school (.75) and to the coordinator of the graduate
program (.20) for their considerable administrative duties. On occasion, other faculty members receive
one-course release time for special projects required on behalf of the journalism program. The university
has developed programs and grants that award release time for special projects and research; in each of
those cases, a report must be submitted documenting how the time was used. Grant winners are usually
chosen by committees consisting of faculty members from across the university.
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There remains a strong desire by faculty to reduce the normal workload to three courses per semester, as
do other journalism programs in the CSU system. The faculty union has opted, however, to push harder
on pay issues than on workload issues. The Bay Area is prohibitively expensive, particularly in housing.
A reduction in courses would require an increased number of faculty members, putting stress on the
payroll.
Teaching assignments are determined by the director, who must juggle schedules, room assignments, as
well as faculty preferences and the varying demands of seminar, writing, and large lecture classes. To
meet administration enrollment goals and planning in the past three years, class scheduling in the JMC
School and across campus have become standardized. Faculty members now have less input when courses
are offered each semester.
Advising is accomplished in two ways: For GE information, degree requirements, and approval of
graduation forms, all majors must see the school’s appointed undergraduate faculty adviser, Cynthia
Fernald (.40 faculty assignment). For career and specific internship questions and guidance, students see
faculty members in each JMC School degree program. Faculty members do not receive release time. In
addition to advising, JMC School faculty members also review curriculum, develop and promote new
courses, work with part-time instructors, advise student clubs, and manage special events bringing
together students with alumni and professional speakers.
6. Describe the unit’s processes and criteria for evaluating
the performance of full-time and part-time faculty and
instructional staff. Provide course evaluation forms, peer
review forms or other documents used in evaluations.
Under California’s Master Plan for Higher Education, CSU institutions are designated as teaching
universities. Faculty members at San José State University are informed at hiring that teaching
effectiveness is essential for retention, tenure and promotion. This emphasis is a considerable motivating
factor if a faculty person wants to succeed.
SJSU policy (S98-8 identified in question 4 above) requires faculty members be evaluated within the
scope of their academic assignment. Contribution to the teaching mission of SJSU is normally the primary
consideration in the evaluation of academic assignment. For most faculty members then, appraisal of
"effectiveness in academic assignment" will involve evaluation primarily of teaching. In addition,
academic assignment may involve instructionally related activities: e.g., student advising; participation in
department, college, and university governance; and curricular development. For some faculty, such as
department chairpersons, directors, coordinators, counselors and field supervisors, part or all of their
assignment is of a non-teaching nature, and they should be evaluated accordingly. See online SJSU policy
S98-8 Appointment, Retention, Tenure and Promotion Criteria, Standards and Procedures for Regular
Faculty Employees: http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S98-8.pdf
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Faculty members in the JMC School are evaluated by students using standardized instruments and their
faculty peers during classroom visits. The university has developed formal instruments for student
evaluations, called SOTEs, which enable the institution to establish norms for individual departments,
colleges and the university as a whole. Different instruments exist for lecture and laboratory courses.
The paper-based version of the student evaluation of teaching program refers to the two standardized
rating instruments (SOTE and SOLATE) being used for collecting ratings at the end of each semester.
Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) form is used in courses primarily taught in the
traditional lecture/discussion mode. Student Opinion of Laboratory and Activity Teaching Effectiveness
(SOLATE) form, on the other hand, is designated for use in specific laboratory/activity courses outside
the JMC School.
In Spring 2013 a new and completely electronic system for SOTEs was initiated across campus. The
university now enables all faculty class assignments to be evaluated. Students were given an incentive to
participate. If they evaluated their classes before the end of final exams, their semester grades for those
classes would be immediately available when posted by faculty online through the MySJSU system.
Students who elected not to evaluate instructors had to wait several weeks until all grades were posted
online across campus.
Every effort is made to ensure that temporary faculty members participate in the formal student
evaluation process so the school can assess teaching effectiveness and whether the individual should be
retained for another semester.
In 2013 JMC School Faculty Peer Observation Guidelines were revised and approved by the college.
They explain the criteria for evaluating the performance of both full and part-time faculty.
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Peer observations and reports are conducted to provide a formative assessment of teaching. The peer
evaluation process uses multiple sources of information to provide a holistic assessment.
Frequency of Observations
Direct observations will be conducted according to the frequency specified in Senate Policy F12‐6:
For probationary candidates seeking tenure, direct observations will be made for a minimum of one
course per year. Over the entire probationary period, observations must be made to view the full range of
courses taught.
For candidates seeking promotion to professor, direct observations shall be made in at least two different
courses during the period under review.
For tenured full professors, direct observations may be made upon request of a faculty member with the
observations used for professional development.
An appropriate departmental committee of equal or higher rank (the Personnel
Committee) may at its discretion require direct observations when problems of instruction
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come to its attention. The committee or its evaluators may make appropriate recommendations for the
improvement of instruction (e.g. referral to appropriate faculty development resources).
Faculty in temporary positions shall receive a direct observation in at least two courses during their first
semester of appointment. Subsequently, they shall receive at least two direct observation during each
appointment (one‐year or three‐year appointments). Observations will be made for a representative
sampling of courses over time.
A faculty member who has not received the required number of direct observations will remind the JMC
School director of the need for additional observations at least one month prior to a periodic review.
Additional observations may be scheduled at the request of the faculty member or at the discretion of the
JMC School director.
Procedures for Direct Observations
Peer observers will be assigned by the JMC School director at the beginning of the semester for each
faculty member requiring a direct observation during that semester. A master list of the peer observers,
faculty members, and courses being evaluated will be distributed to the faculty.
Peer observers who wish to change their evaluation assignment must notify the Personnel Committee
within 10 working days of receiving their assignment.
It is recommended, but not required that peer observers receive training by the Center for Faculty
Development prior to conducting peer observations.
Peer observers must be currently employed as SJSU faculty members in the JMC School or from other
departments, preferably, but not limited to, being of higher academic rank.
Peer observers will contact the faculty member they are scheduled to observe so that they can
collaboratively determine the dates for the direct observation, pre‐observation meeting, and
post‐observation meeting. Faculty shall be notified a minimum of five working days in advance of his/her
direct observation.
The JMC School Peer Review form is included in the appendix.
7. Describe the process for decisions regarding promotion,
tenure and salary. Provide relevant faculty handbook
sections and any supplementary promotion and tenure
criteria and procedures adopted by the unit.
The department, school, college, and university look to the terms of the letter of appointment and to
official criteria for appointment, retention, tenure and promotion posted on the Web site.
See link provide above at the end of question 6 response.
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8. Describe faculty members’ activities outside the unit in
service to the campus or university.
Faculty members at San Jose State University are evaluated for their contributions to their department's
instructional program(s) and for significant service to the department, college, or university. Such service
may include academic advising, committee service at all levels, career and personal counseling, and
participation in the Academic Senate or the California Faculty Association as well as administrative
activities such as scheduling, program coordination or other special assignment, or service as department
chairperson, area coordinator, or associate dean. Such service may also include contributions made to
student welfare through participation in educational equity activities, membership on student-faculty
committees, service as advisor to student organizations, and related activities.
Significant service should be systematically evaluated and, when judged to be exceptional in its quality or
extent, recognized as such and rewarded appropriately. To this end, departments and programs are
encouraged to establish guidelines for the evaluation of service to students and the University. Ordinarily,
time in rank per se shall not be a criterion for promotion; however, in cases where faculty members have
made a significant contribution to the university over a number of years, that total contribution should be
taken into account. For non-teaching assignments, evidence of effectiveness should include evaluations
by professional people, on- and off-campus, who are in a position to judge a faculty member's
performance of his or her assigned duties.
The second basic criterion for appointment and advancement within the university is scholarly or artistic
or professional achievement. Such contributions to a faculty member's discipline or professional
community are normally expected for continuation and advancement in the university. The nature of the
expected contributions will vary according to the nature of a faculty member's discipline and professional
interests. The expected scholarly or artistic or professional contributions should be clearly stated in duly
established college, school, or departmental guidelines. Scholarly or artistic or professional achievements
must be documented and evaluated if they are to be properly used in faculty personnel decisions;
departmental and/or college guidelines may address the extent and nature of the documentation that is
appropriate.
JMC faculty contributions to the university-at-large come in two main forms: committee work and special
events that include the campus community.
As a journalism school, our converged student media — Spartan Daily, Access and SHiFT magazines,
and the weekly broadcast and stream of “Update News” reach for and invite the participation of students
across the campus.
Various events involving visits by media professionals are publicized in such as way as to ensure campuswide attendance. In the past six years that has included the 2009 Visual Journalism Day in Dwight Bentel
Hall when multimedia journalists from the Bay Area and Los Angeles gave special presentations and
critiqued student efforts; the 2009 creation of “Equal Time,” a new, half-hour public affairs Bay Area
program that airs on KTEH/KQED public broadcast television stations; the 2012 JMC School
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presentation of the William Randolph Hearst Award to Sara Ganim, the 24-year-old Pulitzer Prize
winning journalist who broke the Penn State sex scandal story; the 2014 Hearst Award to Jose Antonio
Vargas for his lifetime work and new documentary focused on undocumented immigrants in America.
As part of the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program (AJEEP), in 2012 and 2013, a
JMC School full-time faculty member developed an extensive international learning experience and
invited visiting Afghan journalism educators to discuss their culture and academic efforts with the campus
community and the San José Rotary Club membership.
Also in 2013, one of our full-time tenure-track probationary faculty members, Kim Komenich, was
named a “University Scholar” for his documentary work updating 25 years since his photojournalism
assignment took him to the Philippines to chronicle the fall of Ferdinand Marcos’ presidency.
Our full-time faculty members also serve on a wide variety of college and university committees.
9. Units should demonstrate that full-time tenured, tenuretrack and fixed-term faculty have taught the majority
of courses for the three years before the site visit.
Percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty
2013-14 school year
2012-13 school year
2011-12 school year
55%
54%
52%
10. In cases where full-time tenured, tenure-track and fixedterm professional faculty are not teaching the majority of
courses, the unit should explain how its staffing plan
accomplishes the goal of reserving the primary
responsibility for teaching
to the full-time faculty.
Not applicable.
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Part II, Standard 5.
Scholarship: Research, Creative and
Professional Activity
Executive summary
Prior to 2008, our faculty worked to generate research, creative and professional products while juggling
a standard teaching load of four courses per semester. Since then, demands on our time have only
increased, with larger classes, more committee time as departing full-time faculty members were not
replaced and fewer opportunities for release time. On top of this, travel budgets have decreased and
stagnant salaries have made it more difficult for faculty to pay for their own travel. For a variety of
reasons, the campus has experienced wrenching changes. Despite these challenges, our faculty members
have been remarkably productive. We are hopeful of being even more productive in the years ahead as
the economy improves, the state budget for education grows and campus reorganization provides more
support for research.
Three other factors in this period have had a significant impact on the time faculty could devote to
research and professional work. First, we completely revamped our graduate program, adding new
courses and repurposing old ones, to bring it up to date with new media platforms. Second, we converged
the journalism curriculum from three tracks to one. Both of these efforts required years of committee
work and retreats by the entire faculty. The result was a stronger curriculum, but also fresh work at the
course level, creating new syllabi, new assignments and new lesson plans. In many cases, faculty
members had to learn new skills. Third, we received a bequest of $8.7 million. That, of course, was
welcome news, but it brought with it the serious responsibility of deciding how and when to spend it, a
process that has required many hours of discussion by full-time faculty, not to mention significant time
consulting with architects and builders. In short, the period of this review coincides with an unusually
demanding period of growth and change.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Describe the institution’s mission regarding scholarship
by faculty and the unit’s policies for achieving that
mission.
San José State University is primarily a teaching institution. The administration has, in recent years,
increased expectations for research and creative output. These expectations are voiced by the current
president, the former provost, and in instructions to Retention, Tenure and Promotion committees, and in
letters of hiring. If a faculty member is hired from a profession with a master’s but not a Ph.D., he or she
is most often expected to continue producing professional work. Occasionally there are attempts to
demand scholarship of professional faculty. It has been this unit’s policy to welcome such activity when
faculty members are willing and able. However, the university’s shift in emphasis to do research and
scholarship conflicts with some faculty letters of employment. Our mission is to “prepare students to
excel” in all forms of media. We encourage activities that renew and inform each professor’s engagement
with students, the community and the profession.
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2. Define the group of faculty whose work is included in this
section and state time restrictions used to incorporate
activities of faculty who were not employed by the unit
during all of the previous six years (for example,
new faculty and retired faculty).
Since the last accreditation report, three tenure-track faculty members have been hired. At the same time,
two full-time faculty members have left and six have retired. One of the six retirees is on FERP (Faculty
Early Retirement Program). It allows faculty to teach half-time and cease all other duties, including
advising and committee work.
Our part-time faculty members have also borne the brunt of serious budget cuts. To maintain our course
offerings, they are essential. Yet their teaching assignments are being systematically reduced. Our parttime faculty members are listed below.
3. Using the grid that follows, provide counts of the unit’s
productivity in scholarship for the past six years by
activity, first for the unit as a whole and then for
individuals broken down by academic rank. The grid
should capture relevant activity by all full-time faculty.
Provide the total number of individuals in each rank in
place of the XX. Adapt the grid to best reflect institutional
mission and unit policies and provide a brief narrative.
Scholarship, Research,
Creative and Professional
Activities
By
Unit *
Full
Professors
(3)
Associate
Professors
(6)
By Individuals
Assistant
Professors
(2)
Other
Faculty**
(12)
Totals
3
14
(23)
Awards and Honors
14
3
8
Grants Received Internal
14
6
8
14
Grants Received External
3
1
2
3
Scholarly Books, Sole- or
Co-authored
1
1
1
Textbooks, Sole- or Co-authored
1
1
1
Books Edited
0
Book Chapters
1
Monographs
0
Articles in Refereed Journals
7
0
1
1
0
4
3
7
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Refereed Conference Papers
11
7
4
11
Invited Academic Papers
0
0
Encyclopedia Entries
0
0
Book Reviews
6
Articles in Non-refereed
Publications
4
Juried Creative Works
6
Non-juried Creative Works
Other: Freelance Articles,
Documentaries, Instructor’s
Manual, Presentations, Public
Affairs Programs
3
3
6
2
4
2
4
6
7
6
1
7
94
29
62
94
2
3
*Co-authored work should be counted as a single publication in the unit totals, however if, for example,
two members of the faculty are co-authors on the same journal article, it would be reported as a
publication for both authors.
Note: There are no JMC School internal co-authored works.
**Includes all full-time faculty who do not hold listed ranks, such as instructors and others on term
appointments. Many faculty in this category may hold teaching appointments without significant
scholarship, research or creative requirements.
4. List the scholarly, research, creative and professional
activities of each member of the full-time faculty in the past
six years. Please provide a full list; do not refer team
members to faculty vitae for this information. (Full-time
faculty refers to those defined as such by the unit.) If
including faculty who have since left the unit, please note.
Provisional service activities will be reported
in Standard 8.
At many institutions, the terms “full-time faculty” and “tenure-track faculty” are synonymous. These are
the major stakeholders in an academic unit and their contracts are for a ten-month period.
At San Jose State University, new hires are referred to as “full-time probationary faculty.” Their contract
is for a ten-month period. They have six years to achieve tenure.
In the California State University system, lecturers may serve full time. Some achieve “protected” or
“entitlement” status, and must be hired before another non-protected lecturer if both are qualified for a
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given course. The JMC School has a number of valued part-time faculty members who have been with us
for many years. Part-time faculty contracts can be semester to semester, or for a full academic year which
starts in the fall and ends in late May. We have chosen to include them here (and to identify them as
lecturers). A few lecturers whose time with us was comparatively brief have been left off this list.
What follows is a summary of scholarly, research, creative and professional activities of the JMC School
faculty. The narrative information listed below is intended to provide a brief description of the wide
range, general depth and breadth of our teaching faculty’s activities. More details are provided in
individual vitae and resumes provided in the attachments for Part II – Standard X: Full- and Part-Time
Faculty in this self-study.
Michael Brito (lecturer)
He is a former senior vice president of social business planning for Edelman Digital. He teaches his
specialty, “Strategies in Social Media Business.” At Edelman, Brito has become a global expert helping
clients transform their organizations to be more open, collaborative and socially proficient, with the end
result of creating shared value with employees, partners and customers. Prior to Edelman, Brito worked
for Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo and most recently Intel where he was responsible for consumer social media
and community building. He has been building external communities for quite some time and believes
brands must focus on trying to turn friends, fans and followers into advocates.
Matt Cabot
Led his fourth consecutive summer study abroad program in Europe in Summer 2014. This 6-unit, fourweek course, with visits to some of the top strategic communication firms, is designed to help SJSU
students develop the “global mindset” necessary for media people to think, act and lead globally. Cabot
authored the “Introduction to Public Relations,” a special six-week course designed by JMC School
faculty for the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program (AJEEP), founded by the JMC
School and funded by the U.S. State Department, for journalism professors and universities in
Afghanistan. A former San José State University Salzburg Fellow, he attended the summer intensive
weeklong sessions of the Global Citizenship Program in Austria, and spent the following academic year
working on collaborative and individual projects with other Fellows and student Scholars to help
globalize the university. Since 2008 Cabot has coordinated and served as panel moderator for the JMC
School annual Spring semester campus interactive forum the “Spuler Media Ethics Symposium,” which
focuses on timely and controversial media issues. He has presented papers at AEJMC conferences from
2007 through 2010, and peer-reviewed publications and book contributions since 2007, including the
Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank for Think PR, a new textbook from Dennis Wilcox (Allyn & Bacon,
2010), “Re-Thinking Public Relations Ethics: New Directions in Research, Instruction and Practice.”
(Book) VDM Verlag, Feb. 2010, and “Barry Bonds vs. The Media,” for the Journal of Mass Media
Ethics, Vol. 25. No. 2 (Winter 2011). Cabot also published “Educating Global Citizens for the 21st
Century: The SJSU Salzburg Program” for The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Issue 49.
D. Michael Cheers
Served three years, from 2010 through 2012, as chair of the AEJMC Creative Projects, Visual
Communications Division, and has been editorial board member for Visual Communication Quarterly
from 2007 to the present. Cheers peer-reviewed article submissions and wrote book reviews. For four
consecutive days in January 2009, he and his students appeared on CNN when Cheers led a student
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multimedia reporting trip to the first Inauguration of President Barack Obama through the landmarks of
the Civil Rights Movement in the South. He has also taken JMC School and CASA students and faculty
members on media learning experiences to New York, London, Paris, Mexico City and Havana. Cheers
nominated a JMC School photojournalism student who was selected for the 2009 PBS “NewsHour”
Inauguration Multimedia Immersion Program. Cheers won a Bay Area local broadcast award and earned
international recognition for his 2012 “Soul Sanctuary” documentary, and produced the 2013
documentary “Dream Fulfilled/Dream Deferred” with students to commemorate the 50th anniversary of
the March on Washington. Cheers also co-produced the documentary “African Tech Women Meet Silicon
Valley” in partnership with U.S. Department of State and has had five group and/or solo local and
regional photography exhibitions from 2007 to 2013. His article, “A Remembrance of Mangaliso Dukuza
Alf Kumalo of South Africa,” was the cover of the December 2013 Visual Communication Quarterly.
Cheers was also instrumental in securing campus visits of several prominent national media speakers,
including Victor Hernandez, news futurist at CNN in 2009; Sara Ganim, 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist from the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News; and Al Tompkins, senior faculty member at the Poynter
Institute. For that visit in 2012 Cheers organized a campus Visual Journalism Day and hosted special
multimedia journalist critiques by Mel Melcon from the Los Angeles Times, Mike Kepka from the San
Francisco Chronicle, and Dai Sugano, JMC School graduate and Emmy Award-winning journalist from
the San José Mercury News.
Richard Craig
Author of three books, co-adviser to Spartan Daily student news outlet, leader in converged newsroom
project. Departmental webmaster spearheading overhaul of JMC School website and student news portal
website. Creator of detailed survey instruments used for assessment of faculty and courses, alumni
outreach, internship evaluation and other purposes. Member of the board of directors, California College
Media Association. Actively involved in academic association conferences as author, speaker, program
chair and manuscript reviewer. Books include “Polls, Expectations and Elections: TV News Making in
U.S. Presidential Campaigns” (Lexington Books, to be released November 2014); “News Writing and
Reporting: The Complete Guide for Today's Journalist” (Oxford University Press, 2013); and “Online
Journalism: Writing, Reporting and Editing for New Media” (Cengage Learning, 2005).
John Delacruz
Shortly after moving from England to join the JMC School faculty in Fall 2012, Delacruz created a video
webinar titled "Convergence: The Future of Advertising" for EdCom (the European Association of
Communications Agencies' education wing). This video was distributed to member Institutions of Higher
Education across Europe and made available on YouTube/Vimeo channels. In February 2013 he copresented a paper on Creative Learning Spaces at the Society of College and University Planners (SCUP)
in Denver. In May, Delacruz served as master of ceremonies for the annual EdCom conference in Lisbon,
Portugal. He introduced themes related to the future of advertising with high-profile industry
professionals, identified the finalists in the annual student competition, and participated in the planning of
future conferences. From February through June 2013 Delacruz served as an external examiner and
consultant for two British academic institutions. He advised Salford University on its B.A. degree
program in design futures and its M.A. in art and design. He also worked with the University of East
London on its advertising B.A. degree program. Delacruz has also presented a paper on the use of
Telepresence as a teaching enhancement tool to the 2014 technology conference held at SJSU and another
paper at the Social Innovation Leadership Forum conference held at San José City Hall in April. In
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October 2014 he presents a paper, scheduled to be published, at the e-Learning and Innovative
Pedagogies conference in Portland, Ore. Delacruz’s classroom teaching skills with Telepresence
technologies were prominently featured on video in a 2013 educational promotion by Cisco Systems and
San José State University. As part of his duties in the JMC School, Delacruz serves as creative director
for advertising student projects developed with real-world clients. In Summer 2014, he advised the “Save
Our Shores” awareness campaign. Fluent in Spanish, Delacruz also worked as creative director of a
branding and identity project for the Hispanic Students Success Task Force at SJSU. He also offered
expert advice on two projects, the 2013 Christmas campaign effort for Tower Paddle Boards, and a Spring
2014 health campaign for Las Campeonas de la Salud.
Christine DiSalvo (lecturer)
One of the lead members of a national speakers series who played an instrumental role in bringing former
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to San José State University for a community forum on
April 10, 2014. During the summer of 2014, DiSalvo was invited to teach public relations at a gathering
of Afghan media professors in Istanbul. In Fall 2012 she led course development of and taught a newmedia writing course for Afghan journalism professors when they visited campus in Spring 2013. In 2012
DiSalvo was the second public relations professor to be selected as an SJSU Salzburg Fellow, and
attended the summer intensive weeklong sessions of the Global Citizenship Program in Austria. She spent
the following academic year working on collaborative and individual projects with other Fellows and
student Scholars to help globalize the university. She has been a part-time faculty member in the public
relations degree program since Spring 1995. DiSalvo is also a JMC School graduate who owns a
successful Silicon Valley-based public relations firm. She is a San José Rotary Club board member and
served for nine years as an associate producer of a community service program called “Unique Lives and
Experiences.”
Stephen D. Eckstone (lecturer)
Holds a joint teaching assignment in the JMC School and the Communication Studies Department since
1998. In 2012 Eckstone participated in the development of four courses for AJEEP, and in 2013 he
facilitated a 12-session communication course for visiting Afghanistan professors. Since 2010 Eckstone
has produced and presented for the annual convention of the American Marketing Association papers
focused on timely topics including “Understanding Gen Y” and “How to Take Advantage of
Technological Changes in Media.” At SJSU he teaches “Public Speaking Writing,” “Radio-Television
and Digital Media Advertising,” “Business-to-Business Advertising,” and “Mass Communication, Visual
Communication, and Journalism.”
Cynthia Fernald (lecturer)
Teaches MCOM 100W, the upper division writing workshop and serves as undergraduate adviser at the
JMC School. Cynthia has also taught JOUR 61, both as an on-ground and as a fully online news-writing
class (using blogs), and both PR-writing classes, PR 190 and PR 191. She co-developed the curriculum
for MCOM 63, “New Media Technologies,” now a required support class for all JMC majors, in 2006,
and also co-developed a popular freshman MUSE seminar with JMC colleague Dona Nichols in
2008. She has also taught MCOM 72, “Mass Media and Society.” She served as the school's webmaster
from 2005 to 2007, as chair of the JMC Scholarship Committee (2006–07), and developed a JMC alumni
newsletter as a class project for PR 191 (2001–06).
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Lisa Fernandez (lecturer)
is a senior digital editor for NBC 11 Bay Area in San José. She integrates news on the NBC website with
original reporting and compelling video, and manages a staff of writers and freelancers. Fernandez has
also served as a San José Mercury News general-assignment reporter for stories in print and online. Her
emphasis was on cities, ethnic communities and societal trends. She also produced and edited video for
the Web. Fernandez has also been a freelance writer for the University of California Haas School of
Business and a reporter for the Bay City News wire service, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San
Mateo County Times. She is of Jewish and of Russian and Czechoslovakian ancestry. She is well-versed
in Judaism and Hebrew, and has devoted her career to writing about various cultures. While working at
the San José Mercury News, Fernandez became a mini-expert in Sikh, Hindu, Afghan and Pakistani
cultures.
Scott Fosdick
Graduate coordinator since 2011. Chaired the Graduate Committee as it revamped the
curriculum to increase our focus on new media. Member of the college RTP committee since
2012; chair of committee since 2013. Member of the college’s Steering Committee for CARHS
(Center for Applied Research on Human Services), a group charged with coordinating research
and writing support for CASA faculty. Member of the university’s Sustainability Board. Member of the
Executive Board of the SJSU chapter of the California Faculty Association. Member of the South Bay
Labor Council. Currently working on a book. In the creative realm, he appeared as King Duncan in the
Fall 2013 university production of “Macbeth,” work that informed his teaching of “Arts Reviewing.” In
this millennium he has published 10 articles in refereed journals, one chapter in a book with a university
press, and numerous non‐refereed reviews and articles.
Diane Guerrazzi
Co-founder of the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program (AJEEP). In 2014 she
developed, coordinated and led the international gathering for a major training and culminating
experience with journalism faculty from universities in Afghanistan. She co-wrote two U.S. State
Department grant proposals that led to the award of $1 million for each. Since 2007 Guerrazzi has
presented at a number of academic and professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad, including
Afghanistan, where she is director and instructor for AJEEP. From 2010 to the present she has led
journalism curriculum reforms and taught at Herat University in Afghanistan. Guerrazzi produced the
educational documentary “From the USA to the UAE” with SJSU students with a focus on exposing
issues of freedom of speech, labor rights and cultural differences in the United Arab Emirates. She has
also coordinated the development of a broad-based media curriculum, and trained 25 Afghan professors
on how to advance curriculum development in the future. Guerrazzi has also helped them broaden their
information gathering practical skills, establish their student media pedagogy and ethics and foster
collaboration efforts and partnership-building with journalism professors at Balkh, Herat and Kabul
universities. In 2009 Guerrazzi created “Equal Time,” and served as executive producer of the Bay Area
public affairs program that airs on KQED-TV plus, a nationally known member of the Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS). She was hired by the JMC School to teach and be news director of the
award-winning student newscast “Update News,” which has continually aired on television in the Bay
Area since 1957.
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Timothy Hendrick
Current governor of District 14 of the national American Advertising Federation (AAF). Past president
and current education vice president for the AAF Silicon Valley chapter, he hosted an AAF seminar in
2014. Hendrick was honored as an SJSU outstanding professor by the provost in 2013. Hendrick was
featured as the cover story for a Content Magazine article titled “Madman of Silicon Valley.” A 2010
Salzburg Scholar, Hendrick is member of the board of directors for Refuel, a New York-based college
media sales organization. He coordinated successful creation of the Dwight Bentel & Hall
communications agency run by a select group of the top advertising and public relations students in the
JMC School. Hendrick has brought in real-world clients despite California’s economic downturn,
supervised the training of students and published the American Advertising Association article “Creating
a Student Agency.” In the past four years, the DB&H agency has taken first place awards in three national
competitions, and brought home 34 advertising awards in past six years. Hendrick makes presentations at
regional and national advertising conferences and his professional and creative work includes winning
awards for print, television and radio commercials. He is past board chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce in Morgan Hill, Calif.
Halima Kazem (lecturer)
Joined the JMC School as a part-time journalism faculty member in Fall 2013, and has served as a major
contributor and instructor for Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program since Winter
2012. Kazem has also taught journalism and media courses for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting
and the World Bank. She has served as a news analyst for CNN, “60 Minutes” and National Public Radio
(NPR), and her journalistic work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor,
Al Jazeera English, the San Francisco Chronicle and on MSNBC News. She specializes in human rights
reporting, and is the co-producer of “Frontrunner,” a documentary chronicling the campaign of the first
female presidential candidate in Afghanistan. Kazem has reported extensively there and is a graduate of
the JMC School.
Kim Komenich
1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and a 1979 SJSU graduate. Created one undergraduate-level
and three graduate-level multimedia courses since coming to SJSU in 2009. Released one feature-length
documentary film (“Cowboys,” 2014) and one 30-minute educational film (“The Infant Reflexes,” 2014)
since coming to SJSU. His ongoing trans-media documentary project “Revolution Revisited” is near
completion and will be featured in the AEJMC’s Fall 2014 Visual Communication Quarterly. So far, the
project has produced a major Asian exhibition tour with more than 3 million viewers to date, a U.S.
exhibition tour (which opened in May 2011 at the National Civil Rights Museum) and an interactive
website (which won the 2012 Society of Professional Journalists Journalism Innovation Award.) His 70minute documentary film “Revolution Revisited” and its accompanying photo book are now in postproduction and are scheduled for release. He is a current member of the ACEJMC Accreditation Panel.
He was recently re-elected the chair of the AEJMC VisComm Division’s Best of the Web competition, a
position he has held since 2012. He was a 2012 University Scholar. He was a 2013 TEDx San José State
presenter. Komenich has received the 2010 Humanitarian Award from the National Press Photographers
Association. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journalism Association of
Community Colleges in 2012. He curated The Iconic Image exhibit at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas
as part of the observance of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He
taught the 2014 NPPA Immersion Workshop in Syracuse. He is a 19-year faculty member of the Missouri
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Photo Workshop. He has been on the faculty of the 2012 and 2013 video storytelling workshops at the
Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley. He is an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Center for Journalism
and Trauma at Columbia University. He teaches video shooting and editing to inmates at San Quentin
Correctional Facility in Marin County. Since coming to SJSU, Komenich has organized the annual
SBAPPA/SJSU Multimedia Workshop, a one-day event with more than 125 attendees, featuring speakers
who discuss cutting-edge advances in photojournalism and multimedia storytelling.
Lloyd LaCuesta (lecturer)
Veteran television reporter, Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, and six-time Northern California Emmy
Award winner who retired as South Bay KTVU-TV Channel 2 bureau chief after 35 years of reporting for
the station. Recipient of SPJ-NorCal board of directors’ award for distinguished service to journalism not
only for his multiple award-winning breaking-news coverage over the years, but also for his pioneering
role in helping to bring more minorities into the field of journalism. LaCuesta was the first national
president of the Asian American Journalists Association. He was also one of the founders, and the first
national president, of UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc.
Kathleen Martinelli (Associate Professor-FERP)
Widely admired, tenured faculty member who teaches a full four-class load during Spring semesters as
part of the SJSU Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP). Martinelli was a member of the editorial
review board of the Journal of Public Relations Research from 2007 to 2011. Had six peer-reviewed
articles during that time, and reviewed articles on political public relations for the Quarterly Journal of
Political Science in 2011. She designed the Summer 2012 course “Case Studies in Strategic Public
Relations” for the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program (AJEEP), and taught special
courses in contemporary public relations to Afghan journalists in Spring 2012. Since 2007 Martinelli has
been a member of the board of directors for Outreach Inc., a Santa Clara County paratransit and senior
outreach agency. In 2008 she received a “Commendation for Dedication” as the chapter adviser for the
SJSU Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
Timothy Mitchell (lecturer)
Part-time JMC School media-design expert who is currently spearheading an effort for the JMC School to
secure a $23,000 grant for the digitization and sharing of the Spartan Daily newspaper archive of the past
80 years. The proposal would make content easily accessible to a worldwide Internet audience through
words and images loaded onto the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. library’s ScholarWorks database. Mitchell
has 23 years of experience working for Hewlett-Packard, a storied company started in a garage designated
as the “birthplace of Silicon Valley.” HP is known as one of the first global high-technology leaders.
During that time Mitchell was HP corporate art director for global brand and communications, art director
for internal communications and electronic communications design director for the Americas Marketing
Center. Prior to that he ran his own business and worked for multiple ad agencies. At SJSU he developed
four JMC School learning modules for the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program
(AJEEP) founded by the JMC School and funded by the U.S. State Department for journalism professors
and universities in Afghanistan. Mitchell also developed, designed, printed and framed JMC School
certificates of completion for all visiting Afghan professors and taught 24 class sessions for the visiting
Afghans. He is the chief design adviser for special JMC awards and publications including the 2012 and
2014 William Randolph Hearst Awards to Sara Ganim, Jose Antonio Vargas, and certificates of gratitude
for major donors. He designed special edition magazines (i.e. the 2009 Inauguration trip, and the 2012
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Cuba trip.) Mitchell arranged to have those magazines distributed and sold worldwide on HP MagCloud
(now partnered with Blurb) where he set up and manages the JMC School account. Since 2006, he taught
JOUR 136: “Newspaper and Magazine Design.” From 2007 through 2012 he also taught MCOM 70:
“Visual Communications for Modern Media.” He continues to serve as design adviser for print editions of
SHiFT magazine, the Spartan Daily newspaper and Access magazine inserts. Keeping active
professionally, Mitchell recently designed a logo, posters and ads for the local San José Fountain Blues
Festival.
Dona Nichols (lecturer)
Part-time faculty member who has worked for the local NBC-owned and -operated station in San José as
an assignment editor and news writer. Nichols has been a lecturer in the JMC School since 2000. She is
widely recognized for innovative classroom approaches designed to encourage dynamic student
interaction about current events and course content. One of her classes, MCOM 105: “Diversity in the
Media,” has long been a popular course in the JMC School because it enables students to learn and ask
questions about one another’s cultures and life experiences in a safe learning environment. This course
takes a candid look at current media messages about race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
religious cultures and disabilities, and how they influence media consumer attitudes and opinions. Nichols
also teaches MCOM 70: “Visual Communications,” MCOM 72: “Media and Society,” JOUR 61: “News
Writing for Contemporary Media Platforms” and MCOM 100W: “Writing Workshop: Mass
Communications,” the state-mandated upper division writing class in which students practice professional
media skills writing for advertising, convergence journalism and public relations. Nichols is also a
documentary producer and has developed a variety of special topic reports including one focused on her
life growing up in Savannah, Ga., in the 1960s with her African-American best friend in junior high
school during the height of segregation and the Civil Rights Movement.
Ralph Nichols (lecturer)
Part-time journalism lecturer who is a former news writer for the Los Angeles Times. Nichols has been
teaching journalism for more than 30 years. He runs the journalism program at Evergreen College, a local
community college from which many of his students transfer to the JMC School to finish their journalism
education. He regularly teaches MCOM 100W: “Writing Workshop,” the state mandated upper division
writing class where students practice professional media skills writing for advertising, convergence
journalism and public relations. Nichols also teaches JOUR 61: “News Writing for Contemporary Media
Platforms.” In 2013 he served as a writer and researcher for a civil rights documentary, and his stories
have been published in the Savannah Morning News. Nichols has also served as the features editor, and
has written several stories for SHiFT magazine, the advanced journalism writing experience in which
students work closely with experts at Hewlett-Packard, which helps with the creative design, publication
and global distribution of the student effort on the HP MagCloud.
Robert Rucker
JMC School director since February 2011, Rucker is also currently host of JMC’s exciting new studentproduced PBS television public affairs and information program “Equal Time” created by faculty
colleague Diane Guerrazzi in 2010. As director Rucker has spearheaded JMC School fundraising efforts
and raised nearly $300,000 in alumni and former faculty planned giving and student scholarships. He has
also worked to raise the international profile of the JMC School and expand its curriculum to include new
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winning journalists for campus forums, and presented the William Randolph Hearst Award for excellence
in journalism to Sara Ganim in 2012, and Jose Antonio Vargas in 2014. He also arranged for the first
West Coast university screening of Vargas’ controversial immigration documentary "Documented" before
it was aired nationally on CNN. Before becoming school director, Rucker served as the chief event
planner and coordinator of the 50th anniversary and national alumni reunion of the SJSU broadcast
journalism degree program in 2007. He secured ABC News former White House Correspondent Sam
Donaldson as keynote speaker. Rucker is a former CNN correspondent based in San Francisco, has
worked as anchorman and award-winning medical reporter in Philadelphia, a national news feature
correspondent for Newsweek Broadcasting in New York, and an award-winning general assignment
reporter, videographer and news anchor in Des Moines. He covered the Three Mile Island nuclear plant
accident for nine days in 1979, and interviewed Pope, now Saint John Paul II, on live television during
his first visit to America later that same year. Rucker is the first African-American director in JMC
School history and a co-founder of the first gay and lesbian outreach ministry at St. Julie Billiart Catholic
parish in the Diocese of San José.
Larry Sokoloff (lecturer)
Salzburg Fellow in 2014, and Bay Area practicing attorney, Sokoloff is also one of two Fulbright
Scholars on the JMC School faculty. In 2009 he taught in Moscow, Russia, at the Higher School of
Economics. In 2013 he taught legal courses for visiting international journalists as part of the Afghanistan
Journalism Education Enhancement Program (AJEEP), founded by the JMC School and funded by the
U.S. State Department, for journalism professors and universities in Afghanistan. Sokoloff is also a
freelance journalist and his articles have been published in the California Planning and Development
Report and other publications. An exhibit he co-curated on civil libertarian Alexander Meiklejohn was
displayed at the library at California State University East Bay during the 2013–14 academic year.
Sokoloff teaches media law and ethics as a lecturer at SJSU and is part of the 2014 JMC School
accreditation planning team.
Diana Stover
Specializes in three teaching areas: media law and ethics, communication law and public policy; theory
and research; and global mass communications. She currently teaches a class on research about social
media. Recently she a presented a paper in Istanbul on the role of Twitter in the Egyptian revolution. The
Twitter study is part of a larger project on social media used during the revolution and its aftermath,
especially the symbiotic relationship between Al Jazeera English and Twitter. She is also doing research
on the legal and ethical dilemmas in Internet privacy and student use of new media. She was the
editor/co-editor of a scholarly journal for 11 years. Stover has been active in the international area. She
developed and taught an online course on global mass communications for students scattered across the
world in the university's global studies program, was a Salzburg Fellow and served as a Global Studies
Fellow, helping to launch the university's short-term study abroad program and teaching a course in
China. She was a Fulbright Scholar in China.
William Tillinghast
Specialist in scholarly research, he heads up the JMC School Assessment Committee reporting efforts. He
also focuses on two important activities in two areas: self-authored articles or publications with graduate
students for publication, and research conducted in his JMC School undergraduate classes. In 2011
Tillinghast was third author on an article published in Journal of Magazine & New Media Research on
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patriotism and national identity covers of Der Spiegel, and in 2013 first author on an article on climate
change in four news magazines published in the Online Journal of Communication and Media Studies.
Another article on the coverage of suicides in the New York Times is currently in preparation. His
research with undergraduate classes focuses on tracking changes in college students’ use of both social
and legacy media for news and entertainment. Eventually he plans to broaden that research to a national
sample. Tillinghast was the founder and director of the West Coast Center for Editing Excellence for the
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund. In his undergraduate research classes, he focuses on how to conduct and
analyze current issues such as the impact and use of social media. He was coordinator of the graduate
program for a number of years, serving as the adviser for dozens of students who conducted quantitative
research. Tillinghast co-authored several papers with his students. He has published in a number of peerreviewed publications and has presented papers at national and international conferences. Tillinghast
served as co-editor of a scholarly journal on mass communications research.
Thomas Ulrich (lecturer)
Creator and editorial director of SHiFT, a unique, student-run magazine focused on innovation for the
common good. Its goal as a catalyst for social change in the Silicon Valley goes beyond merely reporting
facts to spurring its readers to action. Ulrich’s vision and guidance has helped advanced journalism
students develop long-form reports on a wide range of timely issues including immigration, the impact of
war on America’s military, the lives of people in war-torn Afghanistan, and efforts by journalism and
media educators there to keep the flow of accurate information coming to communities. Ulrich teaches
JOUR 132, 153 and 155, the advanced magazine journalism classes, and JOUR 61, news writing across
media platforms. He has forged new partnerships with Adobe Systems and the MagCloud team at
Hewlett-Packard Labs in Silicon Valley. Ulrich is also currently developing a JMC School test center for
Adobe software and HP’s print-on-demand service as SHiFT staff members explore the frontiers of
creating, printing and distributing the next generation of magazines in innovative ways.
5. Provide relevant sections of faculty guides, manuals or
other documents in which the unit specifies expectations
for scholarship, research, and creative and professional
activity in criteria for hiring, promotion and tenure.
Describe how the unit’s criteria for promotion, tenure and
merit recognition consider and acknowledge activities
appropriate to faculty members’ professional as well as
scholarly specializations.
As mentioned above, the guiding document behind tenure and promotion decisions is the individual letter
of hiring. This letter delineates expectations for creative/professional achievement in some cases, research
productivity in other cases, and a combination of the two in still others. The letter varies from individual
to individual and from dean to dean. At times the provost has attempted to quantify expectations,
suggesting, for example, a minimum number of publications in top juried journals, but such expectations
have yet to be codified.
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6. Describe the institution’s policy regarding sabbaticals,
leaves of absence with or without pay, etc.
Faculty members may apply for a sabbatical after six years of service. Acceptance is not automatic but is
competitive: Each college funds a certain number each year. Depending on the competition, one’s
chances vary from year to year. Successful applicants may choose to take an entire semester away from
classes and committee work, or may cut their course load in half over a full academic year.
7. List faculty who have taken sabbaticals or leaves during
the past six years, with a brief description of the resulting
activities.
Scott Fosdick and Diana Stover began books on sabbatical and are still working on them.
8. Describe travel funding, grant support, or other methods
or programs the unit uses to encourage scholarship,
research, and creative and professional activity.
University funding changes from year to year. In the past seven years, funds have been allocated for
travel only then to be reduced significantly. A new funding formula for all departments was introduced in
Fall 2014. Departments in CASA have been given more revenues for general expenses, but travel funding
must compete against other needs such as faculty equipment purchases and supplies. Because of budget
issues, it is unfortunate that several faculty members have paid for their own travel and other work-related
expenses.
Since the last accreditation visit, seven JMC School faculty members have been selected for the
international Salzburg Scholars program. The university, college and JMC School have provided funding.
Occasionally, the director is able to lighten the teaching load of faculty members working on research or
creative projects. During most of the years of this period, he has been able to provide up to $1,000 per
year for faculty traveling to conferences. Travel money cannot be held over from year to year. Faculty
members must choose whether to attend conferences that will cost more than $1,000 (which is to say, all
but the occasional local conference).
Timing presents a challenge. For example, AEJMC’s research deadline is April 1 for the annual
convention in August. Because the fiscal year begins in August, the director cannot promise travel money
he does not yet have. The submission of a research paper carries with it a promise to attend the session, if
accepted. Hence, submission involves a significant financial gamble. As most AEJMC conventions are far
from San José (as far as Montreal), this dampens enthusiasm for that important avenue of research. When
a faculty member does not submit, he or she not only misses out on the feedback his or her paper would
receive, but also on attending the other valuable research, professional and teaching panels, and reconnecting with scholars in the field.
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Former CASA Dean Charles Bullock established the Center for Applied Research on Human Services
(CARHS), providing peer-to-peer assistance in data mining, research writing and grant application
writing. Because most of the departments in CASA are based in health and similar sciences, much of the
CARHS support has not been helpful to faculty in our school. Professor Scott Fosdick joined the board of
CARHS last year and is seeking ways to help it become more attuned to our research agendas.
Some faculty travel has been funded by the U.S. State Department through the AJEEP initiative. In
addition, it paid for most faculty to write detailed learning modules for use by academics across the
United States and Afghanistan. This has been referenced in Standard 8.
9. List faculty who have taken advantage of those programs
during the past six years, with a brief description of the
resulting activities.
The only significant ongoing support comes from the $1,000/year travel stipends mentioned above. Under
question four in this standard, we list faculty research and creative production, much of which received
this support.
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Part II, Standard 6.
Student Services
Executive summary
Administrators, faculty and staff members in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication create a
welcoming and safe environment where a respectful exchange of views and perspectives is valued as part
of learning experience. Students attend and organize media-focused events for the school and campus
community. We celebrate and share their uniqueness and diversity through their talents, skills and
creativity.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Complete and attach Table 9, “Student Aid.”
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2. Describe the academic advising process for ensuring that
students are aware of unit and institutional requirements for
graduation and receive career and academic advising.
Attach advising guides, manuals, newsletters or other
internal communication with students.
Students receive advising through the university’s general education counselors regarding completion of
core and advanced general education courses. The JMC School is responsible for advising students on
their major/minor/academic focus, internships and graduation application. Major advising in the School
was centralized to offer students maximum consistency in instructions for completing degree
requirements. One faculty member, the JMC School Academic Adviser (Cynthia Fernald) receives (.40)
release time to advise during the Fall and Spring semesters. The school director provides year-round
academic advising. In addition to academic advising, students also receive career advising from
professors in their particular major areas, advertising, journalism and public relations.
The university requires all students to receive academic advising once a year. JMC School students are
encouraged to meet with the school academic adviser each semester. This ensures that they stay on track
for graduation. It also enables them to discuss and identify ways to address concerns with their courses.
This is especially important given that most majors take their first courses in the journalism program
during their sophomore year.
In addition to regular advising for current students, the university holds special advising sessions for
incoming freshmen and transfer students. After their meeting with university advisers, students declared
as majors in one of the three JMC School degree programs meet with a school academic adviser. In
addition to a general overview of the school’s requirements, those attending receive individualized advice
on which major courses to take their first semester and how to plan to meet the required internship for
credit before graduation.
Since the last accreditation evaluation, the university has instituted a comprehensive online
system called MySJSU where students can closely monitor their academic progress. The
MySJSU modules are used to manage academic advising, student records and messaging.
Students and applicants for admission can use MySJSU to add/drop classes, check to-do lists and
messages, pay fees, update personal data, and view their grades, application and financial aid
status. Student employees can also use MySJSU to enter hours worked on campus and have them
approved online by their manager. Alumni and returning students can also use MySJSU to view
their unofficial transcripts and other information. The university also provides online the “SJSU
Spartan Success Portal” that encourages students to get involved on campus and seek assistance when
needed. See it at: http://www.sjsu.edu/getinvolved/leadsuccess/spartansuccess/index.html
Finally, SJSU requires students to apply for graduation two semesters in advance. They must meet with
the JMC School adviser for an evaluation of their major requirements including the required 72 units
taken outside the school and 65 liberal arts and science units. Following their application, the university
provides students with a finalized list of courses they must complete to graduate.
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This ensures that students meet the school’s national accreditation requirements. It also
enables seniors who have applied for graduation to be prioritized for class registration the
next semester.
The Advising guide from the JMC School website is provided at the end of this standard. The complete
SJSU online catalog information for the advertising, journalism and public relations degrees is at:
http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/JOUR.html
3. Describe availability and accessibility of faculty
to students.
In general, small class sizes (20–25 students) promote student-faculty interaction. Even larger lecture
courses, 75 students or more, still allow for accessibility of faculty to students. Each faculty member
holds a minimum of 4–5 office hours per week and encourages students to stop in to seek advice on
classroom assignments, career choices, internships, etc. Office hours are held by regular faculty as well as
adjuncts.
Students can also contact faculty directly through the university email system, web portals and the Canvas
learning management system (LMS). It offers an intuitive user interface, featuring drag-and-drop usability
and a comprehensive grading tool. Canvas also allows faculty members and students to configure their
notification options to integrate with services such as Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and more.
Access is available through SJSU eCampus at: http://www.sjsu.edu/at/ec
A new website URL for the JMC School will be available in November.
4. Describe student records kept in the unit office and
measures taken to assure appropriate security and
confidentiality.
Official student records at San José State are maintained in three places: (1) in the registrar’s office; (2)
via the Oracle computer system with password-protected access by the student and faculty adviser; and
(3) a reduced number of paper records are maintained in locked filing cabinets in DBH 105, the
journalism office. School files include student internship paperwork, grade- and course-change records,
and copies of their graduation applications. Students have access to only their own files for advising
purposes. They must present valid SJSU identification to check out their file for advising purposes.
5. Describe resources for academic and career counseling
that the unit or institution offers to students.
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As indicated earlier, the JMC School offers students centralized major and minor advising. Students seek
career advice from professors in their major areas. Students also receive general advising through the
registrar’s office at the 10th Street Student Service Center.
In 2011 the College of Applied Sciences and Arts opened a Student Success Center with the goal of
helping students access the university’s many resources. The nearly 2,500-square-foot space features
four nooks for peer mentors. Student-services professionals offer assistance with study skills, class
selection, career counseling and the general navigation of college life.
The university’s Career Center also offers students career testing, workshops on resume writing and job
seeking, and holds large internship/job fairs in the Event Center. It has also partnered with two offcampus organizations to take an innovative approach to helping students, alumni and even the general
public advance professionally. SJSU Spartan Staffing operates like an employment agency, actively
connecting job seekers and employers with common interests. SlingShot Connections and Expandability
provide the personnel who make the connections to serve San José State’s diverse community. Positions
unfilled by students and alumni go to local residents, in collaboration with organizations such as the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, the California Department of Rehabilitation and the American Job
Center.
6. Describe the unit’s methods and procedures to keep
students informed about its activities, requirements and
policies.
The JMC School’s policies and procedures are available to students on the official school website
(www.jmc.sjsu.edu) as well as in a printed copy. Policies adopted by the school pertaining to in-class
conduct also are contained in course “green sheets,” a unique and historic reference to syllabi here at San
José State University. For many decades SJSU syllabi were printed on green paper.
Activities of student clubs are publicized to students through emails, social media, in-class
announcements, club websites and blogs. The school director periodically sends out “The Buzz,” an email
blast to all students enrolled in JMC School classes. The office also posts signs throughout the building
publicizing important deadlines. The school also enables student representatives to briefly attend classes
and report on upcoming special events.
7. Describe student media, student professional
organizations or other extra-curricular activities and
opportunities provided by the unit or the institution that
are relevant to the curriculum and develop students’
professional and intellectual abilities and interests.
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Student-run media (See also Standard 8)
Students can gain valuable experience through a wide range of student media: The Spartan Daily,
“Update News,” “Equal Time,” Access and SHiFT.
A new online student media portal also showcases the creative efforts of students in the advertising and
public relations programs. The website includes JMC School student multimedia, videos, and special
productions, promotions and campaigns.
The Spartan Daily has been an institution on the SJSU campus since 1934. The student- run Daily, which
regularly wins awards at the annual California College Media Association competitions, headlines a
program that attracts students from around the country and the world.
“Update News,” an award-winning television newscast, is produced and anchored by
students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. It is streamed worldwide over the
Internet, and is made available for broadcast on Bay Area television stations.
SJSU’s award-winning magazine Access, published each year since 1987, and internationally distributed
online magazine SHiFT are produced bv convergence journalism students in JOUR 155, “Magazine
Editing & Production.” They serve as editors, art directors and photo editors, designing the magazines in
Adobe InDesign. Since its inception, Access has won many regional and national awards in writing,
layout and design, photography and graphics. Former staff members now work as editors, writers,
communication directors, publicity directors, designers, art directors, photographers and advertising
personnel in numerous publications around the world.
For five years students and faculty from animation, art and design, and the social sciences have
collaborated with the top journalism writers, reporters and designers on SHiFT. In Fall 2014 the magazine
is being designed for presentation on tablets worldwide.
Dwight, Bentel & Hall Communications is a student-run advertising and public relations agency. Top
students in each program work with professional clients to develop innovative outreach efforts and
informational campaigns. This unique agency offers a special learning opportunity. Students collaborate
across academic disciplines and work with local, regional and national professional clients to develop
effective communication campaigns that target specified demographic groups. In the last four years,
DB&H Agency teams have won national competitions sponsored by AT&T, Chevrolet and Honda.
Student clubs/organizations
The JMC School has three student clubs for majors: Spartan Ad Society, Radio Television Digital News
Association (RTDNA), and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Students in these
organizations focus on career preparation through speakers and activities related to their chosen
professions. All these activities help expose students to professionals in their fields, both local and
national, enabling them to learn and to begin networking. The student organizations also regularly arrange
Bay Area newsroom and agency tours for journalism, public relations and advertising students.
The following outlines the organizations and their activities.
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Spartan Ad Society
Spartan Ad Society, better known as SAS, is an advertising organization that is affiliated with the
American Advertising Federation. The goal is to help students find a job after graduation in hopes that
they can successfully reach their dream, whether it is account management or creative direction. SAS is
an equal-opportunity organization opening its doors to all students in any major.
Spartan Ad Society offers members the opportunity to further enrich their experience within the academic
advertising community in several ways:
Portfolio & Resume Building: Students interested in various creative endeavors benefit from a portfoliobuilding workshop that helps prepare students to present a sophisticated, professional and unique “book”
to help impress prospective employers. The club also offers help in strengthening resumes, especially for
students on the management track in the advertising degree program.
Fundraising: Fundraising is extremely important to the organization. It allows the group to have the
funds for sponsoring events, purchase business cards for members as well as create a campaign to
promote the club. Fundraising for SAS is not only an obligation, but also the only way to better enrich the
experience one can have as a member.
Publication: By participating in the annual Tagline issue, members have the opportunity to share their
ideas relating to everyday issues within the advertising community. It also makes a great piece for the
member’s portfolio, which they show professionals when looking for jobs and internships.
Recruitment: SAS is striving to further its networking capabilities by “branching” out to clubs with
similar interests. It co-sponsors events that will offer a larger network and lead to new members.
Events & Networks Planning: The club offers students the opportunity to meet with professionals
through agency tours, guest speakers and the annual “Meet Us After School” gatherings. Through these
networking opportunities, students have the chance to earn internships, full-time employment and
contract work. These events also help answer students’ questions regarding the advertising world.
Creative Projects: Students are given the opportunity to work on creative projects for the SAS billboard,
the annual “Meet Us After School” mixer, Tagline and many more projects including activities in the
professional advertising community. These creative projects represent the organization in a sophisticated
and professional manner, and also helps each member interested in creative advertising strengthen their
portfolio as well as their ability to work as a team.
Pearce Davies Chapter, Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)
This is one of the founding chapters of the national student organization. Its purpose is to cultivate
professional relationships between students and public relations practitioners. The student society aims to
foster the following: (1) Understanding of current theories and procedures of the profession; (2)
Appreciation of the highest ethical ideals and principles; (3) Awareness of an appropriate professional
attitude; (4) Appreciation of Associate Membership in PRSA and eventually accredited membership. An
underlying strength of PRSSA is its relationship with its parent society, PRSA.
PRSSA meets twice monthly — once with a practitioner guest speaker and once as a social event
(sometimes with a speaker). The students determine the topics of their meetings as well as the speaker.
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Each year that chapter provides partial funding for PRSSA officers attending the PRSSA National
Conference. This chapter was one of 10 chosen nationwide to host a 2014 Regional Conference where
students have an opportunity to emhance their networks, attend workshops and listen to local public
relations professionals. “Sincerely, PR” developed and produced in April by San José State’s public
relations students was promoted on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sincerelypr?fref=photo
RTDNA
This organization connects broadcast journalism students with professional members of the Radio and
Television Digital News Association. Each semester students studying radio, TV and online news
reporting volunteer their free time to meet and mentor with Bay Area broadcast news writers, producers,
reporters, editors and news anchors. Students elect their club president, vice president, treasurer and
secretary.
Students decide on which guests to invite for their brown-bag lunch sessions. They also
determine when fundraisers are needed to help pay the cost of travel to visit local radio and
TV stations. There are no dues to pay and any SJSU student who registers for any broadcast
journalism class is welcome and invited to be a member of the RTDNA Club.
NBC Bay Area Anchor Janelle Wang, KTVU Channel 2 News Anchor Frank Somerville,
ABC-7 Anchor Dan Ashley, NBC Bay Area Reporter and SJSU graduate Damian Trujillo, and
former ABC-7 South Bay Bureau Chief Rigo Chacon are just a few Bay Area broadcast news
professionals who have spoken to and mentored students on campus.
Magazine Club
This student organization was founded in 1987. It brings together magazine students to participate in
activities which would benefit student education. It also help them get internships and make contacts in
the profession. Activities of the club vary from year to year, reflecting the interests of its members and
student officers. Over the years the club has hosted guest speakers, raised funds for scholarships through
special projects, arranged tours of media in Northern California and New York, sponsored workshops and
published magazines.
One such magazine, Helium, moved off campus when its student editor graduated. It can still be found
here: http://www.heliummagazine.com. More recently, Magazine Club members have focused on student
issues with Vine magazine. The club’s trip to New York included magazine students back home via a
panel discussion that linked students and magazine editors in New York with students and experts n San
José via Cisco Telepresence suites.
8. Provide the web link where the unit shares its most recent
retention and graduation data with the public. Discuss
retention and graduation statistics at the accredited unit
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level and the processes in place to collect, maintain and
analyze such data.
Until the new JMC School website is ready, the info is posted on the director’s website:
http://www.profbob.com/JMC%20Retention%20Graduation%20info/2014%20JMC%20Online%20Reten
tion%20Graduation%20POSTING.pdf
The university provides a statistical breakdown of both retention and graduation rates for departments.
See on the next page the period since our last accreditation.
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The JMC School follows the university’s policies for academic probation and suspension. A student's
academic status at San José State University is based solely on the student's academic coursework. This
includes courses taken through Open University. Every semester students can get information about their
grade-point average from the university's website. Students earning below a 2.0 GPA are placed on
academic probation.
Students who are placed on academic probation may be disqualified from the university if they fail to
earn better than a 2.0 GPA in subsequent semesters. Educational counselors are available to help students
in academic difficulty with the following:
Assessment — What led to your below average GPA?
Study skills information
Adjustment to university
Decision making
Personal problems
Choosing/changing majors
Time management
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Procrastination
Interest/skill testing
For advising, this Academic Probation and Disqualification Process flow chart is helpful:
http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/docs/Probation_and_DQ_flowchart.pdf
An undergraduate student shall be removed from academic probation when the cumulative GPA in all
college work attempted and the cumulative GPA at SJSU is 2.00 or higher.
An undergraduate student on academic probation is subject to academic disqualification when:
(A) As a freshman, the student falls below a GPA of 1.50 in all units attempted or in all units attempted at
SJSU; (B) As a sophomore, the student falls below a GPA of 1.70 in all units attempted or in all units
attempted at SJSU; (C) As a junior, the student falls below a GPA of 1.85 in all units attempted or in all
units attempted at SJSU; (D) As a senior, the student falls below a GPA of 1.95 in all units attempted or
in all units attempted at SJSU.
Subject to Disqualification: Within Disqualification range, but because not on probation the previous
semester, the student is not disqualified but must attend SJSU the following semester and earn above a 2.0
GPA (2.01 or better) to keep from getting disqualified. A student must have above a 2.0 GPA for each
semester while in the disqualification range.
9. Describe the unit’s (and, where applicable, campus-wide)
policy on academic good standing and dismissal for poor
scholarship, including the grade-point average required
to remain in the program.
Not applicable
10. Describe the unit’s placement operation for assistance
in students’ searches for employment. List placement
statistics for the three most recent years (before the selfstudy year) for which accurate information is available.
The university operates a Career Center for all majors. The JMC School does not have its own placement
office. Faculty members and the internship coordinator frequently assist students in their searches for
initial employment, and encourage students to attend job fairs and professional meetings for networking
purposes. In addition alumni notify faculty and the school when their companies/organizations are
seeking interns and employees. We post those offering on the JMC School website.
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Because faculty members are challenged by a four-class load, advising and mentoring duties, the JMC
School does not keep job placement statistics.
11. Describe the unit’s operation, if any, for assistance to
alumni in later employment searches.
Faculty members frequently receive calls and emails from former students requesting references for job
searches. We write letters and are available by email and telephone to prospective employers. Faculty
members also are informed by alumni and others about job postings and can pass these along to alumni
through the school newsletter and by email or phone. In addition, the school publishes job announcements
online.
Alumni also are able to use the services of the Career Center to search for employment/employees. The
center’s special partnership with the SJSU Alumni Association and Professional Development Center
provides affordable services that address the needs of a wide spectrum of individuals from the career
changer, to the displaced experienced professional, to the first-time job seeker. Placement statistics are not
available.
12. Describe the unit’s process for evaluating its advising and
counseling services. Include measurements of the accuracy
of academic advising, student and faculty opinion of the
quality of advising, or other indices of the effectiveness of
advising. Discuss the results of these assessments.
The JMC School’s effectiveness in advising students is informally evaluated by students and faculty.
Evaluations are an area where we need to improve. We need to develop a post-advising survey for
evaluations. Currently, students schedule appointments with the JMC Academic Adviser during the fall
and spring semesters, and receive advising during the winter and summer sessions from the school
director.
Evaluations are voluntary and are the responsibility of the JMC School Curriculum Committee.
This committee also develops and updates the curriculum for each degree program, and works with
school advisers to provide updates on changes in requirements. The centralization of advising was a
decision made by faculty to ensure that students receive consistent advising in their majors and minors.
One faculty member is selected to advise all majors and minors. Faculty members agree this arrangement
has worked well and frees up their advising time for working with students in their courses and for
providing career advice.
Below is the Advising handout referred to in Question 2.
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Student Advising
www.jmc.sjsu.edu
Faculty Advising
Students can find the information related to Undergraduate Advising here. You can find all the forms and the latest
feeds from the JMC Faculty Advisor.
Undergraduate Advising
JMC's undergraduate adviser is Cynthia Fernald, who has office hours set aside for advising appointments every
week. Students can sign up for advising appointments on the clipboard outside her office, DBH 125, on the first floor
of Dwight Bentel Hall.
Here are answers to some of the most common advising questions:
How often do students need to see the adviser?
Students who are SJSU “natives” (who started at SJSU as freshmen) must talk with an adviser prior to registering for
their third semester. Transfer students should see an adviser during their first semester, before registering for their
second semester classes.
Please bring a filled-out major form to every advisory meeting so the adviser can more quickly evaluate your degree
progress and provide you with accurate course planning advice. As you get closer to graduation, please also fill out
and bring the Courses Completed form to advisory meetings.
Students with an advising "hold" will not be able to register through SJSU’s online registration. The JMC adviser can
usually remove your hold, although some students may also need to speak with an adviser at Academic Advising and
Retention Services (AARS) before a hold can be removed.
What is an academic focus?
All JMC students must complete either an approved academic focus or a minor. An academic focus is like a “mini”
minor. Instead of requiring 15 or 18 units, like most minors, an academic focus is 12 units, all of which must be taken
in a single department.
At least six of the 12 units in an academic focus must be upper-division (100-level) courses. That means the other six
units can be lower-division classes, including courses you took to satisfy GE requirements.
Students are required to have their academic focus approved by their academic adviser. Taking an academic focus in
a traditional liberal arts and social sciences discipline offers the advantage of helping you meet the school’s
requirement that you complete at least 65 units of liberal arts and science classes outside your major.
Courses that count as “outside the major” include your GEs, academic focus/minor classes and SJSU Studies
classes. However, some “outside the major” courses do not count as liberal arts and science (LAS) classes. Non-LAS
classes include: PE activity classes, business classes (except for business GE classes such as BUS 12 and BUS
186), RTVF “on air” classes, and engineering classes.
Students who select an academic focus in business, technical writing, radio/television/film, art photography, or other
professionally oriented discipline will need to carefully plan their programs to complete all graduation requirements for
the 120-unit degree.
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If you would prefer to complete a minor instead of an academic focus, you will need to get the approval of the minor
department to add a minor, and follow their list of required courses to complete the minor. Most minors require you to
complete 15 to 18 units, but some require more. A graphic design minor, for example, requires 40 units – as much as
most majors.
Can journalism majors decide to do an academic focus in advertising or public relations?
No, the academic focus must be in a department outside of the School of Journalism & Mass Communications.
Can students transfer any community college credit?
You may transfer in a maximum of 70 units from a California community college to count toward your degree at SJSU.
Of those transfer units, a maximum of 12 units may count toward your major.
SJSU has established transfer course agreements with over 130 California schools. Courses that can count toward
your major course requirements include those that are deemed equivalent to our school’s lower-division course
offerings, as required for a given program.
To determine which transfer courses can count toward your major requirements at the School of Journalism and Mass
Communications, please check out SJSU’s course articulation website at http://artic.sjsu.edu/. Click on the Category
Reports link, and then on the Journalism and Mass Communications link, to see a list of JMC major course
equivalents. Or, click on the Course-to-Course Articulation link and select your community college to see which
courses are equivalent to lower-division JMC courses, and thus can be substituted.
Non-equivalent community college courses in mass communications subjects may be eligible to count as electives in
your major. A maximum of three units from this category may be transferred for general elective requirements in the
major.
What do students need to know about internships?
A 240-hour internship is required of all majors in the school. This equals six weeks of full-time work. If you complete
an internship during the fall or spring semester, that means working an average of 16 hours per week for 15 weeks, If
you choose to complete an internship during summer session, it means working an average of 24 hours per week for
10 weeks.
Internships must be approved by the school’s internship advisor. This advising position rotates among senior JMC
faculty, so you will need to check to see who is serving as internship adviser for the semester (or summer session) in
which you plan to intern.
Before you can register for MCOM 111, the internship class, you must complete some specific courses in your major
(see list below) and have a minimum 2.0 average in your JMC courses.
Here are the course prerequisites, by major, to be eligible to sign up for an internship:
 Advertising: ADV 91 and two other ADV courses
 Journalism: JOUR 61, JOUR 132 and one other JOUR or MCOM course
 Public Relations: PR 99, PR 190 or PR191, and one other JMC course
To get an internship approved, you’ll need to fill out the Internship Agreement form and provide the internship adviser
with a copy of your unofficial SJSU transcript and a description of the internship on company letterhead. Once it is
approved, the internship adviser will give you an add code so you can register for MCOM 111. As with any other
class, you must add MCOM 111 before the end of the add period for the semester in which you plan to complete it.
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Although faculty members may know of and make suggestions about possible internships, please note JMC faculty
are not responsible for finding you an internship. You must find your own internship. The JMC office (DBH 105) keeps
a folder of available internships on file. It’s also a good idea to talk with JMC students who have already completed an
internship.
The internship must be completed before the last semester of your senior year. It is often done during the summer
between your junior and senior years.
Students may not accept an internship before completing the course prerequisites, gaining approval from the major
adviser, and turning in an approved agreement with the host agency/company. Students who intern without formal
enrollment in the MCom111 Internship course will not be permitted to register for retroactive credit.
The internship requirement may be waived for students who can document comparable professional experience prior
to their senior year.
What are the requirements for graduation?
All majors seeking a BS degree in advertising, journalism, or public relations must meet the following requirements:
Complete 120 semester units, including all university and School of Journalism and Mass Communications degree
requirements. At least 72 of the 120 units must be taken outside the school areas of advertising, journalism, public
relations, and mass communications, whether completed at SJSU or at another college or university.
At least 65 of the 72 units taken outside the major must be in the liberal arts and sciences. Courses in this area are
defined as those offered in the schools of humanities and arts, social science, and science, or in equivalent
disciplines at other institutions.
Courses offering practical instruction in fields closely related to mass communications may not be applied to the
liberal arts and sciences requirement, regardless of where offered. Classes that do not count as liberal arts and
sciences include: PE activity classes, business classes, RTVF “on air” classes, and engineering classes. Also
excluded are laboratory production and skill courses in English, as well as internships, activity, or independent study
courses offered in other departments. If you’re not sure if a class counts toward the liberal arts and sciences
requirement, please check with the undergraduate adviser.
You must also complete a 12-unit academic focus (or a minor) in a single discipline or department outside the fields
taught within the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. At least six units of your academic focus must be
upper division (number 100 or higher), and your GPA in those classes must be at least 2.0. Your academic focus
must be approved by the undergraduate adviser.
Finally, you must complete an approved internship for academic credit before the final semester of your senior year.
(This requirement may be waived for students who can document substantial professional experience prior to their
senior year.)
What is the graduation application process?
To apply for graduation, you must fill out three forms:
1. Major form
2. Courses Completed form
3. Graduation application
Major forms and the courses completed form are available online or at the department office (DBH 105). The
graduation application is available online at http://www.sjsu.edu/registrar/forms/.
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When you have filled out all three forms, take them to the undergraduate adviser for review and signatures. Next,
you’ll take the signed forms to the JMC office, DBH 105, so file copies can be made. JMC staff will put your
graduation paperwork into a sealed envelope and return it to you to submit at the Registrar’s Office at the Tenth
Street Parking Garage.
What are the deadlines for graduation?
You should apply for graduation about one and a half or two semesters before the semester in which you plan to
graduate. The deadline to apply for spring graduation is November 1 of the previous fall. The deadline to apply for
summer graduation and fall graduation is May 1 of the previous spring. A word to the wise -- it’s best not to wait until
the deadline is looming. Get it done early.
For more information on the university's graduation policies, check out the Registrar's Graduation FAQ page at
http://www.sjsu.edu/registrar/faqs/Graduation_FAQs/index.html.
Helpful Links:
 SJSU forms, such as the change of major/minor form, graduation application and substitution form, are
available online at the SJSU Registrar’s forms page at http://www.sjsu.edu/registrar/forms/.
 Undergraduate petitions, such as the excess units petition and petition for late course drop, are available
online on the student petitions form page at http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/students/petitions/list/.
 Transfer course information is available online on SJSU’s articulation page at http://artic.sjsu.edu/. For
example, the course-to-course articulation link lets you select your community college so you can see if the
courses you’ve taken are equivalent to lower-division JMC courses, such as MCOM 72, JOUR 61,
PR 99 and ADV 91.
JMC School major/minor pdf forms: http://www.jmc.sjsu.edu/advising
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Part II, Standard 7.
Resources, Facilities and Equipment
1. Complete and attach Table 10, “Budget.”
Budget and Expenditures
“Annual budget” refers to funds directly under control of the unit for the entire year
(12 months). Budget figures should not include expenditures for building maintenance, retirement
allowances, scholarships, prizes or student aid.
Table 10. Budget
Show below the annual unit budget for each of the three years preceding the accreditation visit. "Annual
budget" refers to funds directly under control of the unit for the entire year (12 months). Budget figures
should not include expenditures for building maintenance, retirement allowances, scholarships, prizes or
student aid. List student newspaper budget only if it is under control of unit and is used in instruction.
Budget Item
Administrative salaries
Teaching salaries (full time)
Teaching salaries (Part time/adjunct)
Help Consultant
Teaching assistants
Clerical salaries
Equipment
Equipment maintenance
Supplies
Library resources
Databases,
online information services
Travel
Research
Work Study
Benefits
Total annual Journalism/
Mass Communications
budget
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
78,876.00
871,895 00
532,485.00
1,455.45
0
157,325.00
0
0
40,897.00
0
78,876.00
796,914.00
410,779.00
970.30
0
155,614.00
0
0
50,229.35
0
79,596.00
880,296.00
263,544.00
0
0
160,411.00
0
0
29,672.00
0
0
0
0
2,970.00
618,361.59
0
0
0
4,232.00
610,329.47
0
0
0
5,732.00
629,124.53
2,304,265.04
2,107,944.12
2,048,375.53
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2. Describe the process through which the unit develops its
budget, including preparation of the budget request and
spending plan, review and approval, and the role of faculty
in the process.
Departments and schools in the CSU system have very little input or control regarding operating budgets.
The CSU Board of Trustees and the chancellor’s office prepare a system wide budget request for
consideration by the Legislature and the governor. After the state allocation is made, the CSU then
proportions the amount to the 23 campuses in the system based on a number of factors including
projected enrollments, size of the campus, and the number of faculty/staff. The campus, in turn, allocates
the amount to the various units of the university, including the various colleges. The college deans, in
turn, allocate funds to the various departments and schools within the college. See below the base budget
allocations for all CASA units this academic year.
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Departments and schools do not prepare budget requests. They are given a fiscal operating budget by the
dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts based on their FTE/S and FTE/F, number of majors,
plus other factors such as the nature of the unit in terms of equipment and facilities.
The JMC School’s operating budget is allocated as a bulk amount. The director, working with the staff
administrative analyst, then works with a line-item budget format that allocates various amounts to such
categories as (1) office supplies; (2) postage; (3) telephone; (4) equipment repairs; (5) upgrades to current
equipment; (6) periodical subscriptions; and (7) faculty travel. The budget, in great part, is based on
expenditures in various categories during the previous fiscal year. In addition, the school is given a
separate budget for student assistants who qualify on the university’s work-study program.
The faculty is given a briefing on the budget at its monthly meeting. It is primarily an informational
session rather than a formal faculty vote on acceptance of the operating budget. Also attending these
meetings periodically is the school’s administrative analyst (responsible for processing and administering
all fiscal aspects of the unit) and the school’s information technology (IT) specialist who is responsible
for helping to research faculty requests for technology, receiving the equipment, maintaining JMC School
equipment purchase databases, and assisting faculty members in using new smart classroom technologies.
In addition to reviewing the operating budget, faculty members periodically are given updates on various
JMC School accounts that are located in the SJSU Tower Foundation. Funds in the foundation are under
the direct control of the school, and represent income from various sources. These accounts may be
degree-program specific or school-wide level in term such as the Hearst Visiting Professional
endowment, the Anderson Gift endowment and the Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement
Program (AJEEP) funded by the U.S. State Department. They also represent funds raised by various
programs such as public relations degree program or the magazine or news-editorial journalism specialty.
Such funds are used to support student media and JMC School events, student and faculty travel, provide
honorariums to visiting professionals, purchase new equipment and provide training for students, faculty
and staff.
The budget for faculty and staff salaries in the unit is primarily administered by the fiscal staff in the
office of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts dean.
For many years at SJSU, the former JMC School journalism sequences that operated the Spartan Daily,
Access magazine and “Update News” competed annually for support funds. Along with other student-run
efforts, they submitted budgets and requests for IRA (instructionally related activities) funds generated
from student fees. The Associated Students Board of Directors heard the proposals and handed out the
funds.
In Fall 2013, SJSU implemented a new campuswide student fee, the Student Success, Excellence &
Technology Fee (SSETF). At that time, the IRA Fee and Miscellaneous Course Fees (except field trip
fees) were no longer charged. Their purposes are now encompassed by the SSETF. Schools and
departments were advised to expend any remaining balances in IRA and Miscellaneous Course Fee funds
by June 30, 2013. These funds expired at that time, and any remaining funds reverted to the SSETF fund.
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They were considered available for allocation through an SSETF proposal process.
3. Describe how the allocation of resources is related to the
unit’s long-range, strategic plan.
Everything about a unit’s budget at SJSU is determined by a FTES formula based on enrollment the
previous year. The closest the budget comes to actually being part of strategic planning is the approval of
additional full-time, tenure-track personnel.
School directors and department chairs are given budgets based on full-time equivalent student
enrollment (FTE/S). As long as the growth curve is upward, the unit can plan on receiving additional
funds. Once full-time permanent faculty salaries are paid, additional monies can be allocated to adjunct
faculty. To a lesser degree, equipment and operational funds (O&E), which make up less than 20 percent
of the unit’s budget, are also increased based on previous enrollment.
If CSU administrators keep moving up SJSU enrollment targets, units are closely linked to the resources
received by the college. Until Spring 2013 CASA had been in a growth mode for several years and
received additional FTE/S and funding, which has trickled down to the departments and schools for
equipment and other capital outlay. In Spring 2014, however, university officials announced a significant
transfer of 400 FTE/S from CASA to Engineering and the science academic units as part of the
president’s STEM initiative. CASA units were advised by the dean to expect a reduction of FTE/S
allocations.
All JMC School state funding is on a year-by-year basis, and is by no means certain. The JMC School
must now meet and not exceed enrollment targets to qualify for any budgetary increases. The CASA
dean’s office during Summer session 2014 began warning chairs and directors that penalties might be
imposed in Fall 2014 if departments over-enrolled classes and exceeded their FTE/S targets. It was
suggested that the JMC School might incur a significant deficit, which could lead to part-time faculty
cutbacks.
Concurrently a significant decline in journalism degree enrollment has resulted in loss of resources, and
opportunities to add new faculty positions in the JMC School. This budgetary process makes short-term
planning challenging. Unlike a few years ago when SJSU was on a major enrollment push, all university
departments and schools are now impacted, and restrictions on new student admissions change from
semester to semester. For two consecutive years the university closed new admissions in the Spring, and
the waiting list of applicants has risen to 5,000 students.
4. Describe how the resources provided by the institution
compare with similar units on your campus.
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While all department and school budgets are based on enrollment, not all units are funded alike. Some
programs are more expensive than others. Within CASA there is a range of funding from $2,079 to
$7,372 per full-time equivalent student.
The Academic Affairs Division (AAD) Resource Allocation Plan describes the budgeted CSU Operating
Fund (CSUOF), Continuing Education Reserve Fund (CERF), and SSETF new student fee system. It also
describes the allocation of these resources to the colleges and units within the AAD. Each year since
2012, administrators have made midyear adjustments to college FTE/S assignments and corresponding
funding to meet strategic planning enrollment goals.
Beginning in 2011–12, an “all funds” budget approach was used to provide colleges and units within the
AAD sufficient resources to manage base-level operations and support. The “all funds” approach included
the allocation of CSUOF, CERF, and Lottery funds. Prior to 2011–12, only CSUOF were allocated by
AAD to colleges and units. The statewide CSU budget was reduced by $500 million initially, and again
by an additional $150 million, resulting from a shortfall in state revenue projections. The CSU Board of
Trustees passed a 10 percent fee increase in 2011, plus an additional 12 percent fee increase in 2012.
Due to the combination of significant reductions in the state budget allocations and continuing budget
constraints imposed by the ever‐increasing instructional and non‐instructional costs, the AAD CSU
Operating Fund budget remained extremely strained. Since then colleges have been required to engage in
careful strategic planning to manage enrollments in schools and departments to ensure that critical course
sections are provided while supporting student progress to graduation and efforts to increase the
graduation and retention rates.
This is how the university president explains the current resource allocations process online:
“In 2011 –12, the university created and finalized the SJSU Strategic Plan: Vision 2017 and the Academic
Plan. As top administrators prepared for significant budget reductions, the President’s Cabinet decided
that all cost saving and revenue generating activities shall be in alignment with the goals identified by
core principles designed to
Undertake meaningful communication and consultation across all sectors of the university in order to
ensure transparency of the budget process.
Ensure that the safety and well-being of the Spartan community is not compromised.
Maintain and enhance student learning and success by protecting the quality of academic programs and
courses for students. This includes providing critical support to faculty in teaching, scholarly activity and
service activities.
Balance quality and efficiency while meeting the university’s enrollment targets and assessing the impact
and consequences of changes for student learning, accreditation by external entities, and faculty and staff
engagement.
Develop innovative solutions to enhance student learning and success in making progress to degrees and
certificates.
Maintain the university’s critical services and staffing at an adequate level.
Continue to identify new revenue opportunities with aggressive implementation timelines as appropriate.
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Maintain a commitment to the use of technology that has demonstrated evidence or promise of improved
educational effectiveness or a more efficient means of delivering quality services.
Streamline processes and procedures to achieve greater efficiencies across all divisions of the university.
Delay or defer expenditures when feasible.”
While any unit could want/use more funding, the JMC allocation allows successful pursuit of
our educational mission. The current growth mode of the entire college has meant that JMC has
received its pro rata share of the CASA budget allocation. The dean’s office has been very open
to and supportive of individual equipment requests from JMC. At present JMC funding is fair
relative to other units in CASA, and better than other units in the university.
5. List the tuition (including fees) charged during the most
recent academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
Please include undergraduate and graduate tuition,
for both in-state and out-of-state students.
See next page chart with AY 2014–15 information for San José State University
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http://www.sjsu.edu/bursar/fees_due_dates/tuition_fees/fall/index.html
The CSU makes every effort to keep student costs to a minimum. Fees listed in published schedules or
student accounts may need to be increased when public funding is inadequate. Therefore, the CSU must
reserve the right, even after initial fee payments are made, to increase or modify any listed fees, without
notice, until the date when instruction for a particular semester or quarter has begun. All CSU listed fees
should be regarded as estimates that are subject to change upon approval by the Board of Trustees.
CSU Cost Calculator — CSU Net Price & Cost Calculator is designed to allow high school and college
students to estimate student financial aid eligibility information.
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Additional Fees
Non-California Resident Students: Pay the amount in the table (above) plus $372 per unit. For
information on residency rules and regulations, visit Office of the Registrar Residency.
Graduate Students: Students pursuing their second bachelor's degree will be charged as a graduate
student. For those students in the on-campus MBA program and the M.S. in Accountancy program, the
program-related class fees are $254 per unit in addition to amount in table (above). For more information,
please visit Graduate Business Professional Fee Information.
2014-2015 SJSU Student Budgets
Budget Allowances
With Parents
Campus Housing
Off Campus
Room and Board
$4,598
$11,810
$13,050
Transportation
$1,494
$1,390
$1,456
Miscellaneous/Personal
$1,364
$1,364
$1,364
Books and Supplies
$1,826
$1,826
$1,826
**Undergraduate Fees
(6.1 or more units)
$7,324
$7,324
$7,324
**Graduate/Post-Bac Fees
(6.1 or more units)
$8,590
$8,590
$8,590
Undergraduate Total
$16,606
$23,714
$25,020
Graduate/Post-Bac Total
$17,872
$24,980
$26,286
In most categories student fees have increased from one year ago.
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2013-2014 Student Budgets
Budget Allowances
With Parents
Campus Housing
Off Campus
Room and Board
$4,518
$12,404
$12,756
Transportation
$1,495
$1,390
$1,457
Miscellaneous/Personal
$1,337
$1,337
$1,337
Books and Supplies
$1,789
$1,789
$1,789
**Undergraduate Full-Time Fees
$7,303
$7,303
$7,303
Graduate/Post-Bac Full-Time Fees
$8,569
$8,569
$8,569
Credential Full-Time Fees
$8,179
$8,179
$8,179
Undergraduate Total
$16,442
$24,223
$24,642
Graduate/Post-Bac Total
$17,708
$25,489
$25,908
6. Describe fundraising goals and efforts undertaken
by the unit.
University Advancement leads major fundraising efforts at San José State University. In part its mission
states: “We power Silicon Valley by educating the teachers, nurses, engineers, business leaders and others
who give the region its core strength.
We also graduate the venture capitalists and CEOs who shape the valley and drive its future.
We pioneer global innovations in science, engineering, technology, education, business and the arts, and
yet we also serve our local communities in diverse, very personal ways.”
University Advancement assigns each college a fundraising specialist who works with individual
department chairs and faculty to identify and arrange meetings with alumni, business leaders and other
potential donors. From 2009 until 2014, Lane Jimison served as CASA director of development. She and
former Dean Charles Bullock raised $32.5 million dollars for CASA with the assistance of school
directors, department chairs, faculty and students. Jimison was succeeded by Sonya Wright, a former
newspaper reporter.
Planned gifts are a significant part of the fundraising efforts in the JMC School. Jack and Emma
Anderson left the school $8.7 million dollars in 2013. In the year that followed, Jimison, the dean and
JMC Director Rucker raised nearly $300,000 from planned gifts from former faculty, students, graduates
and private donors.
Following several in-depth discussions by full-time JMC School faculty members who represent the
Journalism Executive Council (JEC), a collective decision was reached to ask the dean to endow most of
the Anderson gift, $6.4 million, and set aside $2.3 million for immediate and major technology and
building upgrades in Dwight Bentel Hall.
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Four key projects were identified, discussed and approved by the JEC by the end of 2013. The first of five
major upgrades was the redesign of the Spartan Daily newsroom and its development as a convergence
news center for all journalism students to work together on stories. Next the dean arranged for the analog
TV studio in DBH to be transferred to the control of the JMC School. JEC members then began major
discussions on how to advance the curriculum of the school and upgrade that facility so all three
undergraduate and master’s degree programs could use it. Faculty members also discussed and decided to
expand the DBH 226 multimedia editing lab with additional computers, integrate the new Cisco
Telepresence System in DBH 225 with the proposed TV studio, incorporate a live news ‘update desk’ in
the convergence newsroom, and enhance the overall Web presence with new and separate JMC School
and student media websites with the capacity to stream timely content and multimedia stories 24/7.
Early in Spring 2014, JEC faculty subcommittee members Diane Guerrazzi, Lloyd LaCuesta, Robert
Rucker and Tim Hendrick identified the needs and expectations for the new digital TV studio, and
worked with Tower Foundation to invite and vet contractor bids. ABS Solutions from Washington state
was chosen. It had built digital TV studios for Northwestern University and Columbia College in
Chicago, five facilities for Cisco Systems Incorporated in Silicon Valley, and was currently building the
new studio for the $400 million journalism complex at the University of Southern California. From the
outset ABS President Mark Siegel understood and prioritized the JMC School’s educational mission and
faculty requirements to stay within the budget allocation.
He developed a state-of-the-art equipment list and integration model that would insure SJSU students
would be competitive with USC students. (List of equipment purchased available in the director’s office.)
See in the appendices the ABS Solutions press release announcement, detailed list and cost of new
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technologies ordered for the TV studio and control room. Also attached are the plans developed by the
JEC faculty for the expanded multimedia lab and the new DBH 117 creative suite for advertising and
public relations students working on communications campaigns and projects for real world clients.
7. Describe the unit’s classrooms, offices, computer labs or
other building spaces. If the unit administers university
media or student publications, include a description
of equipment and facilities devoted to those operations.
The JMC School is located in Dwight Bentel Hall (named after the founder of the unit). It is one of the
“original” buildings in the central quad area. The building was completely renovated in 1991 and again in
2006 to provide updated classrooms, computer labs, and media production facilities, as well as housing
the entire faculty in individual offices.
The first floor houses the school office and workspace (DBH 105), the director’s office (DBH 103), the
Brown reading room (DBH 109), equipment checkout (DBH 111), plus a small kitchen (DBH 115),
faculty-staff restrooms, and 10 faculty offices on the ground level.
A large lecture classroom, DBH 133, is capable of seating about 75 students. It is also on the first floor, in
the east wing.
The second floor east wing of DBH houses the new convergence journalism student media newsroom
(DBH 209) where all journalism students gather and work together to discuss and develop stories for
reporting on a variety of media platforms.
Before Fall 2013, this location was the exclusive home of the campus student newspaper, the Spartan
Daily, and its facilities including a newsroom, advertising student lab, an accounting and classified
advertising office, plus a story morgue, and production area. There are two smaller labs included in the
convergence news complex, DBH 209B where photojournalism and multimedia students prepare photos
and videos for student media, and DBH 213, the magazine lab for the production of Access and SHiFT
magazines.
The second floor of Dwight Bentel Hall contains the TV newsroom and production facilities for “Update
News.” In DBH 226 are two multimedia lab/smart classrooms. Here students from all three degree
programs learn entry level and intermediate software and new technologies. At the far end of the second
floor is the Cisco Telepresence smart classroom DBH 225 where students interact with guest speakers
from around Silicon Valley, the state, nation and the world.
The unit administers university media and school publications. This includes a newspaper print and online
publication, a local weekly television newscast, and a semiannual weekly public affairs program
broadcast on a Bay Area PBS station. They are:
The Spartan Daily (3 times a week, 5,500 copies printed daily),
“Update News” (aired weekly each semester) and
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“Equal Time” (aired weekly during the late spring and summer months).
Access magazine has evolved into a newspaper information and entertainment supplement featured
periodically in the Spartan Daily.
The newest student media offering, SHiFT magazine is an innovative student-run magazine focused on
innovation for the common good and being a catalyst for social change in the Silicon Valley. It is
published one to two times a year thanks to a partnership with Hewlett-Packard magazine design staff and
Adobe’s creative design team. It is published in collaboration with the Global Leadership Advancement
Center in the SJSU College of Business.
The Spartan Daily is also considered a lab because several journalism discipline classes now share the
space. It is the largest facility in the building. The newsroom was redesigned in
2013–14 to better teach convergence journalism. Students now bring their own laptop computers to this
lab to produce their stories and multimedia projects. Ten permanent computers remain on the desks of the
student reporting, editing and photo staff members. There are three computers in the multimedia room,
and three desktop computers are housed in the advertising lab next door to the news operation.
In 2014, faculty authorized the acquisition and development of a new student media online portal by
TownNews.com, which provides state-of-the-art online, publishing and revenue solutions. They work
with more than 1,500 news websites, producing more than 1 billion ad impressions, and nearly 750
million page views monthly. Member newspapers include dailies, weeklies, shoppers and specialty
publications from groups and independents in all 50 states and Canada. Their BLOX Content
Management System allows JMC to change the look and feel of the school and student media websites by
a simple click-and-drag interface. The newly named ‘Spartan News Online” digital presence brings
together the efforts of reporting and editing, electronic/broadcast, magazine and photojournalism students.
See more information about the new websites in the Appendix.
“Update News,” has its own production and development facilities for producing the weekly news
broadcasts in DBH 221.
It includes a newly updated digital television production studio, editing facilities, digital cameras,
recording equipment. Eight PC computers for the E-Z News writing and studio teleprompter system now
interface with the high-definition television studio. These are also used for online research, general
reporting, copy scripting and encoding of text to the closed-caption systems.
In the back video production lab, the digital-based video production system was upgraded to Mac OS Xbased systems running Final Cut Pro X. Students have access to digital camcorders. Students also have
access to tripods, an assortment of battery and AC lighting units, handheld and lavalier microphones, and
wireless microphone systems. Each digital station allows students to edit using Final Cut Pro X or I
Movie II. The 30-minute weekly “Update News” program is streamed on the Web and is broadcast on
local PBS stations in the Bay Area. The lab is also used for the production of “Equal Time.”
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8. Describe the unit’s most urgent needs for space or
equipment, if any, and the plan to address these needs.
The JMC School is quite fortunate to be housed entirely in one building on the San José State University
campus. Half of Dwight Bentel Hall, however, is more than 100 years old. It was retrofitted at a cost of
more than $3 million in the early 1990s. Being one of the oldest structures on campus, major
infrastructure issues arise periodically. For example, a week before the start of Fall semester 2014, an
underground steam and water pipe leak created serious water damage and mold issues.
On the first day of class instruction, DBH was closed and the entire office staff, school faculty and 48
sections of classes had to be relocated temporarily on campus for one week. We continue to experience
issues with the building. The crisis highlighted how DBH has become an aging facility with unique
challenges.
As part of future fundraising efforts, the JMC School must have a new capital campaign and focus on
either remodeling the existing structure, or the building of a new facility.
DBH also needs more reliable wireless and Ethernet service to support student and faculty use of the
internet. Because of ongoing and extensive new construction across campus, service has periodically
been interrupted, presenting problems for the JMC School. We have been working with university IT
services to rectify these problems. During Summer 2014 SJSU undertook a major overhaul of all
classroom-based Cisco Telepresence Systems. That effort has made use of DBH 225 more
straightforward and efficient for faculty and students.
More details and updates are available online about SJSU Internet connectivity concerns:
http://its.sjsu.edu/services/internet-connectivity/index.html. An overall online SJSU system status page
provides the campus community with information about current availability of our IT services and
systems.
Since our 2007 self-study and accreditation team visit, we have met and exceeded the goal of upgrading
our electronic/broadcast journalism (“Update News”) facilities to high-definition digital.
We have also made it possible for students working in electronic/broadcast news reporting to have their
stories streamed and viewed alongside the online Spartan Daily student coverage on a new student media
Web portal.
All journalism controlled Dwight Bentel Hall classrooms/labs are “smart rooms,” with overhead
projectors, full video capabilities and Internet access. The new DBH 117 creative space for
advertising and public relations students and faculty, developed during the Summer 2014, now
provides a unique learning space for brainstorming ideas and innovative approaches for joint
communication campaign projects.
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Part II, Standard 8.
Professional and Public Service
Executive summary
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications excels in the area of professional and public
service. Our faculty and students are always developing creative and innovative ways to engage the
public on timely and important issues and public affairs.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Summarize the professional and public service activities
undertaken by the unit. Include operation of campus media
if under control of the unit; short courses, continuing
education, institutes, high school and college press
meetings; judging of contests; sponsorship of speakers
addressing communication issues of public consequence
and concern; and similar activities.
Afghan journalism professors toured Google with Professor Diane Guerrazzi, left of center,
while studying at SJSU during Spring semester 2013.
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Highlights
The JMC School is engaged in long-term partnerships with universities in Afghanistan, broadening the
experience to involve the community.
Faculty members are innovative in leading students to journalism, public relations and advertising
experiences abroad.
High-profile speakers are offered on campus, including a documentary that premiered at SJSU before it
aired on national television.
Individually, faculty members are actively engaged in professional and public service through several
endeavors, among them serving as governor of the American Advertising Federation Western Region.
The school regularly interacts with alumni through direct personal invitations and email blasts to more
than 6,400 former students and graduates.
The JMC School encourages students, faculty and staff members to initiate and participate in professional
and public service activities. Here are examples of our involvement on the international, national and
local levels:
International
The SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications is the recipient of two grants of more than $1
million each to modernize journalism education in Afghanistan. The AJEEP grants (Afghanistan
Journalism Education Enhancement Program) from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul form a partnership
between SJSU and Herat University, and one between SJSU and Balkh University. In fulfilling these
three-plus-year partnerships, JMC professors have carried out many professional and public service
activities, including short courses in annual journalism academies and modules, continuing education,
sponsorship of speakers and partnerships with the Rotary Club of San José. An explanation of the grants,
in the words of the participants, can be found in a short online video: http://youtu.be/u7svVAuhEL8.
Institutes: SJSU organized three Summer Skills Academies to teach aspects of journalism and
journalism education to Afghan professors. SJSU invited professors from other AJEEP partnerships to
attend. More than 25 Afghans and 10 Americans participated in each conference. The first institute, in the
United Arab Emirates in 2012, focused on journalism skills. The second, in India in 2013, concentrated
on developing student media. The third institute, in Istanbul in 2014, was dedicated to pedagogy, as well
as web and mobile journalism applications.
Short Courses: JMC professors created more than 35 modules, containing all-original material, to teach
to Afghan journalism professors and distribute in Afghanistan. The courses, ranging from Research
Methods to Photoshop, each provide six full days of instructional material, directions for teaching and
resources. JMC professors taught and modeled the lessons to the 11 Afghan journalism professors visiting
San José for 11 weeks in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. In turn, the visiting professors took the material to
Afghanistan to incorporate them in the courses they develop. The JMC modules are shared freely with the
NGO “NAI, Supporting Media in Afghanistan,” and with all other AJEEP partners, including Ball State,
University of Arizona and University of Nebraska, Omaha. In addition, the original material created
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serves as a resource for SJSU professors designing related courses. A sampling of the modules can be
found here: www.sjsu.edu/ajeep/resources
Continuing Education: JMC partnered with Rotary of San José to provide firsthand continuing
education about Afghanistan and worldwide freedom of speech. Each of the 11 Afghans who visited
SJSU was paired with a Rotarian, a student and a professor. The ambassadors took the Afghans on trips
such as to Muir Woods National Monument, to movies and into their homes. The group sponsored an oncampus lecture (open to the public) by Fariba Nawa, the journalist who authored the novel, “Opium
Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman’s Journey Through Afghanistan.” JMC also arranged
for SJSU President Mohammad Qayoumi, a native of Afghanistan, to give an open lecture about
Afghanistan’s culture and history. The Afghan professors contributed to several media reports, including
two SJSU-produced news-magazine shows about journalism and cultural differences in Afghanistan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTenGB6Bv5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_NfZI2Qb3E
The JMC School hosted International Women’s Day at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, March 6,
2013. A panel of journalism professors from Afghanistan was featured, speaking about the progress of
Afghan women’s rights, especially as related in the media. The public was encouraged to attend, along
with SJSU faculty and staff members and students.
International requirement: In Fall 2014, the JMC School will be one of four College of Applied
Sciences and Arts (CASA) programs piloting an international requirement for all students. While SJSU
wouldn't be the first CSU campus to require an international experience (San Diego State already does),
CASA would be the first college on this campus to do so. Associate Professor Matt Cabot has been
meeting with former CASA Dean Charlie Bullock and Interim Dean Alice Hines for the past year to plan
this. Under the new requirement, all bachelor’s degree students in the JMC School will be required to
participate in at least one approved international experience during their plan of study. The goal for the
JMC’s international experience requirement is to help prepare students for life, work in an increasingly
globalized world, and introduce them to the “globalized” aspects of their respective disciplines.
Study Abroad Short Courses: For 12 days in January 2012, 32 SJSU students, faculty members and
media professionals visited Cuba to discover and study the Caribbean nation, its people, their concerns
and life experiences in the 21st century.
SJSU journalism students partnered with their counterparts at the University of Arizona to make a
documentary and file news reports from the United Arab Emirates and Oman, Dec. 27, 2013, to Jan. 13,
2014. They produced the documentary “Opening Oman” as well as an episode for “Equal Time.” This
was the JMC School’s second trip to the Middle East. The earlier trip went to Dubai, Al Ain and Sharjah
in the United Arab Emirates in 2011. Students made the documentary “From the USA to the UAE,”
which won top honors in the “Educator” category in the CreaTV awards.
For the fourth year in a row, a group of public relations, advertising and journalism students has traveled
to Europe for a four-week global leadership program. Cabot, an associate professor of public relations,
leads the program, which is designed to help students begin a journey of becoming “globally competent.”
It explores concepts such as globalization, global leadership, global citizenship and corporate social
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responsibility/shared value. Through classroom instruction, interaction with local business leaders and
cultural excursions, this course will help develop students’ “global mindset” through (1) providing
experiential and factual knowledge of world-class cities (Florence, Paris, Madrid and Brussels), (2)
building their abilities to analyze and interpret world events through multiple frames of reference and (3)
establishing the beginnings of a global network of friends, colleagues and contacts.
National
The JMC School hosted a community event presenting Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize journalist and
filmmaker, March 10, 2014. Vargas debuted his documentary “Documented” and received the 2014
William Randolph Hearst Foundation Award. Vargas, former reporter for the Washington Post, founded
Define America, a campaign that seeks to change the conversation on immigration reform in America.
After the public screening and award ceremony, Vargas was joined on stage by JMC School Director Bob
Rucker and lecturer Lloyd LaCuesta as they discussed his documentary, shared personal stories, and
explored immigration issues.
Hillary Clinton spoke at SJSU on April 10, 2014. Christine DiSalvo, JMC public relations lecturer,
organized the event and brought it to SJSU as part of the “Unique Lives and Experiences” speakers’
series. The event was a major success as described in this article in the San José Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_25548158/hillary-clinton-dazzles-crowd-at-san-Joséstate
Sara Ganim, the 24-year-old Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News reporter who broke the Jerry Sandusky story
at Penn State University and received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, was the special guest of
the JMC School Sept. 15-17, 2012. She flew in early, interacted with our student media over that
weekend, then met classes, the local media and the campus community. JMC’s own Pulitzer winner,
Assistant Professor Kim Komenich, joined Rucker in introducing her at a speech open to all the campus
community.
For 10 days in January 2009 the JMC School sent 10 journalism and multimedia students
from diverse San Francisco Bay Area cultural communities on a fact-finding, new-media reporting road
trip through the historic landmarks of the civil rights movement in the South. They traveled to the
inauguration of President Barack Obama, filing reports for CNN all along the way.
On Visual Journalism Day in April 2009, more than 200 students, alums and journalists celebrated the
100th birthday of JMC School founder Dwight Bentel, who had combined reporting, writing and shooting
skills as a pioneering photojournalist for San José and San Francisco newspapers in the late 1920s and
early ’30s. Three Pulitzer Prize recipients – SJSU alumni Steve Starr, Kim Komenich and Doug Parker –
participated in workshops and individual critiques. A student-produced video and testimonials regaled the
honoree, but it took a handful of “blowhards” to help him extinguish the flaming candles on a huge cake
to avoid a conflagration in Bentel Hall.
Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute in Florida, joined SJSU for Visual Journalism Day on April 11,
2012. Other guests included Mel Melcon of the Los Angeles Times, Dai Sugano of the San José Mercury
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News, and Mike Kepka of the San Francisco Chronicle. Students produced photos, stories and videos,
then designed and posted them on a new website, and helped develop a new commemorative magazine
that's now being sold globally on Hewlett-Packard MagCloud.
PRSSA Conference
The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chose 10 chapters to host the 2014 regional
conferences. These conferences were held throughout the country. This was a networking event featuring
local public relations professionals and graduates. San José State University’s conference, “Sincerely,
PR,” was held April 25–27, 2014.
Local
Spuler Media Ethics Symposium
PR Associate Professor Matt Cabot again moderated JMC’s sixth annual media ethics symposium on
April 30, 2014. This year’s symposium addressed “diversity in the media,” and featured a panel
composed of JMC faculty members and Bay Area broadcasters. The Spuler Symposium is named after
Phyllis and Dean Spuler, who met at San José State in the late 1940s as staff members of the Spartan
Daily and the La Torre yearbook. After graduating from SJSU, the Spulers both had successful careers as
professional journalists. The Spuler estate in 2008 created an endowed fund for media ethics in the hope
that students who are passionate about journalism will be able to achieve their goals for generations to
come. Previous symposiums have discussed ethics in public relations, advertising, broadcasting and print
journalism.
Dream Fulfilled, Dream Deferred
This was a community-partnership documentary project in 2013 with the JMC School and a number of
Bay Area social service-neighborhood agencies. The documentary examined the emotional toll gang and
gun violence had on the Bay Area. It was part of the national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of
the March on Washington that asked the timely question: If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today,
what would he say and do about the self-inflicted violence devastating America’s minority communities?
During Fall, the documentary was shown at community centers and schools followed by forums titled
“Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” This was the title of King’s last book.
Steve Lopez Presentation
Los Angeles Times columnist and JMC alum Steve Lopez (class of 1975) received an honorary doctorate
from SJSU on April 29, 2011. He also delivered an inspirational talk to JMC students in a separate
reception. Lopez said he had recalled the advice of his journalism professor, Dwight Bentel, “keep your
eyes and ears open; don’t miss the obvious,” while wandering downtown Los Angeles looking for an idea
for his column. When he heard music, he encountered the source, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr., playing a
two-string violin. Through researching and spending time with Ayers, Lopez wrote a series of
columns featuring the musician, a homeless paranoid schizophrenic. Ayers would become the subject of
“The Soloist.” The 2009 film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx is based on Lopez’s nonfiction
book, “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music.”
Campus Media
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The JMC School publishes the Spartan Daily, which serves the campus community. The newspaper has
been in continuous publication for eight decades. It is funded by advertising revenue, augmented until
Fall 2013, by allocations from Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) funds. Five-thousand-five-hundred
copies are distributed on campus each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning. A 24/7 online
edition, spartandaily.com, is updated as news warrants.
The school also publishes Access magazine six times a year in most years, but occasionally three times a
year, when the budget so dictates. This 24- to 28-page magazine is also funded through advertising and
when available a grant from IRA funds. Circulation is 5,500. In addition, SHiFT, a magazine for social
entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, is printed twice yearly, containing information on the biggest social
issues of our time. Produced through SJSU, it is available on MagCloud. It is partially funded by HewlettPackard.
“Update News” is a weekly broadcast, airing 12 weeks during usual semesters. The 30-minute newscast
focuses on campus and local events, although items of international and national importance are also
included when they are of overwhelming importance or can be localized. “Update News” ran on KTEHTV (PBS) until 2009, when it switched to KICU-TV (Independent). Because of studio renovation in
Dwight Bentel Hall, “Update” temporarily recorded at CreaTV during the academic year 2013-14, and it
was shown on CreaTV. “Update” has also been airing on Comcast channels in San José.
“Equal Time” is a newsmagazine show produced by students at SJSU and airing on KQED+ (PBS).
Every Spring and Summer terms the station airs 13 episodes, which are produced throughout the year.
“Equal Time” consists of two taped segments, showing problems and their solutions, or opposing sides.
The show ends with a roundtable discussion. “Equal Time,” which was off for a season because of
convergence curriculum reorganization, is now in its fourth season on KQED+.
Mosaic
This two-week workshop exists to inspire high school students to pursue careers in journalism and to
improve Bay Area high school journalism. Mosaic, free of cost, is held every summer at San José State
University. High school students work in the campus newsroom and stay overnight in a supervised
dormitory. They learn reporting, writing and photography from professional journalists. Established in
1993, Mosaic has trained hundreds of high school students. The program is limited to 20 students, who
must be current high school sophomores, juniors or seniors. Most applicants are from the San Francisco
Bay Area and California's central coast, but we will accept applications from elsewhere.
Public Relations Day
Every year, hundreds of public relations graduates return to campus for Public Relations Day. This event
brings together faculty members, students and professionals in diverse communications and PR fields to
share their expertise and advice.
2. Provide brochures and other publications that describe the
unit’s professional and public service activities.
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2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner SARA GANIM SPEAKS AT SJSU ABOUT THE PENN STATE UNIVERSITY SCANDAL After meeting with newspaper, magazine and broadcast journalism students during the day, Sara Ganim spoke to more than 300 campus and Bay Area guests from local community colleges. 146
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More than 600 campus and Bay Area community guests attended. Some offered personal stories. 151
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Postcard Invitations were sent throughout the Bay Area and California.
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Dr. D. Michael Cheers introducing Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute. Tompkins has won the National Emmy, the Peabody Award (group award), the Japan Prize, the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel for Court Reporting, seven National Headliner Awards, two Iris Awards and the Robert F. Kennedy Award. He was invited to speak at the JMC School Visual Communications Day and critique journalism student multimedia efforts on their recent trip to Cuba. See his letter to the CASA Dean. 153
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A newsletter from the advertising group posted to http://issuu.com/johndelacruz9 . Other samples of their work are at http://creative‐advertising‐sjsu.tumblr.com.
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3. Describe the unit’s contact with alumni, professionals
and professional organizations to keep curriculum and
instruction current and to promote the exchange of ideas.
(Alumni and professional involvement in the assessment
process will be discussed in Standard 9.)
Faculty and students participate in professional organizations to stay on the leading edge of industry
developments. Memberships include:
AAA (American Academy of Advertising)
AAA (American Association of Advertising)
AAF (American Advertising Federation)
AAJA (Asian American Journalists Association)
ACES (American Copy Editors Society)
AEF (Advertising Educational Foundation)
AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications)
AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists)
AJEEP (Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program)
AMA (American Marketing Association)
BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition)
BEA (Broadcast Education Association)
CASA (College of Applied Sciences and Arts, SJSU)
CCMA (California College Media Association)
CEED (Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity, SJSU)
CFA (California Faculty Association, SJSU)
CMA (College Media Association)
CNBAM (College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers Inc.)
CNAEA (California Newspaper Advertising Executives Association)
CNPA (California Newspaper Publishers Association)
D&AD (Design and Art Direction)
DB&H (Dwight Bentel & Hall Communications)
IAO (International Association of Obituarists)
JACC (Journalism Association of Community Colleges)
NAA (Newspaper Association of America)
NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists)
NAI (Supporting Free Media in Afghanistan)
NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives)
NEEC (National Education Executive Committee)
NSAC (National Student Advertising Competition)
OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans)PRSA (Public Relations Society of America)
PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America)
RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association)
SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television Radio Artists)
SAS (Society for Animation Studies)
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SCUP (Society for College and University Planning)SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists)
SPOW (Society of Professional Obituary Writers)
4. List examples of professional and public service activities
undertaken by members of the faculty in the past six years
(before the self-study year). Please do not refer team
members to faculty vitae for this information. Do not
include service to the unit or institution; this information
should be presented in Standard 4.
The following is a list of key professional and public service activities undertaken by each faculty
member, starting with the JMC School director and then faculty members in alphabetical order:
Bob Rucker
JACC (Journalism Association of Community Colleges) conferences in JMC 2008
NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists)
Co-Founder, GLBT Outreach Ministry, St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church, San José (see website:
http://www.profbob.com/0A1%20Bob%20Rucker%20COMMENTARY.htm
Co-developed and coordinated 2009 trip to President Obama's first Inauguration with D. Michael Cheers.
Developed a website for the trip for SJSU faculty members and students, local, statewide and national
media to monitor and track the trip by 10 students and Cheers through the landmarks of the civil rights
movement in the South. Students offered live television news updates for CNN on their travels.
http://www.profbob.com/Inauguration.htm
Advisory Board of the Justice Studies Court Records Clearing Project
Matt Cabot
Organizer, Spuler Media Ethics Symposiums, 2008–2014
PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America), faculty adviser, 2009–present
PRSSA National Bateman Competition, 2009, faculty adviser
PRSSA Regional Event, Case Study Judge, San José State, 2010
PRSSA Regional Event, Case Study Judge. San José State, 2009
PRSA (Public Relations Society of America)
AEJMC’s Public Relations and Media Ethics Divisions
D. Michael Cheers
Organizer, “Visual Journalism Day,” April 2012
NPPA (National Press Photographers Association)
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Bay Area Press Photographers Association
African Studies Association, AEJMC
Chair, Creative Projects, Visual Communications Division, AEJMC, 2010, 2011, 2012
Advisory Board, Cultural Heritage Center/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San José
Richard Craig
Member of Board of Directors, California College Media Association, August 2014-present.
Member of Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC), International
Communication Association (ICA), Online News Association (ONA), Investigative Reporters and Editors
(IRE).
Reviewer for Mass Communication and Communication and Technology divisions, Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual meetings, 2003-present.
Reviewer for Mass Communication and Political Communication divisions, International Communication
Association annual meetings, 2000-present.
Re-publication and pre-revision reviewer of academic texts for many publishers, including Oxford
University Press, Wadsworth-Thomson Learning, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, Longman, Bedford/St.
Martin’s, Addison-Wesley, and Allyn & Bacon; have reviewed books on media and culture, new media,
reporting and writing, media ethics and other subjects.
Panel member in Bedford/St. Martin’s focus group on trends in introduction to mass communication
courses, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual meeting, Washington,
D.C., August 2013.
Panel organizer for California College Media Association Career Workshop & Awards Banquet, San
José, March 2013.
Technical volunteer at Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet, San Francisco,
September 2012.
Judge at Associated Collegiate Press National College Journalism Convention, San Diego, February
2009.
Panelist on Bedford/St. Martin’s focus group on use of digital media in mass communication courses,
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual meeting, Chicago, August
2008.Annual participant in Walk to End Alzheimer's (formerly known as Memory Walk), San José and
San Francisco, 2007-present.
Helped students prepare for standardized tests, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, December 2008 and
December 2010.
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Chris DiSalvo
SJSU International Salzburg Fellow, 2012
Province of Florence, Italy, Sister-County Commission, Santa Clara County, 2004–present, chair
of commission, 2009–10
PRSA, (Public Relations Society of America, 2004–present)
Rotary Club of San José, April 2000–present
Chair of Rotary Foundation Board, 2010–11
Director, Rotary Club of San José Board, 2012–present
YWCA, Santa Clara Valley, Board of Directors and President, 1997–99
San José Silicon Valley Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, board of directors and vice chair, 1993–98
City of San José Parks & Recreation Commission, 1993–96
South Bay Public Relations Roundtable, president, 1993
San José-Silicon Valley Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, chairperson of Women In Business
Program, 1991
PRSA International Conferences, 2012-San Francisco, 2009-San Diego,
2007-Philadelphia, 2006-Salt Lake City, 2004-New York City
Stephen Eckstone
BEA (Broadcast Education Association)
AMA (American Marketing Association)
Blue Ribbon Panel, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Campus Community Association
Community College League of California
Board of Trustees, San José Repertory Theater
Air Force Association
SJSU Campus Planning Board
Candidate for Governing Board, San José City College
Hispanic Community Affairs Council of Santa Clara County
University of Wisconsin Alumni Association
American Council on Education
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Cynthia Fernald
Completed two freelance PR projects in summer 2011 for W.T. Blase & Associates, a New York Citybased public relations and marketing communications firm that specializes in financial services clients.
These reports help WTB&A more precisely target its PR and marcom efforts; they also provide a baseline
for assessing the success of those activities.
Worked with JMC School Director Bob Rucker in Spring 2011 to provide information to the broader
campus community about the three top candidates for SJSU president. The project included setting up and
managing a WordPress blog for the School of Journalism (http://sjsuprezforum.wordpress.com).
Served as liaison to and volunteer coordinator for the 2010 JACC (Journalism Association of Community
Colleges) NorCal conference, held Nov. 6 at San José State. Since a majority of the students in our majors
transfer to SJSU from area community colleges, it's important for the school to maintain visibility within
JACC.
Co-led (with Steve Sloan) a Technology Innovators Learning Community discussion session on blogging
in the classroom on Sept. 10, 2008. The session, sponsored by the SJSU Center for Faculty Development,
was recorded and made available as a podcast on iTunes U.
Lisa Fernandez
Board member at Temple Beth Abraham, Oakland
Managing editor for synagogue newsletter July 2010 to present
Chairwoman of synagogue publicity committee
Hebrew school tutor to fourth grade
Past PTA Secretary for Chabot Elementary School, Oakland
San José Mercury News, Best Large Newspaper in State, CNPA (California Newspaper Publishers
Association) 2012 Better Newspaper Contest
First place for “local breaking news,” team coverage of Cupertino quarry shooting, by CNPA 2012
Winner of Digital First Media’s “IdeaLab” contest 2012
Knight Digital Media Conference fellow, June 2011
Children’s Institute of Literature, graduated with certificate in writing children’s stories
Led workshops at Mercury News on telling stories through videos
Former contributing writer for www.newsvideographer.com
Former monthly columnist on how to "cover culture" for the Maynard Institute in Oakland
Winner of several Mercury News awards for sophisticated reporting, teamwork, cultural sensitivity
Winner of several East Bay Press Club awards for feature writing, cultural writing
Scott Fosdick
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Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (church choir, occasional committee)
PACT (People Acting in Community Together)
SJSU (university-level) sustainability board, CFA (California Faculty Association)
executive board
SJSU (college-level committees) CASA RTP (member, chair), CEED (Committee to Enhance Equity and
Diversity)
SJSU (school-level committees) technology, curriculum, graduate (member, chair), personnel
Magazine Division Head, AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications),
2007-08
Diane Guerrazzi
Rotary of San José: international service committee, International House committee, membership
committee, 2010–present
Parents Helping Parents, San José Board, 2010–11
Chair, BEA Festival of Media Arts hard news competition, 2011–12
Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow, 2011
California Alumni Association
Prytanean Society for service to UC Berkeley
AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications)
BEA (Broadcast Education Association)
AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists)
RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association)
NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives), Faculty Fellow
Edward R. Murrow Awards judge
CreaTV Awards judge
Gabriel Awards judge
Tim Hendrick
Governor of Western Region, AAF (American Advertising Federation)
NEEC (National Education Executive Committee), committee member
Board member, Silicon Valley Advertising Club
Managing director, DB&H Communications (MCom199) on-campus, student advertising and public
relations agency handling 12–15 on- and off-campus clients yearly in a variety of industries
Coach for National advertising competitions (AAF, EdVentures), 3 national winning teams in 4 years
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Faculty adviser, Spartan Ad Club
AAF District 14 Coordinator of Regional ADDYS, Advertising Industry Creative Awards. Arranged
judges and judging facilities
AAA (American Advertising Association)
Board Member, SJSU President's Strategic Planning Board
Book Review, Selling Electronic Media
Book Review, New Media and Advertising: Issues and Perspectives
CNBAM (College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers Inc.) 2004–2011
Seminars on Retail Advertising and Communications, Managing your College Newspaper, Dealing with
Difficult Clients
Organized student involvement for actual industry presentation event
CCMA (California College Media Association) last 6 years seminars on effective advertising in college
media
American Advertising Federation, lieutenant governor, 2013–present
Western Regional management of the AAF advertising clubs
Morgan Hill Community Partnership, chairman 2011–present, (organization is a 501c3 responsible for
business education in the local community)
CCMA, vice president, Board member, 2005–present. Responsible for advertising and editorial training
for college newspaper staffs throughout the state of California
Silicon Valley Advertising Club (division of AAF), vice president of marketing communications, past
president
Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, vice president, executive board committee member; acting chair,
2008; chairman of the board, 2009; chair, economic development committee; co-chair, tourism
committee; chair, ”Taste of Morgan Hill” event marketing
Halima Kazem
Panel speaker, 2012 Amnesty International national conference in Denver
Nominee, 2012 Ginetta Sagan Award, recognizing women for their work to protect the liberty and lives
of women and children where human rights violations are widespread.
Edited 2013 media freedom report for NAI (Supporting Free Media in Afghanistan)
Co-organized SJSU International Women's Day Event, March 2013
Interviewed on NPR as an Afghanistan expert
Kim Komenich
Delivered TEDx Talk, “The Moments that Bring Us Together,” in 2014 at San José State.
Presented at National Press Photographers Immersion video workshop at Syracuse University in 2014.
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Taught as an ongoing 19-year instructor at University of Missouri Photo Workshop in 2014.
Presented at Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley in 2014.
Conducted video workshop for inmates at San Quentin in 2014.
Curator for “The Iconic Image” at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, in November, 2013,
as part of the commemoration of the JFK assassination.
Presented at exhibition tour for “Revolution Revisited,” opened by President Benigno Aquino, III at
Manila’s Ayala Museum in February 2011, and at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis in May
2011; currently being shown by the National Steinbeck Center at CSU Monterey Bay.
Fellow at Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, Columbia University.
Presenter annually at Journalism Association of Community Colleges conferences.
Site team member for ACEJMC, 2014-16.
Chairman of “Best of the Web” international competition, AEJMC, Visual Communication
Division, 2012-present; elected co-chair for 2015.
Selected by peer-review and presented “Revolution Revisited” at “What is Documentary” conference at
University of Oregon, along with his documentary film “Cowboys” at Viscom 28, Rhode Island, both in
2014.
Lloyd LaCuesta
Emcee, University of St. Thomas: awards dinner, San Francisco, 2008; fundraiser, South San Francisco,
2011
Board of directors meeting, Unity: Journalists of Color, Chicago, 2008
Judge, Yuchengco Journalism scholarship, San Francisco, 2008
Interviewed with ESPN in 2008 for documentary on Tommie Smith-John Carlos black glove protest at
1968 Olympics in Mexico City
Emcee, military honor gathering in San Francisco, 2008
Emcee/panelist, Unity: Journalists of Color convention, Chicago, 2008
Emcee for Spirit of Japantown Festival, San José, 2008
Emcee, Philippine International Aid fashion show fundraiser, various San Francisco hotels, 2008–13
Facilitator/speaker/moderator for AAJA (Asian American Journalists Association) Executive Leadership
Program, 2008 in San Francisco; 2009 in Washington, D.C.; 2010 in New York City
Emcee/panelist, AAJA national convention, Boston, 2009
Emcee, Asian Pacific Fund fundraising dinner, San Francisco, 2009
Emcee, Domestic Violence forum, South San Francisco, 2010 and 2011
Panelist, AAJA national convention, Detroit, 2011
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Graduation speaker, Skyline College, South San Francisco, 2012
Panelist, Unity: Journalists of Color national convention, Las Vegas, 2012
Received outstanding service award, OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans), Millbrae. 2012
Honored for outstanding journalism service, SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists), San Francisco,
2012
Speaker, Young Filipinos Association organization, San Francisco, 2012
Emcee, West Coast Cable TV Awards Show, San José, 2013
Emcee, Fred Koramatsu Day, SJSU, January 2014
Judge/presenter for CreaTV San José Awards, February 2014
Emcee, CAAM (Center for Asian American Media) celebrity chef fundraiser, San Francisco, March 2014
Organized Jose Antonio Vargas film showing at SJSU, March 2014
Moderator, San José Mayoral Debate in District 9, March 2014
Panelist, Spuler Ethics Symposium at SJSU, April 2014
Faculty assistant to Sameera Gokal Foundation study abroad program in Kenya, Africa, May 16-31, 2014
Mack Lundstrom
SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists), Adviser, SJSU student chapter
ACES (American Copy Editors Society)
IAO (International Association of Obituarists), Alfred, N.Y., conference 2007
SJSU boot camp instructor, Dow Jones News Fund editing interns. 1992-2008
Organized Investigative Reporting Day featuring panelists David Willman of the Los Angeles Times,
Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle and Mark Katches of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
moderated by Burt Robinson of the San José Mercury News in September 2008
Coordinated 100th birthday celebration for JMC School founder Dwight Bentel held in conjunction with
Visual Journalism Day in April 2009
SPOW (Society of Professional Obituary Writers), Toronto conference 2013
Kathleen Martinelli
Wrote AJEEP (Afghanistan Journalism Education Enhancement Program) course on Introduction to
Public Relations
High school and college press meetings
Reviewed articles for American Journal of Political Science (1) and
for Journal of Public Relations Research (2)
Emceed JMC Convocation and Scholarships and Awards banquet, 2009
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Board of directors of OUTREACH Inc., paratransit (elected position)
Dona Nichols
Presenter for journalism, Laurel Wood Elementary School Career Day, 2013
Working on a documentary about a civil rights pioneer.
Panelist for SJSU screening of “Miss Representation,” a documentary that explores how the media’s
misrepresentations of women have led to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and
influence, 2011.
Served on the SJSU Homecoming selection committee that resulted in the historic choice of the first
African-American homecoming king and queen in university history, 2013.
Tim Mitchell
Facilitator with MLK Library for digitizing Spartan Daily issues from 1934 to 2009. Established
international ScholarWorks online database of digitized Spartan Daily issues, 2009–present. Reports
show high downloads for the school's newspaper from this source.
Judge, San José CreaTV contest entries
Attended SJSU/MagCloud advisory meetings at Hewlett-Packard Company
Attended professional development workshops at Adobe, Lynda.com and SJSU
Worked with City of San José, San José police and SJSU MCOM-70 students for anti-graffiti
identification and eradication
Professionally designed and produced a logo, multiple posters, postcards, advertisements and collateral
materials for the San José Fountain Blues Festival (clients included the San José Downtown Association,
San José Jazz and the festival promoter)
Produced iCampusTimes (mobile application) online identity and visuals for JMC School. Visual
iterations required multiple versions for Android, Apple iPhone, iPad and Apple Retina displays.
Larry Sokoloff
Member, California State Bar
Mediator and arbitrator through Santa Clara County Superior Court programs
Member, Santa Clara County Bar Association 2010-2012
Fundraising volunteer, Bubb Elementary School PTA, Mountain View, CA.
Member, education committee, Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto, CA.
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Diana Stover
Organized, hosted and gave lectures for 22-member China Chongqing Culture Industry Management
Delegation to SJSU, 2012. Conducted libel law workshops at SJSU for JACC (Journalism Association of
Community Colleges), 2008, 2009, 2010
Refereed Publications & Refereed Convention Papers:
 Egyptian Demonstrators Use of Twitter: Tactics, Mobilization, and Safety (2012, May 10)
First author with Sanchez, Dannah; Gerring, Matthew: and Hassan, Sara. In Proceedings of the
International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design, Istanbul,
Turkey.
 Information Needs and Self-Efficacy: Internet Use by Women with Breast Cancer (2009).
Second author with Barbara Arroyo. Social Marketing Quarterly, 15(1), 102-117.
 The Internet: Antidote to Global Media Giants and State-Censored Media (2009, July 17).
Paper presented to the International Conference on Journalism in the Association and
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
 Framing the War in Georgia: Coverage in Georgian, Russian, and American Newspapers
(2009, June 26). Second author with Ekaterine Basilaia. Paper presented to the International
Conference on Beyond East and West: Two Decades of Media Transformation after the Fall of
Communism, International Communication Association and Central European University,
Budapest, Hungary.
 The 2008 Olympics: A Framing Study of China’s Image in Asian Newspapers (2009, March
21). Paper presented to the International Symposium on China’s Rise and Its Impact on Asia:
Democratization, Development and Culture, University of Louisville, Kentucky, March 20-22,
2009.
Presentations
 Presenter, “Digital Divide in New Media Use Between Female and Male High Achieving
Adolescents,” at the pre-conference workshop on “Communication and ‘The Good Life’
Around the World After Two Decades of the Digital Divide” Partnership for Progress on the
Digital Divide (PPDD), International Communication Association, Seattle, May 22, 2014.
 Responder, research paper session on scholarship on Greater China, Chinese Communication
Association, International Communication Association, Seattle, May 23, 2014.
 Reception speaker, Chinese Communication Association, International Communication
Association, Seattle, May 22, 2014.
 Discussant, research paper session on “What’s New in Our News? Understanding Today’s
News Consumption and Its Features,” Communication Technology Division, AEJMC
(Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications) Annual Convention,
Denver, Aug. 7, 2010.
 Presenter, “Knowledge Gained, Knowledge Lost: Media Campaigns in Thailand” at preconvention workshop on “Feminization of HIV/AIDS and Media: Responses and Case
Studies,” International Division and the Commission on the Status of Women, Association for
Education in Journalism, Denver, Aug. 5, 2010.
 Presenter, “Take This Presentation and Get It Published,” Mass Communications Division,
Western Social Science Association Annual Conference, Reno, NV, April 17, 2010.
 Discussant, research paper session on “Media in the World,” Mass Communications Division,
Western Social Science Association Annual Conference, Reno, NV, April 16, 2010.
 Presenter, teaching workshop for faculty on “Middle East in the Classroom,” AEJMC Annual
Convention, Chicago, Aug. 5, 2008.
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Nonconference Workshops
 Presenter at daylong workshop for high school and community college faculty on “Teaching
Peace, Teaching Non-Violence: Strategies for Educating our Students about the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict,” San José State University, April 19, 2013. Presentation on “Looking at
the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Through the Lens of the Media.”
 Developed and taught two modules for visiting professors to the school from Afghanistan in
Fall semester, 2012, and in Spring semester, 2013 — six lectures on entertainment around the
world and six lectures on news and information in traditional and social media around the
world.
 Instructor for the Dow Jones West Coast Center for Editing Excellence (2008). The annual
two-week intensive editing workshop at the school was for students selected in a national
competition to work as Dow Jones interns on metropolitan newspapers.
Special Speaking Engagements:
 Guest speaker on “Role of Al-Jazeera and Twitter in the Toppling of Mubarak in
Egypt,” Lions Club, Palo Alto, Nov. 8, 2011.
 Co-presenter at workshop for Municipal Managers Association of Northern California.
Presentation on “Designing Effective Questionnaires for Public Policy Research,”
Cupertino City Hall, May 14, 2008.
 Laura Mulvey’s Psychoanalytic Argument: Does it Fit Hindi Cinema? (2008, Aug. 6). Second
author with Ananya Sensharma. Paper presented to the Visual Communication Division,
AEJMC Annual Convention, Chicago.
Miscellaneous:
 Participated in a SJSU educational trip to Cuba, Jan. 7-18, 2013. While in Cuba, I visited
journalists’ organizations and interviewed an editor who traveled with both Castro brothers
when they made trips within Cuba.
 Served as an ambassador to an Afghan faculty member in 2011-2012, as a contact before his
arrival and as his academic host when he was at San José State University. The ambassador
program was sponsored by the San José Rotary.
 Interviewee on “The global impact of American media” on an hourlong interview and listener
call-in program on Australian Public Radio, Oct. 11, 2009.
Bill Tillinghast
West Coast Editing Internship Residency Director and Instructor, SJSU boot camp, Dow Jones News
Fund editing interns. 1986-2008.
The Newspaper Guild
AEJMC
ACES
SPJ
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IRE
Thomas Ulrich
Correspondent for Wines and Vines, the voice of the wine industry
Fellow, Napa Valley Writer’s Symposium (twice)
Research coordinator for both HP and Adobe joint ventures with SJSU
5. Describe the role of professional and public service
in promotion and tenure decisions. Describe travel
funding or other support by the unit for faculty
involvement in academic and professional associations
and related activities.
The university encourages faculty members to participate in the community and even take a leadership
role in various governmental and nonprofit organizations. Volunteer service, however, plays a minor role
in the university’s policies regarding tenure and promotion.
The overwhelming emphasis is placed on scholarly, professional or creative activity. RTP committees,
however, do consider “public service” activities that have a strong professional connection. Professors
who serve on panels or give workshops for professional groups, or for community groups, are given
credit in such categories as “professional” activity or “contributions to the community.” Major leadership
in a community organization is also considered a plus.
The School encourages faculty involvement and leadership in academic and professional organizations by
partially funding travel and registration fees. In recent years, severe budget restraints have cause a major
reduction in the amount of funding. If a JMC faculty person is an officer of an organization, participating
in a panel, or giving a paper, the JMC School tries to provide, when funds are available, up to a maximum
$1,000 per person for airfare, hotel and registration fees. Travel funds provided by state budgets are
practically nonexistent so funding is usually done through discretionary funds. Those are funds generated
from gifts by former students and graduates directly to the school. In most cases, when several JMC
School faculty members desire to attend the same meeting (such as AEJMC), the school tries to give
some support to cover expenses.
6. Describe the unit’s support of scholastic (high school)
journalism, including workshops, visiting lectures,
critiques of student work, etc.
Many journalism/communications programs at the secondary and community college levels have been
curtailed or eliminated in recent years. This reduces exposure of the career field and of the SJSU
programs among this critical student market. Still, when possible, our school Recruitment Committee
members and other JMC faculty members work with journalism and mass communications teachers at the
high school and community college level. We understand that a decrease in college journalism
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enrollments nationwide means more outreach is vitally needed. The biggest challenge we face with new
student recruitment is the already heavy workload of JMC School faculty members.
Invitations to Bay Area High Schools and Community Colleges
Several faculty members have connections to and previous experience in the community colleges. SJSU
alumni constitute the faculty at some regional community colleges. The JMC School has renewed its
longstanding relationship with Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) in a major way.
We have surveyed and identified programs for information updates and recruitment. Among them are:
Bay Area Schools
Advisers
Cabrillo College
Evergreen Valley College
San José City College
West Valley College
De Anza College
Mission College
Ohlone College
College of San Mateo
Las Positas College
Skyline College
City College of San Francisco
Merritt College
Laney College
Contra Costa College
Gavilan College
Solano Community College
Diablo Valley College
Los Medanos College
College of Marin
Bradley Kava, journalism program chair
Ralph Nichols, journalism professor & JMC adjunct
Farideh Dada, journalism professor & JMC alumna
Janine Gerzanics, journalism professor
Cecilia Deck, journalism dept. coordinator
Margaret Juncker, English dept. chair
Rob Dennis, journalism instructor/Monitor adviser
Ed Seubert, professor
Melissa Korber, mass communications professor
Nancy Kaplan-Biegel
Juan Gonzales, journalism dept. chair
David Morales, communications dept. chair
Burt Dragin, journalism dept. chair
Paul DeBolt, journalism dept. chair
Jan Janes, professor
Samanda Dorger, journalism professor
Mary Mazzocco, journalism dept. chair
Cindy McGrath, publications adviser & SJSU alumna
Frank D. Crosby, journalism professor
The statewide JACC has regularly moved the sites for its annual fall north and south conferences. The
JMC School last hosted the conference in 2008 and plans to invite JACC back for another time.
Faculty members and, at times, students from the journalism program give guest presentations in various
classes and also participate in “career” fairs. In recent years faculty and students at Bay Area community
colleges and high schools have been invited to special JMC School events and learning experiences.
Among them were the six annual Spuler Symposiums focused on media ethics, the Hearst Award
presentations to Pulitzer Prize winners Sarah Ganim in 2012, and Jose Antonio Vargas in 2014.
Some of our faculty members have worked at several community colleges over the years. Many continue
to provide curriculum information and advising. One objective of this outreach, of course, is to connect
early with high school graduates and community college students, and excite their interests in studying
advertising, journalism or public relations at San José State University.
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Tours, Open Houses at the University
The JMC School, as well as the university, has open houses or especially arranged tours for high school
and community college students year round. The Watsonville High School Video Academy, for example,
has annually visited the broadcast news area of the School for more than 10 years. As many as 50
students are taken on a tour of the facilities, watch students work on “Update News,” and talk to various
faculty members. They also visit the Spartan Daily newsroom and talk with faculty advisors. As a result
of these visits many students, especially from underrepresented communities come to the JMC School for
their baccalaureate studies.
Another project is done in partnership with the Rotary Club of San José. Each year, students attending
Washington Elementary School visit the JMC School as part of a campus tour of several departments in
the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.
These students, for the most part, come from low-income Hispanic families and this is their first time on a
college campus. The idea is that such a visit enlarges their world view, and they learn more about such
fields as advertising, public relations and journalism.
Faculty also gives individualized tours for prospective students and their parents. When a high school
senior makes an inquiry, the JMC director normally encourages them to visit
the campus during the semester and observe classes. During the summer months the director meets with
all new freshmen, their parents and community college transfer students. Each semester, approximately
50 prospective students make appointments with individual faculty or the journalism office for a tour and
discussion.
SJSU makes a concerted effort to recruit freshman students. The university has greatly enhanced its
efforts to hold orientations for prospective students in the spring and for freshman and transfer students
throughout the summer. The university’s “outreach” office also mails informational brochures to all
prospective students on a regular basis. The college provides departments with new student contact
information, and the JMC School reaches out to them via email and telephone to welcome and update
them.
Special Events/Programs
An important part of the JMC School learning experience is connecting students with media professionals
representing all degree programs. In 2013, distinguished SJSU public relations graduate Jon Iwata, senior
vice president of marketing for IBM, served as the keynote speaker at PR Day held in the Student Union.
Iwata oversaw IBM’s “Watson Project” showcased on the nationally televised game show “Jeopardy.” He
explained to a crowd of 160 people how “Cognitive systems like Watson transform how organizations
will think, act, and operate in the future.”
That same year PR faculty members hosted "Take Flight With PR" where several hundred students on
campus got to meet some of the media talent in the Silicon Valley.
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A list of speakers at a recent PR event.
State and National High School Journalism Conventions
The JMC School sends one or more faculty to the state convention of high school journalists and their
advisors, where they staff a School of Journalism booth and gave several presentations about online
journalism.
Spartan Daily, Access and SHiFT Magazine
High schools and community college teachers receive copies of the Spartan Daily and Access magazine.
The newest student produced magazine, SHiFT, focuses on timely global issues and topics. It is
distributed worldwide on the HP MagCloud. It is hoped the profiles in SHiFT can inspire students.
7. Describe the unit’s methods for communicating with
alumni, such as newsletters or other publications. Attach
copies of publications during the previous academic year.
(These documents can be placed in the appendices binder.)
The JMC School has used various methods to communicate regularly with alumni. Since 1873, the San
José State University Alumni Association has endeavored to connect graduates to their alma mater. In
recent years the JMC School had worked with the alumni association to monitor the progress of its
graduates. We have identified and communicated with more than 2,800 advertising, public relations and
journalism graduates through email blasts several times a year.
In 2014, the JMC School launched a major online initiative. Regular mail postcards and email blasts were
sent to our graduates inviting them to reconnect and “Catch Up” with us via the JMC School Director’s
website. This information will migrate to the new JMC website by the end of 2014.
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http://www.profbob.com/0%20Alumni%20SJSU%20Journalism%20Advertising%20Public%20Relations.htm
It provides alumni with the opportunity to learn about new developments in the JMC School and on
campus, send in videos that share information about their lives and careers, and offers them a survey to
help us update their contact info. They can also identify their interest in being a mentor for current
students or a “guest professor” for a day.
The second vehicle of communication to everyone, including alumni, is the school’s Web site
(www.jmc.sjsu.edu), which was recently completely revamped and upgraded. It now serves as global
portal for JMC School news, announcements, and information for prospective students. It also provides a
showcase for current student and faculty stories, videos and multimedia presentations.
In addition, the various degree programs and concentrations communicate with their alumni on an
occasional informal basis. The Spartan Daily also maintains an email list of current and former staffers;
the advertising program and ad club have Facebook and Yahoo chat groups; magazine, photo and
broadcast coordinators maintain email lists of former students to keep them informed about the
developments. The JMC School director also has a YouTube channel where video updates are posted, and
a Facebook page for semiannual convocation announcements.
8. Describe the involvement of alumni in the unit’s
educational and public-service programs (placement,
internships, fundraising, curriculum development, etc.) and
in advisory or visitors’ boards.
Alumni are actively involved in many School activities.
Guest Speakers in the Classroom
A large number of guest speakers in the classroom are alumni who are more than willing to take the time
to share their experiences and knowledge with the students. It is estimated that more than half of the guest
speakers in a single academic year are graduates of the JMC School. This is made possible by the fact that
a large percentage of the school’s alumni live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Faculty alumni
Several alumni serve as either full- or part-time JMC faculty members. During the spring semester 2014,
alumni serving as lecturers included Christine DiSalvo, Dona Nichols, Cynthia Fernald, Tom Ulrich, and
Lloyd LaCuesta. Matt Cabot, a full-time faculty member, received his M.S. degree and Kim Komenich
his B.S. from the JMC School.
Internships
A large percentage of employers offering internships to students are graduates of the JMC School. In the
case of large organizations such as Hewlett Packard, Cisco, NBC Bay Area, and the San José Mercury
News, the internship opportunity is the result of an alumnus in the organization proposing it and offering
to supervise the intern. The broad and deep network of successful working alumni professionals in the
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Bay Area is a major selling point in student recruiting, and greatly enhances internship and career
employment opportunities.
Gifts
Scholarships, endowments and planned giving to the JMC School have become the vehicle of choice for
many alumni. Of the 20 gifts we have received, 75 percent are the result of a donation or an endowment
established by an alum or friends of a graduate. Former faculty members and students have also worked
with the school director and SJSU advancement to develop gifts to the school as part of their wills.
Special gifts have also been offered in the name of students and faculty at their deaths. In the past year
nearly $300,000 in planned gifts and memorials have been pledged.
See on the next page the JMC School list of endowments:
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Fundraising
The JMC School receives donations from alumni via the University Annual Fund and an annual director’s
appeal. Recently, fund development has become a major priority of the JMC director, the college and the
university. In 2013 Director Rucker developed the first Strategic Marketing Plan for the JMC School at
the request of an SJSU business graduate in Los Angeles. He has used that plan to inform business and
private donors statewide about the many successful media graduates from San José State University.
Advisory Boards
At present, the school doesn’t have an alumni advisory board. The director maintains a “kitchen cabinet”
of top professionals — mostly alumni — who advise on many school matters.
Convergence journalism/broadcasting and photojournalism faculty members make extensive use of
alumni. Neither advertising nor journalism maintains an active advisory board. JMC Faculty continue to
attract the interest of local, regional and national media professionals. Many offer guidance on the everchanging needs of their media industries.
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Part II, Standard 9.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Please attach the unit’s written plan for assessment of student learning outcomes. This plan must include the dates
of its adoption and of implementation of its components.
Executive summary
San José State University requires that each department/school have an assessment plan. The School of
Journalism and Mass Communications in June 2014 completed a report that was part of the
comprehensive university assessment plan for national accreditation by WASC, the Western Association
of Schools and Colleges. It is attached at the end of this standard. JMC School assessment efforts dating
back to 2007 are posted on the university website:
http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/faculty/programrecords/CASA/Journalism/index.html
In AY 2013 – 2014 the JMC School Assessment Committee developed a strategy and process that could
accommodate both WASC and ACEJMC needs. (Attached is the complete JMC School WASC report
submitted before the June 1 deadline. See this self-study at the end of Standard 9. The full JMC faculty
approved four overarching goals (or Program Learning Objectives) for all JMC classes that were drawn
from the 12 ACEJMC guidelines. They are listed below in number 1.
Regarding our students and alumni, we are very proud of their accomplishments. We know we can do a
better job of increasing alumni involvement and support. In recent years we have improved our
communications and developed plans for continuing outreach.
Please respond to each of the following instructions:
1. Provide the unit’s definition of goals for learning that
students must achieve. If this definition is incorporated into
the plan for assessment, a page reference will suffice.
JMC School Mission Statement
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications embraces the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley,
emphasizing the cultural and intellectual diversity, the First Amendment and the free flow of ideas. The
school prepares students to excel in advertising, journalism, and public relations by teaching professional
skills and advanced information technologies, developing the capacity for critical and original thinking
and fostering creativity and a passion for communications.
From the mission statement, the faculty developed Program Learning Objectives (PLOs) that can be
used to assess student learning in the school. They are based on the national standards by the ACEJMC.
Our four PLOs are:
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PLO 1 — Global perspective/cultural competence:
Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to communications.
PLO 2 — Critical thinking:
Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently.
PLO 3 — Concise and effective print, visual and audio reporting:
Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences
and purposes they serve.
PLO 4 — Clarity in writing, visual and audio production:
Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in
which they work.
In each PLO we give careful consideration to diversity, media literacy and career sustainability.
To do so, we have adopted the following Goals and Objectives in our 2010-2015 Five-Year JMC School
Strategic Plan:
Goals: The JMC School recognizes and prioritizes the following:
To contribute to the continuing professional development of a media field through faculty participation
and leadership in the appropriate academic and professional societies;
To contribute new knowledge to the field through faculty research and faculty supervision of student
research at the graduate level;
To advance our long-term commitment to multimedia education and research by developing partnerships
with professional media and high-tech companies throughout Silicon Valley, the nation and the world.
To raise the profile of the school in the communications industry and the global community through
timely, interesting, and dynamic media productions and research produced by school faculty and students.
To connect undergraduate and graduate students with leading professional and academic trendsetters
through school sponsorship of professionally affiliated student organizations, mentoring and consulting
opportunities.
Objectives: The JMC School is committed to the following:
Developing a dynamic learning environment through an innovative multimedia educational approach that
enables a free flow of diverse ideas, critical thinking and the creative and responsible use of new
technology.
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Advertising, journalism, public relations and mass communications graduate students are part of a
comprehensive and ever-evolving educational process that focuses on:
Learning
We value a broad based liberal arts education and intellectual curiosity above all. The academic freedom
of faculty and students is vital to our role of promoting life-long learning through intellectual inquiry,
scholarship and the pursuit of knowledge.
Student and faculty success
We place our highest priority on ensuring the academic success and personal growth of everyone in the
San José State University community.
Excellence
We hold ourselves to the highest standards and support continual improvement and innovation in all we
do.
Integrity
We are accountable for our actions and expect honesty and fairness in all our work and interactions.
Diversity and social justice
We value and respect diversity, inclusion, civility and individual uniqueness, and recognize the strength
these factors bring to the learning environment, our community and the world. All of our interactions
should reflect trust, caring and mutual respect.
Globalization
We are committed to globalizing our curriculum to ensure that our graduates appreciate, contribute to and
compete effectively in a global marketplace. We also aim to promote international opportunities for
faculty and students.
Sustainability
We are committed to sustainability in all areas, not just environmental, but also social sustainability.
Community and service
We value collaborative relationships within and beyond the campus to best serve our mission.
See university policies on program assessment online: http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/faculty/programs
2. Describe the involvement of journalism and mass
communication professionals, including alumni, in the
assessment process.
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In reorganizing our curriculum and assessing its effectiveness from 2012 to 2014, the JMC School has
sought advice from experts within the university, other academic institutions, and our alumni.
Three JMC alumni — Kim Komenich, Lloyd LaCuesta and Dona Nichols — are members of the faculty.
They were involved with the process from the beginning. The opinions of other alumni were also sought,
particularly those who have been successful moving into digital media.
In April 2013, as changes to the curriculum were being planned, advisers to the Spartan Daily sought out
the opinions of the Daily’s professional advisory board, which contains many alumni.
Among those alums who responded were:
Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
David Willman, Los Angeles Times
Doreen Carvajal, New York Times International Edition
Mark Katches, The Oregonian
Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle
Ryan Sholin, Gannett
Additionally, in February 2014 the JMC School sent out a survey to its alumni that included questions
relevant to assessing the value of our classes and faculty. Nearly 200 alumni have responded, including
21 from within the past two years as our curriculum changes have gone into effect.
More than 60 percent of recent grads listed our current courses as among the most significant strengths
of the JMC School (second only to faculty). Across the entire sample, the number identifying our
curriculum as a strength rises to 67 percent.
Beyond this, the survey asked alumni what changes they might suggest for strengthening JMC’s media
degrees for future students. There was much praise for the long-standing qualities of the JMC School, but
many of the comments looking forward urged that our curriculum and student media continue to evolve
and reflect the new digital media landscape of the 21st century.
3. Describe the collection and reporting of data from both
direct and indirect assessment measures and how the unit
used its analysis of the data to improve curriculum,
instruction, etc. Provide copies of any end-of-year
assessment reports. written assessment plan for the
master’s program. Provide any end-of-year assessment
reports. If there are multiple reports from the six-year
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period, summarize the findings and make the reports
available in the appendices or in the workroom.
Collection of data for JMC assessments
Data on JMC students are collected both qualitatively and quantitatively through several methods
throughout their academic career at San José State University. The information is gathered to meet
assessment requirements of the university for WASC accreditation and for the school’s reaccreditation by
ACEJMC. The latter information ensures that the overall course requirements in the school’s three
undergraduate majors — advertising, journalism, and public relations — provide students with the
necessary mastery of the 12 ACEJMC program objectives in addition to specific major and course skill
and knowledge requirements.
Essentially, the three majors each require a common conceptual, or substantive core composed of courses
focusing on law, research, global communications, press and the public, in addition to the specific skill
set necessary to qualify for an entry-level position upon graduation or advancement to a master’s degree
program.
The information is gathered from observation, testing, and self-reporting from at least three levels:
Individual course projects, portfolios, quizzes and texts in each course over a five-year rotation of courses
for assessment;
Professional advancement from a mandatory six-week (240 hours) internship at an appropriate agency,
corporation or media organization as well as a capstone course, such as the school newspaper, the Spartan
Daily; the television news program, “Update News”; the magazines, Access and SHiFT; and the
advertising and public relations agency, DB&H Communications.
Surveys of the school’s alumni at two different periods after graduation, usually about three years and
beyond.
The alumni reports tell us how well individuals are doing in their respective careers as well as their
evaluation of the value of the skills and conceptual courses they took in their academic program.
Although the actual percentage varies year by year, it is estimated that about one-third of our graduates
obtain their first job after graduation either with, or through, their college internship.
Students secure their own internships with the advice of faculty. The school maintains a limited directory
of internships in the preceding six years. It also keeps files on student and employer evaluations of the
internships.
The interns also file weekly reports with the JMC School’s internship coordinator each semester. The
coordinator sometimes visits the internship site. This is to ensure that it is a viable internship and evaluate
the quality. The supervisor is asked to provide a letter at the end of the internship confirming the
completion of the required 240 hours of work. New internship opportunities are screened in advance.
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Although the internship and alumni assessments have been utilized for evaluation for nearly 50 years, the
course assessments have been greatly expanded and strengthened since the school’s last accreditation.
Individual JMC School course assessments are more systematic. They can provide comparable data
through similar questions as well as give evidence of the program’s richness through the varied
experiences provided by the instructor. See online previousJMC School Assessment Reports posted on
the SJSU website:
http://search.calstate.edu/search?q=Journalism+assessment+reports&btnG=Search&x=12&y=12&output
=xml_no_dtd&client=sjsu-v5&sort=date%253AD%253AL%253Ad1&proxystylesheet=sjsuv5&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&submit=&ulang=en&wc=200&wc_mc=1&ud=1&exclude_apps=1&site=sjsu
Since 2008, both the JMC School and the college assessment coordinators retired and the university
embarked on more intensive and extensive assessment. This led to a break in the process in 2012. In the
past, the School’s assessment coordinator had a plan for evaluating specific classes each semester. She
would ask instructors to report whether objectives were met, and assess the level of achievement. The
reports were qualitative and useful.
The Spring 2009 and 2010 assessment reports alerted us that students wanted more instruction on
emerging technologies. A majority of students felt the technology tools and concepts were appropriate,
and at least one-third thought more would be beneficial. As a result, an experimental course, New Media
Technologies, was developed. It was successful and popular, and became a permanent and required
course. A new-media tenure-track faculty member was hired, and two courses were developed for the
graduate program in 2012.
A new assessment coordinator for the JMC School was appointed in 2012. Three surveys have been
conducted (all provided in this report) since that change. They are from Spring 2013 (a limited qualitative
sample), Fall 2013 (all school classes and sections with a structured questionnaire), and Spring 2014 (a
revamped and streamlined online survey focused on the four PLOs). Plans were finalized in Spring 2014
for a five-year rotating assessment process for all JMC School courses. This was included in the
comprehensive JMC School WASC Assessment Report submitted to the university June 1, 2014.
(See the complete JMC/WASC Report attached at the end of this standard.)
As part of that effort, courses were assessed on the four over-arching PLOs. We have already studied how
achievements were assessed and the level of achievement on a 0-to-10 point scale. The initial findings
from Spring 2014, are outlined below.
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PLO: Diversity
PLO: Critical Thinking
Assessment Method
Test
Paper
Portfolio
Presentation
Project
Other
Achievement Grade
Advertising Journalism MassComm Public Relations
10 classes
13 classes 19 classes
9 classes
2
3
2
2
5
2
3
5
2
6
6
3
6
3
10
8
7
5
9.1
5.6
8.2
1
4
0
3
3
1
Total
51 classes
12
15
14
19
21
11
7.7
PLO: Writing
Assessment Method
Test
Paper
Portfolio
Presentation
Project
Other
Achievement Grade
Advertising Journalism MassComm Public Relations
10 classes
13 classes 19 classes
9 classes
2
3
2
2
6
3
6
5
1
5
6
2
4
15
1
5
6
2
0
7
0
0
3
2
8.8
6.9
8.2
7.5
Total
51 classes
12
30
4
12
21
12
PLO: Tools & Technology
Assessment Method
Test
Paper
Portfolio
Presentation
Project
Other
Achievement Grade
Advertising
10 classes
Journalism MassComm Public Relations
13 classes
19 classes
9 classes
0
1
2
3
6
3
3
3
4
6
7
3
3
8
0
10
11
2
0
2
0
5
5
0
9.2
6.9
8.2
7.3
Total
51 classes
6
14
6
24
9
12
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Spring 2014 courses were assessed on the four over-arching program learning objectives in terms of how
achievements were assessed, and the level of achievement on a 0-to-10 point scale where 0 equals no
learning and 10 equals excellent. Five equals average learning.
The following classes were selected at random from all class assessments in Spring 2014 for an initial
scrutinizing of the assessment process. These class assessments will be evaluated by a faculty committee
during Fall 2014. The classes may then be changed for the Spring 2015 semester. The assessments focus
on these four school PLOs:
Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to communications;
Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively, and independently;
Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in
which they work;
Demonstrate writing correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications
professions, audiences and purposes they serve.
ADV 125: Ad Layout and production
Instructor: John Delacruz
The diversity objective assessment was based on a student portfolio consisting of five graphic design and
visual communication exercises and a live advertising brief set by an ad agency in NYC. The students’
live briefs required students to convince parents of teens in the South Bronx to have “the talk” with their
children as a way of preventing unwanted teen pregnancies. This required the students to develop a deep
understanding of this demographic – mainly African American and Latino families living in poor area of
a city most have never been to. The level of achievement was rated 9 on the 10-point scale.
The class rated a 10 evaluation of the thinking critically objective which consisted of assignments
requiring students to look differently at things, challenging their perception of what is possible and
developing their visual literacy.
No changes are planned other than a tweaking of the exercises and a new live brief.
ADV 126: Media Planning and Buying
Instructor: Tim Hendrick
Presentations are made by the instructor on various ethnic audiences and their impact on media.
Students create a media plan through software from the text. Each student chooses a produce to work on.
Students are judged on their individual approaches to a problem and its solution. The class evaluation on
achievement was 8. Students start out thinking they are all the same and by the end when the media plan
is turned in they have demonstrated their individuality and creative thinking.
ADV 128: Integrated Marketing
Instructor: Tim Hendrick
In teams of four, the students choose a product for an IMC presentation. They need to identify their target
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audience both with demographics and psychographics. The student presentations are graded by the
instructor as well as each member of the class on their presentations.
The students generally score in the 8 or 9 area.
Journalism 136: Newspaper/Magazine Design
Instructor: Timothy Mitchell
One of the most successful and challenging assignments on the final exam involved designing three
different layouts, all with errors to fix, and creation of an infographic. The weekly assignments allowed
them to use the tools they learned in class and solve the intellectual challenges of visual and verbal
communications. The results were shared and discussed during class critiques. The class is rated at 9 on
the achievement scale for both writing and tools objectives.
Students were below standards levels of enthusiasm and commitment this semester. There were still star
performers but there were also those who just didn’t try or get very engaged in the class.
The class scored a 7 on the achievement scale on the diversity objective which dealt with Adobe
Illustrator’s use of a visual file to be seen as one of two types of color systems for communicating with
color-blind people.
The students who had not kept up their end of the bargain to learn by studying and completing
assignments were the ones who struggled the most with the full-page layout. This is the usual scenario for
the bell curve of grades reflecting learning.
MCOM 104: Introduction to Research
Instructor: William Tillinghast
The students conducted a media-usage study of some 500 students which yielded diversity breakdowns
by the traditional socio-economic variables as well as student major. Student were provided with
statistically significant differences in these variables to use in their five-page paper on a research question
or problems in their professional field.
The class was evaluated at 8 on the zero-to-10 scale of achievement but only at 5 on critical thinking,
The students were able to compare and contrast the data but weaker in using the data along with
additional information for journals or trade publications for their papers. The class was also ranked at 5
on the tools and technology objective. Although their math and logic abilities are good (often better than
their verbal skills), the class as a whole does not feel comfortable using statistical tests. Most students are
not able to see applied or theoretical research as anything that applies to them.
The instructor will continue to focus on research as another information-gathering technique and media
examples to illustrate the need for research.
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Public Relations 193: Special Event Management
Instructor: Christine DiSalvo
This class was responsible for organizing all logistics, including a press conference, for the Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas’s day-long visit to discuss American immigration policies.
The instructor evaluated this class as 10 on the zero-to-10 scale, saying it superseded all previous classes
on the diversity objective. However, the class received an evaluation of 8 on the critical thinking
objective because the other two projects the class completed, the school convocation and the PRSSA
Regional Activity, were not as successful and were more of a struggle between teammates. The class
received a rating of 7 on the writing objective which involved writing one- to two-page press releases on
the top guest speakers who work in the event planning field. The students were also rated at 7 on the
technology and tools objective based of their websites and fliers to sell tickets to the events. The
instructor felt the students hide behind social media and fail to do traditional methods in promoting
events.
The instructor intends to put more emphasis on getting people to events rather than just planning the
events.
Public Relations 199: Campaign Management
Instructor: Christine DiSalvo
The 35 students in this seminar class were required to research, prepare, and present a public relations
campaign to their choice of one of three clients, a mayoral campaign and two Silicon Valley technology
companies. One client could not meet in person with the students so a Skype session was held in addition
to Google sessions.
Student level of achievement (research, writing, and presentation) was evaluated on an ascending 10point scale where zero was poor and 10 was outstanding. The class achieved ratings of either 8 or 9 on all
four objectives. The instructor felt the class was on par with previous classes she has taught. The lower
score was on thinking critically, creatively, and independently objective because in the instructor’s words,
“some students can think critically, creatively, and independently, and some cannot.”
The instructor intends to have fewer clients in subsequent classes because of the difficulty of evaluating
35 separate campaigns with three different clients. The instructor also felt there is a need to keep better
track of communications with the clients, which is also almost impossible with 35 students.
Beginning in Fall 2014 we will examine how well multiple sections of courses are tied together and meet
the objectives of the school. We will also evaluate how relevant each course is, and how it is adapting to
change. These are the questions we will be asking:
Should the same assessment be used on more than one objective?
Should multiple methods be used on the same objective?
Should multiple assessments receive same or similar achievement scores?
Should one or more assessment methods be used across all courses in a major and/or across all three
major and the mass comm core?
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Should skills courses have different assessment methods than conceptual courses?
Should additional assessment methods be utilized? If so, what?
Should there be a mass comm foundation, such as letter grade, for achievement determination?
What constitutes unacceptable achievement on the 0-to-10 scale?
Should achievement scores be comparable across and/or within majors?
What are possible reasons for wide range of achievement evaluations? (Diversity scores statistically
significantly different; other objectives nearly so.)
4. If campus media operations are under unit control, discuss
awards they have won in local, regional or national
competitions in the past six years.
Some Recent Awards Since the Last Accreditation Report:
College Photographer of the Year (national)
2013
Raphael Kluzniok, Gold, Sports Action
James Tensuan, Silver, Sports Action
James Tensuan, Award of Excellence, Spot News
Hearst Journalism Awards (national)
2009
Jon Xavier, fourth place, Editorial Writing
2008
Lindsay Bryant, eighteenth place, Editorial Writing
Jessica Drnek, tenth place, Television
California College Media Association awards (statewide)
2014
Stephanie Wong and Christiana Cobb, first place, Best Special Section
Leeta-Rose Ballester, first place, Best A&E Story
Codi Mills, second place, Best Photo Series
Codi Mills, third place, Best Sports Photo
Carolyn Seng, second place, Best Features Photo
Raphael Kluzniok, first place, Best Sports Photo
Raphael Kluzniok, third place, Best News Photo
Daily staff, third place, Best Overall Design
Daily ad staff, first place, Best Color Ad
Daily ad staff, third place, Best Promotional Campaign
2013
James Tensuan, first place, Best News Photo
James Tensuan, Raphael Kluzniok and Jasper Rubenstein, second place, Best Photo Series
Sage Curtis, first place, Best A&E Story
Brittany Patterson, Ron Gleeson and Leo Postovoit, second plave, Best Special Section
Leo Postovoit, third place, Best Photo Illustration
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2012
Vernon McKnight, first place, Best Features Photo
Vernon McKnight, second place, Best Sports Photo
Lyell Marks, first place, Best Non-Breaking News Story
Daily staff, second place, Best Overall Design
Francisco Rendon, third place, Best Editorial
Chris Marian, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Brian O'Malley, third place, Best News Photo
Virginia Ochi, third place, Best Online Ad
Virginia Ochi, third place, Best Color Ad.
Steve Lopez (alumnus), CCMA First Amendment award
2011
Husain Sumra and Joey Akeley, second place, Best Special Section
Jaimie Collins, second place, Best A&E Story
Kelsey Lester-Perry, first place, Best News Photo
Tanya Flores, third place, Best Sales Promotion Materials
2010
Daily Staff, first place, Best Overall Design
Jill Abell, second place, Best Non-Breaking News Story
Chad Ziemendorf, second place, Best Multimedia Presentation
Suzanne Yada and Michelle Gachet, third place, Best Multimedia Presentation
Stefan Armijo, third place, Best News Photo
Stefan Armijo, third place, Best Feature Photo
Megan Hamilton, third place, Best Feature Page Design
2009
Jon Xavier, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Colleen Watson, first place, Best A&E Story
Carlos Moreno, second place, Best Sports Photo
Suzanne Yada, third place, Best Infographic
Daily staff, first place, Best Special Section
Daily ad staff, first place, Best Color Ad
Access staff, second place, General Magazine Excellence
2008
Daily Staff, third place, News Series
Kris Anderson and Nick Veronin, second place, Breaking News Story
Lindsay Bryant, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Daily staff, second place, Best Special Section
Daily staff, third place, Best Use of Multimedia
Access staff, first place, General Magazine Excellence
Daily ad staff, second place, Best Black and White Ad
California Newspaper Publishers Association (statewide)
2013
Vince Ei, first place, Best Feature Story
2012
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Cynthia Ly, second place, Best Writing
5. Discuss awards won by the unit’s students in local,
regional or national competitions in the past six years.
If campus media operations are not under unit control,
please list only awards won by the unit’s majors.
See answer to number 4 above.
6. List by specialty each member of the graduating class
of three years ago and those graduates’ current jobs. If
practical, please give a total number of “unknowns”
rather than including them in the list.
See over the next few pages the list of graduates from the
Class of 2011 – School of Journalism and Mass Communications
and their current jobs.
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7. List graduates who have established distinguished careers
in journalism and mass communications.
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8. Describe the program used to track graduates to assess
their experience in the professions and to improve
curriculum and instruction. Discuss measures used to
determine graduates’ satisfaction with the educational
experiences provided by the unit. Describe maintenance
of records of alumni employment histories and other
alumni records.
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications is stepping up its efforts to remain in contact with
alumni. Traditionally, faculty in each of the pre-existing sequences — reporting/editing, magazine,
broadcast and photojournalism — kept in touch with former students informally through email, phone
calls and the like. In conjunction with the new converged journalism program, however, the JMC School
has created new tools and procedures for extending connections with our alumni.
We have consolidated existing lists of alumni information into a single database that allows us to contact
alumni from all of our specialty areas quickly and easily. We have reached out to all the alumni for whom
we have records and asked for them to update their job and contact information and to contact us with any
interest in contributing money or time to the school. We have also used social media and other online
tools to renew acquaintances with alums who hadn’t recently communicated with us.
Beyond this, faculty members have recently developed an online alumni survey using Qualtrics survey
software. This allows the school to maintain more complex alumni records than ever before, monitoring
alumni employment, activities and interests, as well as making it easy to see who is likely to contribute
money toward scholarships and other JMC needs. It also allows alumni a way to easily express their
opinions on how to keep the curriculum up to date with industry standards.
Launched in February 2014, the survey has yielded nearly 200 responses, and more are being solicited.
Alumni from across seven decades have responded, providing useful information about their career paths,
specialties and current employment. Alumni have said the JMC School contributed to their development
in numerous areas, most commonly in writing clearly and accurately, valuing truth and fairness,
appreciating free speech and applying ethical ways of thinking. They also indicated that JMC faculty,
courses and fellow students were great strengths of the program, as well as the internship program. In
fact, 96 percent of alumni respondents said their internship experience was valuable to them.
In conjunction with the development of promotional efforts and a new JMC website, faculty members
have reached out to alumni and asked for brief testimonials in words and video. Some of these have been
used in the school’s new promotional video, to be shown at conferences and other events to help in
recruiting. Others have been used on the JMC website for a number of years, and more are planned as
JMC’s new website is developed further.
Of those former students who do keep in contact, success seems to come to those who persevere in their
attempts to gain entry-level positions in journalism. Alumni of the SJSU photojournalism program now
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work for the San José Mercury News and other major metropolitan newspapers, and freelance for Sports
Illustrated and other national magazines.
Our photojournalism graduates are well represented on the staffs of publications throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area. Spartan Daily alumni primarily work for news organizations throughout California,
but some move elsewhere and continue work in the field. Thanks to social media, it has become easier to
keep track of new graduates in all sequences and remain in contact with them.
Alumni have been invited back for reunions and are periodically contacted for updates on their
professional life. Alumni serve as judges, mentors and guest speakers. They critique student work and
offer advice and information about the radio-television news field. They also provide samples of their
professional work for students to view and critique as part of their learning process.
See attached below:
The JMC School WASC Assessment Report submitted in June, 2014 to the university for the campus
national reaccreditation effort.
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SJSU Annual Program Assessment Form – WASC Accreditation Report
Academic Year 2013-2014
Department: School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC)
Programs: Advertising, Journalism and Public Relations
College: College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA)
Website: www.jmc.sjsu.edu and JMC School Director website: www.profbob.com
X Check here if your website addresses the University Learning Goals.
http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/faculty/programrecords/CASA/Journalism/index.html and
http://www.profbob.com/0%20Program%20Learning%20Objectives%20JMC%20School.htm
Contact Person and Email: Prof. Bob Rucker, Director, Journalism and Mass Communications
rober.rucker@sjsu.edu, Dr. William Tillinghast, JMC School Assessment Coordinator,
willian.tillinghast@sjsu.edu
Date of Report: June 1, 2014
Part A
1. List of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs). Aligned with degree specific accreditation standards.
The School of Journalism and Mass Communications four PLOs are drawn from twelve ACEJMC
national accreditation standards and guidelines, and the insights and recommendations of media
professionals in advertising, journalism and public relations that reinforce specific San Jose State ULGs:
PLO 1. Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to communications. This meets SJSU’s Social and Global Responsibilities commitment “to act intentionally and ethically to address a global or local problem in an informed manner with a multicultural and historical perspective and a clear understanding of societal and civic responsibilities.” By sharing “diverse and global perspectives through engagement with the multidimensional SJSU community” graduates are prepared to listen, learn and respectfully interact with global audiences. PLO 2. Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently. This meets SJSU’s goal of developing “applied knowledge, the ability to integrate theory, practice, and problem‐solving to address practical issues.” In the three JMC School degree programs students work to “apply their knowledge and skills to new settings or in addressing complex problems” while developing the “ability to work productively as individuals and in groups.” PLO 3. Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications
professions, audiences and purposes they serve. SJSU goals encourage the development of
“skills and abilities necessary for life-long learning: critical and creative thinking, effective
communication, conscientious information gathering and processing, mastery of quantitative
methodologies, and the ability to engage effectively in collaborative activities.” PLO 4. Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work. SJSU’s goal of ‘Intellectual Skills’ development enables student “Fluency in the use of specific theories, tools, technology and graphical representation.” To effectively meet SJSU’s goal of ‘Broad Integrative Knowledge,’ JMC School students must develop a “mastery in each step of an investigative, creative or 199
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practical project” which includes “brainstorming, planning, and formulating hypotheses” on how to use new technologies to communicate effectively. 2. Map of PLOs to University Learning Goals (ULGs) and Alignment.
San Jose State University - B.S. Advertising Degree – Program and Learner Outcomes
University
Learning
Goals
*Broad Integrative
Knowledge
PLO
PLO 1
*Diversity
*Global
Understanding
Advertising
Focus
Program
Outcomes
Course
Learning
Outcomes
Conceptual,
Professional,
Delivery,
Management
and Creative Tracks,
Legal.
Demonstrate
knowledge of the
diversity of groups
in a global society in
relation to mass
communications.
Also an ACEJMC
national
accreditation
requirement.
Learners will engage in timely diversity discussions in all classes, and be evaluated on their abilities to communicate understanding of cultural concerns, and the importance and impact of diversity in global advertising messages. Graduates will demonstrate in advertising a summative knowledge and effectively incorporate timely diversity information about our rapidly changing world *Specialized
Knowledge
* Intellectual
Skills
* Applied
Knowledge
PLO 2
Advertising sales and productions. Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently. Conduct research
and evaluate
information by
methods
appropriate to the
communications
professions in which
they work.
Graduates will be proficient in planning, implementing, and evaluating media productions and incorporate contemporary ADV 91, MCOM 72 101, and 105. Learners will design outlines, written reports, visual and multimedia stories or campaigns, develop program plans, implement creative components of their information delivery efforts, and evaluate both the implementation outcomes and the individual’s performance. Beginning JMC School study and interactive learning in ADV 116, 121 and 122.
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professional thinking and expectations.
* Specialized
Knowledge
PLO 3
* Applied
Knowledge
*Broad Integrative
Knowledge
Advertising
written
communications.
Write correctly in forms and style appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and the purposes they serve. PLO 4
* Applied
Knowledge
Advertising
technology
skills development
and integration.
* Intellectual
Skills
Graduates will demonstrate professional behavior and competencies in the framework of ethics, personal and social responsibility (current events knowledge, informed judgments, skills and decorum.) Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the multi‐platform advertising. Graduates will demonstrate proficient and professional contemporary visual communication skills and creative abilities needed to connect with global audiences. Learners will collaborate and collectively work to develop in‐depth information content through research, client communications and current events knowledge, to enhance general public appreciation and audience trust in advertising efforts. ADV 124, 125, 126. Learners will produce persuasive, summative contemporary advertising presentations which reflect professional critical thinking, guidelines and needs. ADV 128, 129, and MCOM 199A and B. San Jose State University - B.S. Journalism Degree – Program and Learner Outcomes
University
Learning
Goals
*Broad Integrative
Knowledge
*Diversity
*Global
Understanding
PLO
PLO 1
Journalism
Focus
Program
Outcomes
Course
Learning
Outcomes
Conceptual,
Professional,
Multi-platform,
Convergence
Journalism,
Legal.
Demonstrate
knowledge of the
diversity of groups
in a global society in
relation to mass
communications.
Also an ACEJMC
national
accreditation
requirement.
Learners will engage in timely diversity discussions in all classes, and be evaluated on their abilities to communicate understanding of cultural concerns, and the importance and 201
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Graduates will demonstrate in advertising a summative knowledge and effectively incorporate timely diversity information about our rapidly changing world. *Specialized
Knowledge
PLO 2
* Intellectual
Skills
Journalism multi‐platform story research and development. * Applied
Knowledge
Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently. Conduct research,
interviews, and
evaluate
information by
methods
appropriate for the
journalism
profession in which
they work.
Graduates will be proficient in planning, gathering, evaluating, and incorporating responsible content that reflects professional thinking. * Specialized
Knowledge
* Applied
Knowledge
PLO 3
Convergence
journalism
written
communications.
Adapting to and writing effectively in journalistic styles appropriate for multi‐
platform news reporting efforts to attract content consumers and audiences locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. *Broad Integrative
Technology
Graduates will demonstrate professional behavior and competencies in the framework of ethics, personal and social responsibility (current events knowledge, informed judgments, skills and decorum.) Demonstrate the impact of diversity in global advertising messages. JOUR 61, MCOM 72, and 105. Learners will design outlines, content reports, and plans for developing multi‐
media visual content as part of their information delivery responsibilities, and evaluate the implementation outcomes based on content consumer responses. Beginning JMC School study and interactive learning in JOUR 132, 139, 142, and 166.
Learners will collaborate and collectively work to develop in‐depth information content through research, client communications and current events knowledge, to enhance general public appreciation and audience trust in advertising efforts. JOUR 134, 153, 164 and MCOM 101. Learners will produce 202
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Knowledge
skills development
and integration in
convergence
journalism.
PLO 4
* Applied
Knowledge
* Intellectual
Skills
ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for multi‐platform news reporting. Graduates will demonstrate proficient and professional contemporary visual communication skills and creative abilities needed to connect with global audiences. accurate, informative, reliable and interesting summative contemporary journalistic presentations which reflect professional critical thinking, guidelines and needs.
JOUR 135, 144, 155, and 165. San Jose State University - B.S . Public Relations Degree – Program and Learner Outcomes
University
Learning
Goals
*Broad Integrative
Knowledge
*Diversity
*Global
Understanding
PLO
PLO 1
Public
Relations
Focus
Program
Outcomes
Course
Learning
Outcomes
Conceptual,
Professional,
Multi-platform,
Public Relations,
Legal.
Demonstrate
knowledge of the
diversity of groups
in a global society in
relation to public
relations.
Learners will engage in timely diversity discussions in all classes, and be evaluated on their abilities to communicate understanding of cultural concerns, and the importance and impact of diversity in global advertising messages. Also an ACEJMC
national
accreditation
requirement.
Graduates will demonstrate in advertising a summative knowledge and effectively incorporate timely diversity information about our rapidly changing world. *Specialized
Knowledge
* Intellectual
Skills
* Applied
Knowledge
PLO 2
Public Relations multi‐platform research, campaign development and management. Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently. Conduct research,
interviews, and
evaluate
information by
PR 99 MCOM 72, and 105. Learners will design outlines, content reports, and plans for developing multi‐
media visual content as part of their information delivery responsibilities, and 203
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methods
appropriate for the
public relations
profession.
Graduates will be proficient in planning, gathering, evaluating, and incorporating responsible content that reflects professional thinking and expectations. * Specialized
Knowledge
PLO 3
* Applied
Knowledge
*Broad Integrative
Knowledge
Public Relations
written
communications.
Adapting to and writing effectively in styles appropriate for multi‐platform persuasive presentations for clients wanting to attract consumers and audiences locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. PLO 4
* Applied
Knowledge
* Intellectual
Skills
Technology
skills development
and integration in
convergence
journalism.
Graduates will demonstrate professional behavior and competencies in the framework of ethics, personal and social responsibility (current events knowledge, informed judgments, skills and decorum.) Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for multi‐platform news reporting. Graduates will demonstrate proficient and professional contemporary visual communication skills and creative abilities needed to connect with regional and global audiences. evaluate the implementation outcomes based on client and consumer feedback. PR 192 and 193.
Learners will collaborate and collectively work to develop in‐depth content information through research, client communications and current events to enhance general public appreciation and audience trust in persuasive efforts. PR 190 and 191. Learners will produce accurate, informative, reliable and interesting summative contemporary public relations presentations which reflect professional critical thinking, guidelines and needs.
PR 199 and MCOM 199A and 199B. 3. Planning – Assessment Schedule.
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School of Journalism and Mass Communications Schedule of Planned Course Assessments (5‐Year Rotation) Each course assessment will be a three‐semester process: Semester 1‐ Collection (C), Semester 2‐ Discussion (D) and Semester 3‐ Implementation through syllabus changes (I). Fall
Spring
Fall
Spring
Fall
Spring
Fall
Spring
Fall
Spring
Semester  2014
2015
2015
2016
2016
2017
2017
2018
2018
2019
Courses: Advertising C
ADV91 ADV116 D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
ADV121 ADV122 ADV123 ADV124 ADV125 ADV126 C
ADV128 D
I
C
ADV129 D
I
Journalism C
JOUR61 JOUR95 D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
Spring
2017
Fall
2017
Spring
2018
Fall
2018
Spring
2019
C
D
I
JOUR132 JOUR 133 JOUR135 JOUR136 Semester  Courses: JOUR 155 Fall
2014
Spring
2015
Fall
2015
C
D
I
C
JOUR164 Spring
2016
D
Fall
2016
I
C
JOUR166 D
I
Mass Comm. MCOM63 MCOM70 MCOM72 MCOM100W MCOM101 MCOM104 C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
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C
MCOM106 MCOM111 C
MCOM139 D
D
MCOM180 MCOM215 I
C
D
I
C
D
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
MCOM270 MCOM284 MCOM285 MCOM290 MCOM295 MCOM298 MCOM299 D
D
MCOM199A C
C
I
I
C
MCOM179 MCOM210 I
I
C
MCOM163 D
C
D
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
C
D
I
I
I
Public Relations PR99 PR190 PR191 PR192 PR193 PR199 I
4. The Student Experience. PLOs and the ULGs are communicated to students via the JMC School and
Director’s websites, every course syllabi, new school video promotional materials, and direct messaging
through email blasts of timely and important school news and events which highlight and discuss goals.
In every JMC School class students engage in local, regional, national and international current events
discussions, share their Bay Area and cultural community insights and perspectives, and develop media
appropriate stories, multimedia, reports and campaigns that demonstrate student learning of the JMC
School four PLOs.
Part B
5. Graduation Rates for Total, Non URM and URM students (per program and degree)
In the SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications, student retention and graduation are top
priorities. Our degree programs in advertising, journalism and public relations pre-professional
education that addresses the needs of our society and global community. Hiring a well-educated and
trained diverse workforce able to communicate effectively with all cultures and life experiences is
essential to all mass communications efforts in today’s world.
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First-time Freshmen: 6
Year Graduation Rates
New UG Transfers: 3 Year
Graduation Rates
Grads : 3 Year
Graduation Rates
Fall 2007 Cohort
Fall 2010 Cohort
Fall 2010 Cohort
Academic Programs
Journalism/Mass Comm.
Entering
% Grad
Entering
% Grad
Entering
% Grad
Total
122
47.5%
50
80.0%
1
100.0%
URM
42
54.8%
12
75.0%
0
0.0%
Non-URM
69
46.4%
29
82.8%
1
100.0%
Other
11
27.3%
9
77.8%
0
0.0%
Enrollment by Gender and Ethnicity
JOUR – Journalism and Mass Communications
Fall 2009 Women UG Grad Total UG 2 1 31 78 1 107 113 11 53 AmInd 2 Black Asian PacIsl Hisp White Foreign Other 39 106 2 109 167 16 70 8 10 6 5 43 111 2 117 177 22 75 Total 511 38 Men UG Black Asian PacIsl Hisp White Foreign Other Total Total 11 56 3 51 96 5 29 252 763 4 5 Grad 2 3 8 2 3 18 56 Fall 2010 Grad 2 2 Total Fall 2011 UG Grad Total 1 34 90 1 Fall 2012 UG Fall 2013 Grad Total 1 1 1 1 38 83 2 120 116 15 44 28 69 1 101 96 14 35 1 UG Grad Total 1 4 29 73 1 106 102 18 36 366 1 34 89 4 2 4 4 33 80 1 111 115 15 57 97 2 117 8 1 53 99 117 9 53 37 82 2 117 113 10 44 549 395 18 413 398 4 402 406 13 419 345 21 Total UG Grad Total UG Total UG Grad Total UG 11 58 3 54 104 7 32 270 819 7 48 2 43 89 5 27 222 617 1 2 8 50 2 45 93 5 27 231 644 6 49 3 43 92 7 32 233 631 6 50 3 44 95 8 32 239 641 8 57 3 45 71 5 25 215 621 7 2 1 10 23 8 57 3 45 78 7 26 225 644 8 48 1 45 66 9 17 194 539 2 4 9 27 Grad 1 1 3 1 6 10 3 3 5 5 6 4 1 Grad Total 3 7 1 1 12 33 8 48 1 48 73 10 18 206 572 JMC School records over the past five years show our concerted effort to recruit and
admit diverse students. In 2013, 343 of the 572, or 56.1% of all students in the JMC
School identified themselves as people from diverse cultures or foreign students, 31.1%
white. Overall, nearly 64%, are women.
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School of Journalism and Mass Communications: Demographic Percentage of
Cultures – 5 Years
Undergraduate Students
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Men
33.0%
36.0%
36.9%
34.6%
36.0%
Women
67.0%
64.0%
63.1%
65.4%
AmInd
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.2%
Black
6.6%
6.2%
6.3%
7.2%
6.7%
Asian
21.2%
20.4%
21.9%
22.4%
21.7%
PacIsl
0.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.8%
0.4%
Hisp
21.0%
24.3%
22.2%
26.1%
27.1%
White
34.5%
32.7%
33.1%
29.6%
30.1%
Gender :
64.0%
Ethnicity :
Note: In some cases, the number of students who choose to report their ethnicity is too
small to compute a reliable number. In terms of graduation, JMC School students
demonstrate they complete their education and graduate at a rate of increasing success
based on the 2007 and 2010 cohorts listed.
The 6-yr graduation rates set by the CSU Chancellor’s Office are 51.6%, 47.8%, and
53.2%, for total, under-represented minorities and non-underrepresented minority
populations, by 2015-2016.
6. Headcounts of program majors and new students (per program and degree).
Overall for the School of Journalism and Mass Communications:
Undergraduate Students
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Head Count
763
617
631
621
539
Full-time
77.2%
82.8%
83.7%
87.6%
83.9%
Part-time
22.8%
17.2%
16.3%
12.4%
16.1%
New Transfers
45
50
74
79
61
First-time Freshmen
Number Entering
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
45
43
53
49
54
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The stronger show rate for JMC School new student enrollments during spring
semesters sharply contrasts that of fall semesters over the past five year. This is
particularly noteworthy considering SJSU closed spring semester overall campus
admissions for most of that five year period.
The data also clearly indicate a follow-through from applications to enrollments
concern for the JMC School with first-time freshmen and new undergraduate transfer
students. The school has launched a major outreach, informational and recruiting
campaign to all Bay Area and regional high schools and community colleges to excite
student interest in, and make them more aware contemporary media careers,
traditional, new media and social media opportunities.
JMC School faculty recognize that robust and increasing enrollment provides evidence
of demand for our program. Societal trends inspired by major technology advances,
however, have triggered more public interest in online and mobile media. Programs
nationwide are reporting widespread challenges to journalism enrollments. The JMC
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School is responding now with a major upgrade of classroom and lab technologies to
attract more students interested in contemporary forms of media and visual
communications across all platforms.
The SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications is recognized as one of the
top west coast programs with proven success at helping students from diverse cultures
to get a top quality and well-rounded liberal arts education that enables graduates to
adapt and meet media industry expectations.
School of Journalism and Mass Communications: Major Concentrations
in JMC School – 5 Years
Fall Semesters 2009 through 2013
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Spring Semesters 2010 through 2014
7. SFR and average section size – Spring semesters: 2007 – 2014
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Compared to San Jose State University campus wide SFRs during spring semesters the
past five years, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications degree program
SFRs are slightly higher or similar to university averages.
Student to Faculty Ratio (SFRs)
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
SFR and average section size – Fall semesters: 2006 -2013
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JMC School lower division courses in all three JMC School programs tend to enroll a
larger number of students than the university average, while the advanced writing and
skills training courses have limited enrollments of 25 or fewer students to meet the
expectations and standards recommended by the school national accrediting body, the
Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC).
Student to Faculty Ratio (SFRs)
School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Course Prefix
Course Level
ADV - Advertising
JOUR - Journalism
Student to
Faculty
Ratio (SFR)
Average
Headcount
per Section
Total
23.0
27.8
Lower Division
52.9
59.5
Upper Division
17.0
20.8
Student to
Faculty
Ratio (SFR)
Average
Headcount
per Section
Total
14.5
19.1
Lower Division
19.2
20.2
Upper Division
12.0
18.3
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Course Prefix
Course Level
PR - Public Relations
Student to
Faculty
Ratio (SFR)
Average
Headcount
per Section
Total
29.3
33.4
Lower Division
61.6
77.0
Upper Division
23.3
26.2
In 2013 the JMC School worked to meet university SFR and FTES target requests by
offering an increasing number of large enrollment lower division introductory classes,
with seating capacity of 50 to 100 students. In fall 2014, PR 99: Introduction to Public
Relations, Adv 91: Introduction to Advertising, and the upper division university
elective MCOM 105: Diversity in the Media will be offered in classrooms with
enrollment capacity of 150 students.
8. Percentage of tenured/tenure-track instructional faculty (per department)
Fall 2013
Journalism & Mass
Communication
% Tenured/Prob
Tenured
Temp Lecturer
Probationary
62.6%
7.162
5.5
2.029
This information is listed by the university online as our JMC School Instructional
Faculty - Full Time Equivalent Faculty (FTES) - by Tenure Status, the FTEF in each
category is listed for each semester. In 2012, SJSU’s ratio was 53.1%, and we rank 20/23
of all of the CSUs. The highest ratio in the CSU system is 70.6%.
Part C
9. Closing the Loop/Recommended Actions.
Based on previous JMC School annual assessments reports listed on the university
website at: http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/faculty/programrecords/CASA/Journalism/index.html, and the 2013
report developed by the current school assessment committee, the JMC School plan
will ‘close the loop’ in its assessment process by:
1. Developing and implementing an online, interactive questionnaire for JMC
students in the designated classes being assessed each semester during the review
process. Students will be asked about their understanding of the learning experience
based on each of the four JMC School PLOs, and given an opportunity to suggest
new approaches for evaluating student appreciation of each.
2. Incorporating throughout the academic year timely and creative ways to highlight
and emphasize the value and importance of JMC School PLO goals through a wide
range of special events and opportunities including: All professional media guest
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lectures in classes, the campus wide JMC School sponsored Spuler Foundation
Ethics Symposium offered each spring semester, and the bi-annual JMC School
presentation of the national Hearst Foundation Award for excellence in journalism.
This past academic year, faculty and students have also been working together to
develop new and exciting multimedia presentations of JMC School PLOs focused on
the issue of diversity appreciation. Students now identify their unique cultural
backgrounds and life experiences by producing short videos for posting on the JMC
School website which provides a public celebration of SJSU campus community
diversity.
10. Assessment Data
JMC School faculty now use an online assessment tool that utilizes the SJSU Qualtrics data
collection and direct measurement system to assist with assessing student achievement of
PLOs and other specific recommended actions. The online JMC Faculty Assessment tool:
https://sjsu.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_06bRZNCyZwEZ6Ch Password: aejmc
11. Analysis
2013 JMC School Assessments Report
This report on assessments begins with Spring semester 2013. The assessments discussed here
are on the following 11 Program Learning Objectives (PLOs) which are based on both Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC) and Western Association of Schools and
Colleges (WASC) standards:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Applied the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press, including the right to
dissent, to monitor and criticize power.
Demonstrated their role as professionals by shaping communications.
Presented the diversity of global society.
Applied concepts and theories for presenting images and information.
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5.
6.
7.
Lived up to ethical principles in the pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity.
Thought critically, creatively and independently.
Researched and evaluated information by methods appropriate to the communications
professions in which they work.
8. Wrote in forms and styles appropriate for the communications the audience they serve.
9. Evaluated their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity,
appropriate style and grammatical correctness.
10. Applied basic numerical and statistical concepts.
11. Demonstrated the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the
communications professions in which they work.
The above PLOs will be discussed herein by the PLO number, or a shortened word
description. The assessments for the past three semesters are:
Spring 2013 – a limited sample of general assessments;
Fall 2013 – all faculty on all of their courses on four specific Program Learning
Objectives plus other of the remaining seven objectives as they pertain to course
content;
Spring 2014 – a selection of courses on the four JMC School specific PLOs, 3, 6, 8, and 11.
These courses are the first to be evaluated under a new rotating five-year plan
which will include all courses.
Spring 2013 - JMC Course Assessments of ACEJMC Standards
Nine instructors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications provided
detailed assessments of 21 courses taught in spring semester 2013. The assessments were
focused on the evaluation of the skills, techniques and knowledge required for success in
advertising, journalism and public relations. The assessments linked the course program
learning objectives (PLOs) to the 11 standards stipulated by the Accrediting Council on
Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
The following is a summary of the assessment reports from the nine faculty members who
provided detailed data on the extent to which their students were successful in meeting the
AEJMC learning objectives. The number of assessments of the standards was: once—3, 9, and
10; twice—1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10; three times—8. The individual faculty reports are:
Lecturer Christine DiSalvo
Three PR classes—PR 193 (special event management), PR 199 (campaign planning and
management) and PR 190 (media writing)—were evaluated on student success in writing press
releases detailing the comments of five industry speakers who discussed the concepts and
theories of the event planning industry. The success rate of the press releases was 90 percent.
The PLOs in PR 199 were 5, 6 and 7. Every class period began with a public relations
situation. Students discussed ethical principles, and they were tested throughout the semester on
decisions they made when compiling their strategic public relations plans. The success rate for
PLO 5 was 90 percent. Students completed a strategic public relations plan for a real client.
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They were required to think critically, creatively and independently. There was a 90 percent
success rate for PLO 6 on the final plans.
Students were required to conduct research and evaluate information methods when
writing their public relations plans. There was a 90 percent success rate for PLO 7 in the final
plans.
The PLOs in PR 190 were 8, 9 and 11. Students were required to write several in-class
assignments that included press releases, media alerts, fact sheets and op-ed pieces. In these
assignments, they needed to write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the
communications professions, audiences and purposes they serve as well as to critically evaluate
their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and
grammatical correctness.
The success rate by the end of the semester for PLOs 8 and 9 was about 95 percent.
Students were expected to write accurately with appropriate style and grammatical correctness.
One point was taken off for every error in the assignments. Students were taught the tools and
technologies appropriate for the public relations profession and were tested on these through
quizzes and other assignments. There was an 85% success rate for PLO 11.
Lecturer Stephen Eckstone
One Advertising class was evaluated, ADV 121: Consumer Advertising.
The PLOs in ADV 121 were 1 through 7. Some 35 students were evaluated, with
between 65% and 90% assessed at a B+ level on specific PLOs while 30% earned a C or better
and some 5% either failed to master the PLOs or earned only a C-.
Students were required to complete written summaries of all work, in addition to being
graded on midterm and final exam essays. A minimum of 6,000 words was required.
Professor Kim Komenich
Three Mass Communications and one Journalism class were evaluated: MCOM 63: New
Media; MCOM 70: Visual Communication; JOURN 135: Reporting, Editing and Management;
and MCOM 285: New Media Technologies.
The PLOs in MCOM 63 were: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The PLOs in MCOM 70 were: 1, 2, 3,
and 4. The PLOs in JOURN 135 were: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The PLOs in MCOM 285 were: 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, and 6.
A majority of the students evaluated mastered each of the PLOs.
Lecturer Dona Nichols and Professor William Tillinghast
Two sections of MCOM 72: Mass Communications and Society were evaluated on PLOs
2, 4, 10 and 11. The instructors each presented information in their respective classes on two
topics, propaganda techniques and Nielsen ratings, and then asked a series of questions on their
tests to determine student comprehension.
Five matching questions in each of the courses were constructed to link a propaganda
tactic to most likely examples; in addition, five questions in each of the courses required students
to demonstrate knowledge of share and rating, the HUT and Nielsen ratings. The two classes
averaged more than 80 percent correct answers on propaganda and 70 percent on the broadcast
questions. Rating and share were incorrectly identified by half of the students in one class. The
instructor examples were revised for subsequent use.
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Lecturer Dona Nichols
Four Journalism classes were evaluated: JOURN 61: Print/Magazine and Online Journalism;
JOURN 70: Visual Communication and Modern Media; and two sections of JOURN 72: Mass
Communications and Society.
Student achievement on the PLOs was measured by how many students were successful
on tests, written assignments and/or creative projects. The figures were: JOURN 61 –26 of 26;
JOURN 70—59 of 63; JOURN 72—49 of 54 and 27 of 29.
Lecturer Ralph Nichols
One section of MCOM 100W: Writing Workshop on Communications was assessed.
Student achievement on PLO 8 was listed as 21 of 23 who successfully completed writing the
8,000 words required.
Lecturer Tom Ulrich
Three Journalism courses were evaluated: JOURN 61: Print and Online Journalism;
JOURN 153: Magazine Writing; and JOURN 155: Magazine Editing. The evaluation did not
link student achievement to specific PLOs but instead focused on improvement in journalistic
skills.
Professor John Delacruz
Three advertising courses were assessed: ADV 91: Introduction to Advertising; ADV
124: Copywriting; and ADV 125: Ad Layout and Production. For all three courses, assignments
were tailored to specific advertising skills and knowledge bases but not linked to specific SLOs.
Student achievement was indicated by grade range for particular assignments.
Lecturer Larry Sokoloff
Assessed was MCOM 101: Media Law and Ethics. Thirty-five students were tested on
PLO 1, principles and laws freedom of speech and press. Five areas were examined with the
following results:
1. 70% knew that tobacco could be advertised in newspapers.
2. 73% knew that commercial speech has some First Amendment protection.
3. 53% knew that the FOIA would not exempt the cost of new office furnishings for
the Department of Justice.
4. 70% knew that California’s Proposition 59 declared access to public information
a Constitutional right.
5. 90% knew that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution grated a public trial
before an impartial jury to criminal defendants.
Recommendation:
It was recommended that, for future assessments, faculty utilize a standardized form to
measure each of the PLOs that they list for their courses. In addition, faculty should be
encouraged to provide additional qualitative evaluative comments on the form.
Fall 2013 - JMC Course Assessments of ACEJMC Standards
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In Fall 2013 semester, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications offered 62
sections of 40 courses in the four degree programs – Advertising, Journalism, Public Relations,
and Master’s – and the Undergraduate Mass Communications core conceptual courses. The
courses were taught by 23 tenure track and adjunct faculty.
All instructors evaluated four standards in each of their courses: #3 – Diversity; #6 –critical
thinking; #8 – writing correctly; and #11 – technology. Instructors also evaluated other standards
as they applied to their specific courses. The standards applied by degree program are depicted in
the following chart:
TABLE 1
AEJMC’s 11 Program Learning Objectives by JMC School Major and Core Class Sections,
excluding Internships, Special Projects and Thesis/Projects
Number of Classes or Sections Focusing on Learning Objective
Learning Objective
1. First Amendment
2. History
3. Diversity
4. Presentation
5. Ethics
6. Critical Thinking
7. Research
8. Write Correctly
9. Critical Evaluation
10. Mathematics
11. Technology
Total
Advertising Journalism
(n = 11)
(n = 16)
0
2
9
3
0
10
2
10
0
0
10
46
Public Relations MasscCom Grad
(n = 7)
(n = 24)
(n = 4)
2
1
12
1
3
12
2
10
2
0
11
56
0
2
4
2
3
4
1
5
1
0
4
26
Total
(N = 62)
2
0
5
1
2
6
1
6
0
1
4
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
2
1
1
1
4
5
31
0
8
33
7
33
4
2
30
28
8
164
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Observations of fall 2013 Assessment Coordinator
Dr. William Tillinghast
Observations of the distribution of AEJMC program learning objectives and assessment data
form are:
1. Although the four PLOs – diversity, critical thinking, writing correctly and using technology
– are the core of our programs, their total numbers are vastly greater than most of the other
PLOs which are taught in relatively few courses/sections. In other words, faculty need to
determine what is a more educationally equitable spread of the 11 Program Learning
Objectives across the curriculum.
2. The Spring 2014 assessment form needs to be in two parts, the first a spreadsheet consisting
of fixed answer categories in order to determine comparability across classes, and a comment
section focusing on (1) details of how the assessment was made, (2) a grade category as well
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as comments on student achievement, (3) a more detailed instructor evaluation of the degree
of success of the assessment method, and (4) likely changes in order to achieve a higher level
of achievement if that is deemed necessary.
3. Quite possibly more than one student achievement category will be necessary as the faculty
assessment varied considerably, from words such as very good, to B, or the percentage
receiving 85%, and one or two more.
4. Instructors may wish to consider conducting their assessments in the first half of the
semester, which would give them time to identify any PLOs in which student performance
was low and emphasize them in the latter part of the semester.
5. A qualitative written description of the variety of methods used by JMC faculty in the
methods used to create content bearing on the AEJMC student learning objectives will be
presented later, illustrating the similarities and differences across the majors.
Fall 2013
ADVERTISING
Four instructors taught 11 sections of the nine advertising courses in fall 2013.
The following is a sample of how AEJMC’s 11 standards were met. As with Journalism, Mass
Communications, and Public Relations, the focus was on, but not limited to, the four PLOs required of
all courses.
PLO #3: Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in
relationship to communications.
In Professor Tim Hendrick’s Advertising 116 (Spartan Daily Advertising Staff) students
examine diversity from a different perspective, by developing a plan on how to approach various
ethnic groups (restaurants, churches) by selling them ads in the Student Media. Students go over
cultural norms and what products, (such as Mexican food, plus Vietnamese, Japanese and
Chinese items) would sell to our diverse student body.
Diversity can be examined in many different ways. In Professor John Delacruz’s
Advertising 124 (Copywriting) class, the objective was written that students should learn the
specific needs and dynamics of each media form. Assessment consisted of three advertising
briefs, two writing exercises plus a workshop brief set by DDB San Francisco. Each brief
focused on a different diverse audience ranging from men in their 40s who skateboarded in their
youth, to hipsters with school district superintendent and stay-at-home mothers in between.
Professor Delacruz’s Advertising 125’s (Advertising Layout and Production) class was
assessed by completion of two briefs. Both were live briefs. One set by a non-profit, one by an ad
agency in London. Each brief targeted different individuals. One was K12 schoolchildren the
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other was middle- class American mothers.
This class understood and correctly targeted different individuals according to the brief.
Also, the consumer brief was for a product only available in the UK so students had to develop
an understanding of the global nature of brands.
There will be changes in structure implemented to create a greater workshop approach.
Delacruz has found students lacking basic design and creative practice skills that he will address
through this class. The first one-third of the semester will be spent on design and visual thinking
fundamentals assessed by portfolio before tackling one brief assessed as project.
Several class projects required students to work in teams, such as the teams of six
members which created and produced print and electronic advertising targeted to a diverse
audience in Lecturer Stephen Eckstone’s Advertising 121 (Consumer Advertising) class. A
second project, known as the “switch-pitch,” required students to identify weaknesses in the first
presentation and to try and “take the business away.” Students must demonstrate an
understanding of a diverse audience and must develop effective communication strategies.
Future classes will include advertising in languages other than English.
PLO #6: Demonstrate the ability to think critically and independently.
In Professor Tim Hendrick’s Advertising 128 (Integrated Marketing Communication)
students are required to put together a team project on a company and its market, and present it
at the end of the semester. Students must gather the Initial research, prepare statistical analysis,
prepare, and present the final presentation. This requires that students develop and justify
objectives and strategies, as well as develop tactics and solutions to meet the objectives.
Participation in the presentations as required
Professor Hendrick’s assessment is that “more than anything, the students learn how to
present an idea and a concept in front of an audience,” Certain key issues are required of
everyone to be included in their presentations on a product that the team chooses at the
beginning of the semester.
PLO #11: Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the
communications professions in which they work.
Students in Advertising 116 (Media Sales) receive Instruction in Media Flight Plan
software, in addition to instruction on how to use a database. “Once they use it,” Professor Tim
Hendrick said, “they are astounded with the information they learn about their target audience
and their selected product.”
Lecturer Robert Nelson’s Advertising’s (Business-to-Business Advertising) class
worked on a creative project with each student creating a full page, four-color magazine ad and
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also creating a “push-down” digital ad.
PLO #2: Demonstrate knowledge of the history and role of professionals and institutions
in shaping communications.
In Professor John Delacruz’s Advertising 129 (Advertising Campaign Planning and
Management) class, the focus was on understanding the role of professional positions offered in
the advertising business, with particular focus on advertising agencies.
Students were assessed on their roles as members of an advertising team: account
manager, account manager, creative and design specialists. Throughout the semester they
adopted these roles in producing and pitching a campaign to a live client. The students received
an initial brief, conducted appropriate research, developed a big idea and a creative strategy
before producing a campaign book and finally pitching live to the client and assembled group of
industry professionals.
PLO #7: Conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the
communications professions in which they work.
Professor Tim Hendrick’s Advertising 126 (Media Planning and Buying) class must use
Simmons and VALS (in the library) in researching their demographics and psychographics for
their respective media plan. They are taught in lecture the importance of these devices and how
to use them.
In Professor Hendrick’s Advertising 128 (Integrated Marketing Communications) class,
each team of 4 individuals must research and analyze their respective chosen products of which
they are creating a communications plan. Through Simmons, VALS, CDI and BDI information
sources they can create a promotion plan for the product. Rates and discounts must be calculated
based on the rate card published each year. It is unique to each client based on how much they
spend on advertising.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Two instructors taught seven sections of five advertising courses in fall 2013. The following is a
sample of how AEJMC’s eleven standards were met. As with Journalism, Mass Communications, and
Public Relations, the focus was on, but not limited to the four objectives required of all courses.
PLO #3: Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in
relationship to communications.
Each student in Professor Matt Cabot’s PR 192 (Case Studies in Strategic Management)
class wrote five 5-to-6 page academic papers, where they researched various public relations
case studies that featured a wide variety of different audiences. The level of achievement for the
class overall was a solid B.
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Professor Cabot indicated a change for next semester noting that most of the cases in our
textbook are based in the U.S. and he wants to find some more international cases to analyze.
PLO #8: Write correctly and clearly in styles and formats appropriate to various
audiences, media and settings.
This PLO was assessed in two primary ways by Professor Cabot in his PR 191 (Strategic
Writing for the Organization) class: (1) a brochure, and (2) a planning document accompanying
the brochure. Over the last two years, he has increased the visual component to the class for two
reasons: (1) the market/industry is becoming increasingly visual and therefore is demanding
graduates with visual skills, and (2) there seemed to be too much overlap between this course
(PR191) and PR190. However, based on student writing performance – and perennial need for
graduates with solid writing skills – he adjusting the course back to add more writing instruction.
Professor Cabot is going to replace a 2-week module on visual communication basics
(sketching, visual thinking) with a writing boot camp. As valuable as visual thinking is to our
students, the need to write well (at least proficiently) takes precedence.
Lecturer Chris Disalvo’s students in PR 199 (Campaign Planning and Management)
class write a public relations plan for a client. They must use correct forms and styles for the
communications profession. The achievement level is 90 percent.
PLO #11: Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the
communications professions in which they work.
Besides writing on computers, students in Di Salvo’s PR190 (Media Writing in the
Information Age) class must complete a social media video of a public service announcement.
The achievement level is 90 percent.
PLO #2: Demonstrate knowledge of the history and role of professionals and institutions in
shaping communications.
Professor Cabot’s PR 191 (Strategic Writing for the Organization) class achieved an A
average on slide design. The slides accompanied their final speech. There is a revolution
happening in slide design. Led by Silicon Valley luminaries such as Nancy Duarte, slide design
has become much more visual. Cognitive science has shown us that audiences cannot read textheavy slides and listen to a speaker at the same time. Therefore, slides have become more like
billboards than documents.
PLO #5: Demonstrate analytical ability and be able to exercise critical thinking in terms of
problem-solving.
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Professor Cabot’s PR 99 (Contemporary Public Relations) class were required to write
two 3-4 page media briefs during the semester, analyzing a current PR situation in the news. The
brief had to include: (1) the facts of the case, (2) the PR situation, (3) how well the organization
handled the situation, (4) their suggestions, and (5) a relevant PR theory or principle.
With the exception of some writing problems, these briefs were generally good. This is
an intro class where students are first being exposed to PR definitions and concepts. After about
three weeks, students are expected to submit their first brief. It is gratifying to see how very
quickly the students catch on and are ready to make substantive critiques of current PR
situations.
JOURNALISM
Eleven instructors taught 16 sections of eight journalism classes in Fall 2013. The following is a
sample of how AEJMC’s eleven standards were met. As with Advertising, Mass Communications, and
Public Relations, the focus was on, but not limited to the four objectives required of all courses.
PLO #3: Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in
relationship to communications.
People of color, ethnicities, sexual orientation and both genders must be represented in
news stories, including being quoted in sound bites in Lecturer Lloyd LaCuesta’s JOURN 164
(Electronic Newsgathering for Television) class. Students must always ask themselves if their
stories include viewpoints of different groups. The news shows that were produced every week
achieved an A- in diversity representation.
La Cuesta noted that students appear to still be uncomfortable in including people from
different sexual orientations and/or different religious persuasions. He hopes to impose more
review on the composition of various people who are represented in student stories. I plan to
bring in more speakers who are representative of diverse groups.
There were several objectives in Professor Michael Cheers’ JOURN 95 (Beginning
Digital News Photography) class. This basic introduction to news photography and the
photojournalism field included camera use - composition, aperture, shutter speed, and lens
selection - and processing for print or electronic media using Photoshop. Emphasis was on
technical aspects of digital news photography and storytelling with photographs. Attention was
also paid to augmenting photographs with audio and video to produce multimedia projects.
Students also wrote captions, took news photos under pressure and produced multi-media stories.
Students were assessed by discussion of their class presentations which the students
could then re-do/improve before submitting for a final critique and letter grade at the end of the
semester.
In his evaluation, Professor Cheers noted that Canvas played a huge role in this hybrid
class. Canvas sometimes acted as a teaching assistant. Professor Cheers was able to post
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countless examples of student-produced work from the University of Missouri’s College
Photographer of the Year Competition, the Hearst Competition, the Missouri Photo Workshop,
students’ work from Ohio University and the Mountain Workshops – University of Western
Kentucky.
Professor Cheers intends to change this course to better merge into the newly
implemented JMC convergence curriculum. He plans on getting more basic digital photo
students to embrace the importance of the multiple skill-sets required to produce compelling
work across multiple media platforms.
Professor Cheers also strives to have his JOUR 95 students work more closely with the
Spartan Daily editorial staff. He has an open-door policy with the executive editor, the photo
editor and the multimedia editor, to come to his class any time throughout the semester to
encourage the neophyte photo students to participate by contributing photos for both the daily
and online editions. This has been successful.
JOUR 95 students, who get extra credit when their work gets published, have gained
valuable experience in covering sports, general campus news and feature photographs (Campus
Images) for the student-run newspaper. Professor Cheers also adds it is a sense of pride for the
students to get a “clap-out” from their classmates during critique sessions. A number of former
Jour 95 students have later become staff photographers and the photo editor of the Spartan Daily.
Professor Cheers prioritizes diversity and inclusiveness as a centerpiece of the photojournalism classroom learning experience. As an African American professor, he weekly posts
on Canvas photographs that represent the diversity of the SJSU campus, the San Jose
Community, the Bay Area and across America.
Spartan Daily reporters, in JOURN 135 (Reporting, Editing, and Management) are
continually challenged to look for stories that stressed not only the diverse ethnicities on campus,
but also different religions, traditions and customs. Their success was measured by analysis of
their stories and class discussions throughout the semester.
Most students went outside their comfort zones and wrote about people whose ethnicity
or culture differed from their own. Professor Richard Craig was pleased overall with their efforts
and plans to continually stress reporters’ need to look for marginalized or overlooked groups of
people on and off campus with stories to tell.
Students in Lecturer Halima Kazem’s beginning Journalism course, JOURN 61
(Print/Magazine & Online Writing) were required to follow three news sources everyday (1
local, 1 national, 1 international). They were tested on their knowledge of various current events
and issues in their communities, nationally, and globally.
Twenty-three students were scored 0-to-2 on 4 such quizzes with between 14 and 18
receiving two points and only one receiving no points except for one quiz in which five received
no points.
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Kazem noted that for most of the students, this was their first journalism class and they
weren’t familiar with a wide range of news sources. They did a fair job of keeping with current
events and learning about other countries and cultures.
Editing students in Professor William Tillinghast’s Journalism 133 class (Editing and)
edited structured stories using ethnicity and sexual orientation and then discussed whether the
usage was appropriate.
In his evaluation, Tillinghast noted that students generally failed to eliminate irrelevant
details of any kind once they were already written.
PLO #11: Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the
communications professions in which they work.
All of the class assignments in Lecturer Tim Mitchell’s JOURN 136 (Newspaper and
Magazine Design) class are designed to use InDesign as a desktop publishing tool in the creation
of newspaper and magazine designs. On the mid-term and final exams these acquired skills are
tested on a time basis which is deadline driven. The final exam required the students to fix
problems with an existing newspaper page layout.
The class assignments showed an 85 percent success rate. Late assignments were allowed
to be turned in because they gave the students more hands-on experience but the students were
penalized by some point reductions when deadlines were missed. On the final exam the
desktop publishing component was about 60 percent successful.
Professor Cheers teaches several sections of MCOM 63 (New Media Technologies). Like
JOUR 95, Professor Cheers utilizes Canvas to augment the classroom instruction. This class
attracts a cross-section of JMC students – photo, broadcast, print journalism, advertising and
public relations. Professor Cheers believes content creation across multiple platforms is most
important. In his conversations with advertising and public relations faculty, they all agree that
the students’ ability to begin to master visual storytelling is vitally important.
Professor Cheers posts a plethora of professionally produced multimedia stories (that show
diverse community coverage) from the SF Chronicle, LA Times, San Jose Mercury News,
MediaStorm, CNN, NPPA, among others, but he also posts on Canvas award-winning student–
produced multimedia stories from Missouri’s CPOY, Ohio University, and Hearst, among others.
The MCOM 63 students produce a Wordpress blog containing three major assignments they
produced during the semester.
The students also get exposed to DSLR equipment, extensive tutorials on the importance
of gathering audio, and beginning to advance editing software. Professor Cheers encourages
the students to use their blogs as part of their e-portfolios that can be used when applying for
internships and entry-level positions. It works! Each semester a number of students relate
success stories of how Mcom 63 helped get them an internship. Professor Cheers has those
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students return to his class the following semester to relate to the new crop of students the
importance of their hand-on learning experiences.
MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Sixteen instructors taught 32 sections of 14 Mass Communications courses in Fall 2013.
The following is a sample of how AEJMC’s eleven standards were met. As with Advertising, Journalism,
and Public Relations, the focus was on, but not limited to the four standards required of all courses.
PLO #1: Applied the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press, including the
right to dissent, to monitor and criticize power.
This PLO was the core of the MCOM 101 (Media Law and Ethics) course. Students in
Lecturer Larry Sokoloff’s section were tested on this in quizzes, midterms and finals. Twenty
nine of 31 students received passing grades (a D or higher) and 80% of the class received a C
grade or higher. By completing the course requirements, they showed understanding of the First
Amendment. Specifically, there is usually only one question on the midterm that asks students to
name the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment.
Most students (25 or 80%) got this question right and full credit, while two students got it
wrong, and four got partial credit. The answers to the midterm were reviewed in class, so
students who got it wrong had a chance to learn the right answers.
PLO #3: Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to
communications.
In Lecturer Dona Nichols’ MCOM 100W (Writing Workshop) Class, students attend events
that focus on culture, ethnicity and lifestyles different from theirs. Some of the events selected
for this assignment this semester included a student forum and rally that centered on a campus
hate crime, a GLBT meeting, performances by minority students and attendance of at least one
religious or political meeting that was outside of their personal preference.
Students are reluctant to step outside their comfort zone unless it’s an assignment. 72 out
of the 74 students received a B- or better. There were two who received a zero on the
assignment.
Lecturer Cynthia Fernald’s MCOM 100W (Writing Workshop) class wrote a series of
essays including:
(1) Researching the Japanese-American WWII internment and visiting the local
memorial, and researching the artist. Write an essay incorporating information about the
internment and how and why it happened, along with information on its local impact and about
the memorial’s creator, local artist Ruth Asawa, who was interned as a teenager. B average
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(2) Reading a short story in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer, then writing a
blog post discussing Packer’s story-telling techniques, such as her use of quotes/dialogue,
anecdotes, description/scene-setting, similes and metaphors, etc. (Note: Ms. Packer, an AfricanAmerican, writes stories that raise issues of race and culture.) Those who completed it received a
high B.
(3) Attending a political, cultural, or social event focused on a racial/ethnic group to
which you do not belong, and writing a critical review of the event, including an analysis of the
experience of being an outsider. Class achievement was a B average.
(4) Act as an in-house PR person for a tech company, and write a query letter to a local
daily newspaper pitching a human interest story idea about a company tech support employee
who excels at his job … and who also happens to be blind. 95% received credit.
Most did well on these assignments. Most students wrote thoughtful essays that touched
on issues of race, culture, and on changing legal and cultural perspectives.
PLO #6: Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively, and independently.
This objective was met in Lecturer Dona Nichols’ MCOM 72 (Mass Communication and
Society) class by a written assignment on use of the “N” word after watching a documentary on
New South Publishers removing the “N” word from the classic novels “Tom Sawyer” and “Huck
Finn.” Students had to write a two-page opinion piece on whether the “N” word should remain in
these novels or if it is acceptable to replace it with the word “slave.”
This objective was also met in Professor Cheers’ MCOM 106 (Global Mass
Communications.) The readings – part textbook, New York Times, the Economist and Fareed
Zakaria GPS – are dense. Canvas allowed for a more interactive teaching and learning
experience. The readings were posted in advance, so that class time could be used for topic
discussions, critically thinking and independent analysis. Every Friday a current global mass
event topic was posted on Canvas. The students had a week to write an analysis on the topic. The
trick - the students had to carry forward the discussion posted by the student before him/her. This
forced the students to read the assigned material, think independently, and add critical
commentary to the classroom discussion.
Journalism Degree Program
Self-Study Narrative
General statement about journalism degree program and curriculum
compiled by the journalism and mass communications faculty.
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The journalism degree program offers a 120-unit Bachelor of Science degree. The journalism degree
program had 191 majors in Fall 2013 and 185 in Spring 2014.
Prior to Fall 2013, the program offered concentrations in reporting and editing, photojournalism, radiotelevision news and magazine journalism.
With enrollments declining in 2012 in two of the four, photojournalism and radio-television news, the
dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, advised Associate Professor Robert Rucker, director of
the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and faculty members that top university
administrators questioned whether the two programs could be sustained.
Faculty members held numerous meetings in Spring 2012, attended an emergency retreat in Summer
2012 and decided to develop a convergence journalism degree program as quickly as possible. In Fall
2012 the JMC Curriculum Committee researched, discussed and developed a program that would merge
all four concentrations. Journalism students were asked to join the committee effort and offered insights
and student perspectives.
By November 2012 the committee presented the new convergence journalism degree to the full JMC
faculty for discussion and approval. The plan was immediately sent to the dean, the CASA Curriculum
Committee and SJSU Undergraduate Studies for review and approval. In late January 2013 all three
review efforts were approved, with the new convergence degree program scheduled for a Fall 2013 start.
During Spring 2013 the JMC director and SJSU Academic Affairs updated university catalogs to reflect
the journalism degree change for academic year 2013-2014. The JMC director and faculty began
explaining the new convergence degree to all students in JMC classes. Throughout that Spring semester
information updates were emailed to every student in the journalism degree program, and in April 2013
the director and faculty held an informational and Q&A session with all journalism students.
Rucker repeatedly assured all declared journalism majors who had been admitted under one of the four
concentration sequences that they could take regular or substitute classes that would qualify them to
graduate on schedule. Continuing students were encouraged to take journalism courses outside their
original concentration as part of the transition to the new degree program.
The new convergence journalism degree officially began in Fall 2013. Since then, all journalism students
admitted to the degree program have been required to complete the new convergence requirements.
The objective remains to provide students with a learning experience that facilitates the development of
the critical thinking, research, reporting, writing and technology skills requisite in the news and
information industries today and represents the highest ethical and professional standards in the
journalism field.
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The general mission of the journalism program is to prepare students for careers in mass communications
and evolving technologies within a liberal education framework that provides a critical appraisal of mass
communications in a democratic society.
Basic objectives
To educate entry-level journalists, to hone their skills in gathering, preparing and disseminating
information that is accurate, clear, meaningful and as close to the truth as their reporting and research can
elicit.
To prepare future mass media managers to structure communications policies and newsgathering
techniques and practices based on cohesive and relevant societal needs.
To educate students to the ever-changing mass communications role in society by providing an
understanding of the historical, political, legal, cultural and technological developments affecting media
as well as the symbiotic relationship between media and institutions in society.
History
In its first 77 years, the journalism department incrementally added majors for its students.
Reporting/editing, established as news-editorial with the founding of the department in 1936, accredited
in 1955-1956. The Spartan Daily has published for 80 years. Virtually every California daily newspaper
has employed at least one of the Daily’s more than 4,000 alums. Two reporting/editing alums have won
or led teams to Pulitzer Prizes, the latest in 2008. Daily staff members have won scores of California
College Media Association, Society of Professional Journalists and California Newspaper Publishers
Association awards.
Photojournalism, recognized from the beginning as critical to the coverage of news. Originally the college
bulletin announced that Publications Photography (Journalism 105A, B, and C) would be offered. The
photojournalism concentration became official in 1948 and was accredited in 1984. Two photojournalism
graduates have earned individual Pulitzers and a third led his photo staff to two shared Pulitzers.
Broadcast/electronic news, which began as a radio news class in 1948, with a television news class added
10 years later, accredited as a radio-television program in 1976. Students have produced “Update News,”
the school’s weekly television news show for 51 years, most of them guided by lecturer Darla Belshe at
PBS station KTEH. Three of her students won first place in the William Randolph Hearst annual
competition for accredited programs. Broadcast students have continued to earn CCMA and Radio
Television Digital News Association awards.
Magazine predated journalism as an English class. It was established as a program in 1986. Access
magazine earned students literally hundreds of individual and collective awards in state and national
competitions in the 28 years after Professor Emeritus Harvey Gotliffe resurrected the program.
Nascent convergence
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Even before the move to convergence, JMC faculty members and students had their eyes on the future.
In 2009, Associate Professor D. Michael Cheers, photojournalism coordinator, and JMC Director Rucker
co-organized a cross-country learning experience that introduced students to the history of the Civil
Rights Movement. The goal was to study, learn, report and share their impressions about the racial
struggles that paved the way for the election of the first African-American president of the United States.
Along the way they drew national attention as they filed print, broadcast and online stories and
multimedia essays for the Spartan Daily and San Jose Mercury News. CNN also conducted daily live
interviews with the students on the trip and invited them to share their information and reactions with
their news audience. After attending the swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., students returned to
campus and produced a commemorative news magazine-like report, 44 Years to the 44th President.
In 2012, Cheers led a 10-day trip to Cuba. He worked with faculty members from the College of Applied
Sciences and Arts, then developed a new JMC initiative, “Education: Wheels-Up.” The trip included
journalism students, San Jose Mercury News columnist Joe Rodriguez, retired ABC 7 reporter Rigo
Chacon and students and faculty members from the departments of kinesiology, nursing, health science
and recreation.
Drawing on knowledge of the country and academic backgrounds, students were assigned to develop
feature stories about the people and lifestyles. Cheers also arranged for students to meet and interview
Yoani Sanchez, internationally known Cuban activist and blogger, in Havana. Students were assigned to
develop feature stories. After their trip to Cuba, students returned to campus and in three months
developed and published Cuba: Voices from Havana yearning to be heard in the global community, a
magazine-like report chronicling their learning experiences. The publication is available internationally
on Hewlett-Packard’s MagCloud, a digital and print-on-demand publisher, at
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/364880.
In the broadcast program, “Update News” faced some of its own challenges when national FCC highdefinition broadcast standards were adopted nationally. The 30-minute student-produced newscast, which
focused on SJSU and South Bay news and information, had to move to commercial Bay Area television
station KICU from 2009 until 2013. CreaTV, a San Jose-based cable television and online media service
for Santa Clara County, became its home in Fall 2013. We plan to offer the newscast in HD format to Bay
Area television stations beginning in the Fall 2014.
With funds from the Anderson Gift in 2013, the television studio in Dwight Bentel Hall was fully
upgraded with digital and high-definition technology this past summer.
A new and in-depth public affairs television program called “Equal Time” was created, developed and
produced by Associate Professor Diane Guerrazzi. Hosted by JMC Director Rucker, the 13-episode
program, modeled after the original ABC News “Nightline” telecast, was produced by journalism
students. It focuses on a timely local, regional or national issue or trend and is followed by a live-to-tape
in-studio roundtable discussion with experts and informed individuals who can offer firsthand experience
about the show topic.
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The program has been nominated for a Northern California regional Emmy and RTDNA Award.
The magazine program has continued to evolve as well. Professor Scott Fosdick has led students on trips
to New York to visit major magazines and meet with their editors. Thomas Ulrich, Northern California
magazine industry writer, reporter and Hewlett-Packard publishing expert, also joined the JMC School
faculty, and developed SHiFT, a student- produced magazine sent to business and community leaders in
Silicon Valley. Each issue the magazine investigates a difficult social issue and offers ways for leaders to
get involved in solutions. Ulrich developed a unique collaborative partnership with HP publishing experts
and magazine journalism students, and arranged for SHiFT to be distributed and sold globally on the
Internet through the service of the HP MagCloud.
The school is alternating publication of Access and SHiFT. They serve students who have an interest in
freelance writing or who want careers as writers or editors in consumer, trade and company print or online
publications or in technical writing.
Distinguishing aspects of the program
The blend of academic and professional experience represented by our faculty is noteworthy. The School
of Journalism and Mass Communications prides itself in its balance of teaching and academic faculty.
While all faculty members are expected to engage in some form of scholarship or professional activity
and service to the community, all are also expected to teach a full complement of courses, typically four
courses per semester.
Mandatory internships and required staff courses, combined with a broad theoretical foundation in mass
communications, provide strong preparation for the communication field. Internships and staff courses (1)
provide strong technical preparation for graduates, (2) offer an opportunity for students to establish
realistic career expectations, (3) provide SJSU graduates with a competitive edge over programs that do
not require one or both experiences, (4) offer an opportunity for the school to assess program strength
through outcome assessment measured by student skills in these settings, and (5) provide professional
mentor evaluations of the student, both in an interview and in a written report.
A drawback of the internship/staff requirement is that each requires a substantial commitment of student
time for only three units of academic credit. Many students must rely on jobs to finance their education.
The 240-hour internship requirement, combined with a required staff course, and often an outside job,
reduces available time for other academic work. However, despite these factors, students and graduates
frequently cite the internship and staff requirements as the elements of their education that best served
them in getting a job and having early success in their careers.
On campus, students have many chances to develop portfolios and do creative work. In our magazine
program, students can write for our publications.
Similarly, students have many opportunities to produce broadcast news reports and online videos because
the DBH television studio was gutted and re-equipped over the summer.
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Photojournalism is a strong emphasis in our converged curriculum. The Spartan Daily gives students a
special vehicle for presentation of their reporting and photography. Photo professors regularly bring the
work of the College Photographer of the Year competition to San Jose State from the University of
Missouri, allowing students to compare their work to that of other photojournalism students across the
nation.
The Spartan Daily continues to publish three consecutive days on paper each week and online on a fourth
day. In spartandaily.com, students’ multimedia story requirements are daunting, but transforming when
they’re posted. Our students get excited about producing single-topic issues. Recent ones focused on body
art, religion, and food, all award winners.
Faculty
While the designation of journalism concentration coordinator remained contractually for several faculty
members until Fall 2013, the practice of offering 0.20 release time was abandoned because of funding
concerns in 1992. Faced with a choice between continuing to reward coordinators or to offer additional
courses, the JMC director subsequently took on the majority of the scheduling and management
responsibilities previously assumed by the coordinators.
Faculty members who held the title of coordinator in each concentration until Fall 2013 have since taken
on occasional duties, including the creation, implementation and development of the convergence
journalism degree program as overload. Also, from time to time, they have taken on additional
responsibilities, at the request of the JMC director to oversee new efforts including timely changes with
assessment requirements for both WASC and ACEJMC, the Anderson Gift endowment, technology
planning and development projects.
The elimination of program tracks in fall 2013 did not eliminate the work of advising students interested
in the different media formerly designated as concentrations. This advisement includes, but is not limited
to, student organizations and clubs.
Balance between full- and part-time faculty
With few exceptions, conceptual courses are taught by full-time faculty members. Faculty members hired
in support of the journalism degree program teach many of the mass communications courses (MCOM
prefix) for all majors. As a result, some journalism skills courses, typically the beginning news writing
course (JOUR 61) and color photography, are sometimes taught by part-time faculty members. Usually
they are professional journalists.
The Spartan Daily traditionally was advised by one full-time, tenured person receiving a 0.40 assignment
(the equivalent of two classes) along with one or two adjuncts at 0.20.
At present, however, because of the necessities of matching certain faculty members with particular
classes in the convergence journalism program, newsroom supervision of the newspaper, television and
magazine efforts now requires three advisers, each operating on a minimum 0.20 assignment:
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Richard Craig, a full-time tenured associate professor with a Ph.D. and six years as an editor, reporter and
opinion columnist oversees the reporting/editing class sections (a 0.20 assignment for one, two and three
units credit) JOUR 135.
Kim Komenich, Pulitzer Prize photojournalist and full-time tenure-track probationary professor in his
sixth year, oversees the multimedia and photojournalism students (a 0.20 assignment for one, two and
three units credit) JOUR 135.
Diane Guerrazzi, tenured associate professor and veteran Bay Area television journalist, oversees the TV
news reporting class, which produces “Update News,” (a 0.20 assignment) JOUR 165. Adjunct
Professor/JMC Consultant Lloyd LaCuesta assists with that class.
Fosdick and Ulrich alternate teaching one of the magazine journalism classes (a 0.20 assignment) JOUR
153.
Consultant Mack Lundstrom, with 29 years full time as a San Jose Mercury News editor and reporter
along with 45 years part time as an SJSU and Cal State Hayward instructor, advises the convergence news
operation, but no longer has a formal teaching assignment.
Although it fluctuates by semester, the journalism program had eight (less-than 1.00 fulltime) faculty members teaching journalism in Spring 2014, one (Dona Nichols) teaching a
0.90 assignment (five classes each).
The full- and part-time faculty ratio, as compared with our last accreditation, has remained constant for
the most part. Journalism faculty members also teach many of the mass communications courses that
serve all students and include more non-journalism majors than journalism majors.
Faculty Balance
The number of current (Fall 2014) full- and part-time journalism faculty members has stayed the same as
in Fall 2007, the time of our last accreditation report. Their journalistic specialty and year started at San
Jose State University are:
Full-Time
Specialty
Year
Michael Cheers
Richard Craig
Scott Fosdick
Robert Rucker
Diana Stover
Wm. Tillinghast
Diane Guerrazzi
Kim Komenich
photojournalism
reporting/editing
magazine, graduate
broadcast
reporting/editing
reporting/editing
broadcast
photojournalism
2006
2000
2005
1990
1983
1975
2008
2009
Part-Time
Specialty
Year
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Larry Sokoloff
Lloyd LaCuesta
Cynthia Fernald
Dona Nichols
Thomas Ulrich
Halima Kazem
Lisa Fernandez
Ralph Nichols
Michael Brito
Tim Mitchell
law and ethics
broadcast
reporting/editing
reporting/editing
reporting/editing
broadcast/online
reporting/online
reporting/editing
online reporting
news design
2000
2006
1999
2000
2005
2013
2013
2009
2012
2006
Full-time tenured Professor Harvey Gotliffe retired after Spring 2003 and completed the university’s fiveyear Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP). Part-time lecturer Darla Belshe, who retired in 2002 after
serving since 1977 as instructor for “Update News,” returned to teach one more in semester in 2011.
Six of the journalism faculty members are women (Fernald, D. Nichols, Kazem, Fernandez, Guerrazzi
and Stover).
Three are members of ethnic minorities (Cheers, LaCuesta and Rucker). Five have Ph.D.s (Cheers, Craig,
Fosdick, Stover and Tillinghast.)
Eight are tenured (Craig, Fosdick, Rucker, Stover, Tillinghast, Cheers, Guerrazzi, and Hendrick).
One is in the final year of the six-year tenure track process (Komenich).
The adjunct faculty members, advisers and consultant include individuals involved in both
journalism and mass communications courses:
Lloyd LaCuesta, multiple Emmy Award-winning television reporter/producer with 35 years of
experience in San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose major-market TV news. Teaches both journalism and
mass communications courses.
Cynthia Fernald, former reporter and corporate information officer, who serves as the school academic
adviser in all degree programs. She teaches media writing classes.
Dona Nichols, former local NBC television assignment editor, on-air talent and producer for local CBS
affiliate, reporter and editor in local newspapers and magazines. Teaches classes in news writing,
advanced cross-disciplinary media writing, visual communication, diversity in media and media and
society.
Larry Sokoloff, practicing attorney in the Bay Area who teaches media law and ethics in the journalism
departments of both SJSU and California State University East Bay. He is a former daily newspaper
reporter and current freelancer.
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Thomas Ulrich, longtime magazine correspondent and freelancer for New York Times, Washington Post,
Christian Science Monitor and other publications. Teaches journalism skills courses.
Michael Brito, a Silicon Valley social media expert in marketing and advertising who’s worked locally
for Edelman International, Yahoo! Inc., and Intel. Teaches a social media business-to-business class.
Halima Kazem, international correspondent and freelancer for the New York Times, Christian Science
Monitor and Al Jazeera. Teaches convergence news writing.
Lisa Fernandez, online news producer and reporter, NBC 11 Bay Area News and former
San Jose Mercury News online producer and reporter. Teaches convergence news writing.
Tim Mitchell, graphic design and illustration specialist who worked for Hewlett-Packard as its corporate
art director. Teaches news design.
Faculty balance in professional/academic experience
A requirement of hiring has always been that the successful candidate must have substantial professional
experience. The doctorate waiver, permitting hiring of master’s (terminal) candidates in photojournalism
and radio-television, has carried the additional stipulation that they have substantial professional
experience in a major media market. The master’s (terminal) tenured faculty member meets those
standards. (See vitae in Appendices, Standard 4, “Faculty.”)
Overall, faculty experience includes national and international news reporting, online reporting,
multimedia reporting, and work with major market newspapers, network-owned major market television,
press associations and magazines. Part-time faculty members also have extensive professional journalism
experience, which is a primary consideration in hiring part-time lecturers.
Professional/community/public involvement and academic research
Individual members of the journalism faculty have substantial records.
Two, Stover and Tillinghast, have co-edited Mass Comm Review (a refereed journal of the
mass communications section of AEJMC), as well as conducted current ongoing research on voter
attitudes as they relate to media consumption.
Craig is the author of two online journalism texts released in 2005 and 2013. His third book, based on an
extensive academic study of presidential campaign coverage, will be released in November.
Stover and Sokoloff have been Fulbright scholars.
Stover, Tillinghast, Craig, Fosdick and Fernald have delivered refereed papers at AEJMC
conventions.
Rucker covered the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident for the NBC television station in
Philadelphia, the 1982 recall election of San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and the second California
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murder trial of Mexican immigrant Juan Corona for CNN. He currently hosts the timely issue/discussion
PBS program “Equal Time,” which was created, developed and produced by Bay Area television veteran
reporter Guerrazzi.
Faculty members are active in professional and community involvement projects including: consulting,
work with professional associations such as the National Press Photographers Association, California
College Media Association, SPJ, Radio-Television Digital News Association, First Amendment
Coalition, press clubs and service to such organizations as parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San
Jose.
Public events featuring journalists and newsmakers
Rucker has consulted for Apple Computer and co-founded an LGBT Ministry at San Jose Roman
Catholic parish St. Julie Billiart Church. Tillinghast has served as an expert witness in a tenure case for
the California attorney general. LaCuesta has served as president of the national Asian American
Journalists Association.
Craig has worked with the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley to present speakers and panels for
public audiences, and has moderated such events. DiSalvo has worked with the Rotary Club of San Jose
to organize numerous events.
Faculty members have spoken to such groups as Journalism Association of Community Colleges,
National Association of Black Journalists, Radio and Television Digital News Association, Bay Area
Black Media Coalition, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, College Media Advisers, Associated
Collegiate Press, California College Media Association, International Association of Obituarists and
International Association of Business Communicators.
Composition of journalism majors
A breakdown of all JMC majors by gender, ethnic background is given in Section 3, “Diversity.” The
university doesn’t break down such statistics by degree program.
Curriculum — courses with JOUR and MCOM prefixes
The JMC School has offered a 120-unit Bachelor of Science degree since Fall 2003. Each convergence
journalism major, admitted since Fall 2013, is now required to take 40 units in the program (of which six
are general education courses not counted in the journalism block) and specified support courses. A
program sheet for each journalism concentration is attached to this section.
All journalism majors are required to take a minimum of 19 units from a selection of courses with the
prefix MCOM. With the exception of MCOM 111, “Internship” and the required general education
course, MCOM 100W, “Writing Workshop for Mass Communications,” these courses (13 units) contain
no “skills” instruction. Students may elect to take an additional six units in mass communications
“conceptual” courses.
Presentation of law, ethics, history, diversity and theory
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Law, ethics, history and theory are presented to journalism majors in several ways. All majors must take
MCOM 101, “Media Law and Ethics.” Other conceptual courses include MCOM 72, “Visual
Communications,” MCOM 70, “Mass Communications and Society,” MCOM 106, “Global Mass
Communication,” MCOM 105, “Diversity in the Media.” All these courses include material on issues of
law and ethics as they apply to journalism and mass media. Any such course must carefully examine the
moral, ethical and legal issues that surround media performance.
Comparisons of media in “Mass Communications and Society” begin with the historical antecedents and
the legal distinctions concerning each form of mass communications. Both “Mass Communications and
Society” and “Diversity in the Media” look at cause and effect in examining coverage and impact of the
news.
The reporting and editing skills courses have adopted “The Elements of Journalism,” Third Edition, by
Kovach and Rosenstiel as a “little book” much like “The Elements of Style.” Faculty members see this a
one of the essential primers for honest and ethical journalism. The magazine and broadcast sequences also
have style guides for their students.
Contributions of minorities and women
All courses offered in the journalism school are required to develop appropriate elements for review and
discussion of issues of diversity. In-depth information on the contributions to media by minorities and
women is specifically organized for presentation in two classes — the lower division required class
MCOM 72: “Mass Communications and Society” and the upper division elective course MCOM 105:
“Diversity in the Media.” Both include discussion of the contribution made by women and minorities,
while MCOM 105 is devoted entirely to timely issues and candid discussions of race and ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, religious cultures and disability.
Other courses present information in this area as appropriate in the context of discussion. For example, a
reporting instructor may refer to the contribution of Edna Buchanan of the Miami Herald in discussing
techniques of police coverage, while an instructor in History of the American Media may cite Ida Tarbell
in discussing the muckrakers’ impact on turn-of-the-century business coverage. In “Mass
Communications and Society,” an instructor might discuss pornography from the feminist perspective as
well as past and current female contributions to mass communications.
Special “role model” guests are also featured to speak on the contributions of minorities and women in
the field. By way of example, each semester working professionals in Bay Area broadcast news have
guest-lectured in several radio-television news courses. Speakers such as Janelle Wang (Asian-American),
who is weekday co-anchor of NBC Bay Area News; former reporter Rigo Chacon (Mexican-American),
KGO-TV (ABC) South Bay bureau chief; and Bob Butler, reporter for KCBS News Radio in San
Francisco and current president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), enjoy visiting
the school and engaging students’ questions on diversity practices in professional media. Chacon has also
served as an on-site “guest professor/adviser” and traveled with students and faculty
to Cuba in 2012.
Since 2003, the JMC School has hosted campus community forums on diversity and the media to help
students, faculty, staff and local residents develop a deeper understanding of issues and concerns
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regarding media portrayals of women and diverse cultural groups. In April 2014 the school sponsored the
sixth annual Spuler Ethics Symposium, which focused on media coverage of campus and community race
problems. A month earlier, the JMC School televised and video-streamed a candid community discussion
about immigration issues after presenting the West Coast university debut of the new film “Documented”
produced by Pulitzer Prize journalist Jose Antonio Vargas.
The JMC School brought 2012 Pulitzer Prize journalist Sara Ganim to SJSU for a community discussion
about the story she broke about the sex scandal at Pennsylvania State University, her alma mater.
The continuity of objectives in courses with multiple sections is promoted in several ways. Sections of
such courses (e.g., news writing.) use a common text. Instructors discuss common objectives and share
materials. The director and a faculty member, who is experienced with teaching that course, meet with
new faculty to discuss the goals and objectives of the course, to discuss methods of achieving the goals
and objectives and to give them a sample course syllabus that states the specific areas to be covered.
Recent changes in major requirements, course restructuring
Previous to the 2007 accreditation visit, the journalism faculty restructured the skills curriculum to reflect
the substantial changes in technology and distribution within the journalism industry. Courses were reconceptualized and reorganized with the object of not only keeping up with these changes, but also
maintaining a commitment to teaching essential news gathering, synthesis and dissemination skills. In the
ensuing years, faculty members have made some additional important curriculum changes.
In 2012, JMC asked university Undergraduate Studies for permission to revise and merge our journalism
sequence degree program. In part, the school’s proposal said, “At this pivotal time in global
communications, we believe it crucial to revise our undergraduate journalism degree to ensure future
graduates will continue to be in great demand. We enjoy a global reputation for excellence in media
higher education. We have hired new faculty over the past five years with strong credentials in
multimedia journalism to help guide our academic progression.”
After the implementation of the new convergence journalism degree program in Fall 2013, the JMC
Assessment Committee and the Curriculum Committee began looking at immediate needs and
adjustments requested by the full JMC faculty. At recent meetings, faculty members noted a growing
number of journalism major applicants and admitted students interested in learning about specialized
writing for social media, the arts and entertainment. The Curriculum Committee began working with
faculty members wishing to develop new course proposals that would meet student requests,
accommodate media industry needs and support the academic goals for the new convergence journalism
degree program.
The school director learned that the university had deactivated a large number of courses taught years ago
in the JMC School. Some had a specific or one-time purpose to cover a unique local, regional or
international learning experience. Others were general in focus. The school director asked Academic
Affairs whether those general courses and numbers could be reactivated and used for more contemporary
learning opportunities. In February 2014 Academic Affairs recommended that new course proposals be
developed with new JMC School course numbers. Three JMC faculty members worked with the
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Curriculum Committee and developed detailed documentation and syllabi that meet new and specific
SJSU online accessibility requirements: (Complete syllabi are attached.)
JOUR 137: Reviewing the Arts. Students explore the arts while learning to forge their opinions into
reasoned critical reviews. They attend performances and exhibits, meet some artists and critics, read
selected writings in criticism and aesthetics and learn to support their opinions with evidence. In addition
to achieving the four JMC School Program Learning Outcomes, a special learning outcome for students
will be to critically evaluate their own work, and that of others, for accuracy and fairness, clarity,
appropriate style and grammar.
JOUR 167: Television News Magazine. This is a course dedicated to quality, long-form visual reporting
told through the 30-minute news and information program “Equal Time,” which airs in the Bay Area on
Public Broadcast Service station KQED. The show contains taped and edited video news feature packages
and live-to-tape roundtable discussions. Students are responsible for several aspects of show creation.
Classroom Learning Objectives (CLOs) include the student ability to: (1) Demonstrate the knowledge of
professional ethical principles and the ability to work in pursuit of truth, accuracy and fairness, and (2)
Apply journalistic research methods, as well as numerical and statistical concepts, that accurately reflect
salient facts in a global and diverse society.
MCOM 170: Strategic Social Media. The basic principles of social media and how they affect today’s
business environment including social media planning, integrated communications, audience targeting,
creative strategy, advertising ethics, social responsibility and understanding visual culture. Channels
include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and blogs. Classroom Learning Objectives
(CLOs) include the student ability to: (1) Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global
society in relationship to advertising communications by understanding the history of advertising and the
basic principles that underlie advertising practice, (2) Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively
and independently by working on specific internal and external tasks and assignments, (3) Write correctly
and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and purposes
they serve following engagement with a marketing and advertising knowledge base, and (4) Demonstrate
the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they
will work.
The school director and curriculum chair noted that the television news reporting class, JOUR 164, which
migrated to the new convergence journalism degree program, was not repeatable for one, two or three
units. Students who wanted that option after taking the required three-unit course would have to register
for an independent study class (MCOM 180). Academic Affairs, however, noted that the JOUR 165:
“Update News” staff class, was still active and was set up originally as a repeatable course so students
could work to improve their television news specialty skills. It was mutually decided to substitute JOUR
165 for JOUR 164 in the new convergence journalism degree program.
During Spring 2014 all departments on the SJSU campus were required to assist with the development of
a comprehensive university assessment plan for national accreditation by WASC, the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges.
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CASA designated kinesiology Professor Emily Wughalter as the coordinator of WASC assessment efforts
in the college. Chairs and directors from each department and school were given specific guidelines to
follow, and a deadline of June 1, 2014, to submit a fully updated and complete report for posting online.
In March the JMC Assessment Committee, already working on meeting 2012 updated ACEJMC Standard
9: Assessment requirements, met with Wughalter and developed a strategy and process that could
accommodate both WASC and ACEJMC needs. (Attached is the complete JMC School WASC report
submitted before the June 1 deadline. See in this self-study, under Standard 9: Assessment the inclusion
of this comprehensive report.)
As part of their work on the Assessment Committee in Spring 2014, faculty members carefully reviewed
the Fall 2013 attempt at developing a new and comprehensive assessment tool for all JMC courses. Many
faculty members complained that it was too cumbersome and time consuming with a short turnaround
deadline required at the end the Fall semester. The JMC Assessment Committee decided to design,
simplify and provide all faculty with a revised and completely online assessment tool for evaluating
individual course sections at the end of spring semester.
To make this happen, the JMC Assessment Committee recommended, and the full JMC faculty approved,
four overarching goals (or program learning objectives) for all JMC classes that were drawn from the 12
ACEJMC guidelines:
JMC School Program Learning Objectives
PLO 1: Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to
communications.
PLO 2: Demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively and independently.
PLO 3: Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions,
audiences and purposes they serve.
PLO 4: Demonstrate the ability to use tools and technologies appropriate for the communications
professions in which they work.
JMC faculty members were encouraged to develop Classroom Learning Outcomes or CLOs drawn from
ACEJMC guidelines, which specifically address content, focus and efforts of individual JMC classes.
Additionally, the University Syllabi Policy, (also called the greensheet policy at SJSU because for years
syllabi were printed on green paper across campus), requires that all syllabi meet precise accessibility
requirements identified in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(The Policy F06-2 is attached and available online at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F06-2.pdf, dated July 17, 2006.)
Every effort must be made to ensure that all instructional materials at SJSU, including course syllabus,
comply with explicit accessibility guidelines. Beginning in Fall 2014, all faculty members at SJSU must
incorporate the new and specific guidelines. The JMC School now requires faculty members to submit
fully compliant syllabi/greensheets for posting on the new school website designed and developed during
the summer of 2014.
Plans for correcting weaknesses
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In addition to the previously discussed adjustments of the journalism curriculum, faculty members
continue to keep abreast with changes in technology, as well as issues affecting
the various disciplines. Thus, the pedagogy involved with teaching course content continues to evolve.
Instructors are expected to use the Internet and related technologies as teaching tools wherever
appropriate, and to take advantage of smart classroom technology in Dwight Bentel Hall (DBH) and also
known as the Journalism Building on campus.
Thanks to funds set aside from the Anderson gift, a major upgrade of the building was planned in 2013
and 2014 and implemented during Summer 2014. The Cisco Telepresence System installed in DBH 225
is integrated with technology in a new, state-of-the-art television studio and control room in DBH 139 and
141. A new JMC engineer/manager is supervising studio productions and training faculty members and
students. A “live update desk” in the convergence newsroom, DBH 209, enables student media to stream
timely and emergency news updates online, over the air, and on closed-circuit campus television. The
large DBH 226 multimedia lab with 40 Apple computers with a wide range of software upgrades has a
new room divider to facilitate smaller group project development and after-hour student production work.
Advertising and public relations students also have a contemporary and creative workspace for special
project development in DBH 117.
Faculty members and students are learning how to effectively use the new facilities, technologies,
software and devices. Guidelines and rules will be posted and fully enforced to ensure that the appropriate
use of these tools reflects the highest standards of journalism performance.
Courses serving non-majors
Non-majors generally enroll in the conceptual mass communications courses. However, students from
other disciplines who choose to minor in the journalism field have a combination of skills and conceptual
courses as part of the minor. Particularly popular because of timely national and global trends are the
current MCOM 139: “Specialized Writing,” MCOM 170: “Social Media Business-to-Business
Communications” and MCOM 72: “Mass Communications and Society” because they count toward
student requirements in the general education area.
MCOM 105: “Diversity in the Media” also attracts from across the spectrum students who want to
develop an understanding of how to communicate and connect with people from a wide range of cultures.
JOUR 155: “Magazine Editing and Production” normally attracts students from art, photography, English,
graphics and design. It is hoped that MCOM 63: “New Media Technologies” and MCOM 163:
“Advanced Media Technologies” will attract students from many majors, because they teach hardware
and software skills that apply to many disciplines.
JOUR 61: “News Writing for Electronic Media,” and JOUR 165: “Television News Staff” appeal to some
public relations and advertising majors (as an elective) and also attract students from television, radio,
film and theatre arts (TRFT). This course sequence has a unique relationship with TRFT students enrolled
in television production courses in their department. They serve as the production staff for our “Update
News” program, operating cameras, teleprompters and serving as audio or tape operators, etc.
Continuity and instructional objectives in multiple-section courses
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Journalism faculty members meet to discuss the objectives of courses in the curriculum. This occurs each
semester, annually at school retreats and as the need arises in meetings of the Curriculum Committee. The
purpose is to ensure no unnecessary duplication of material between courses and to reaffirm expected
course outcomes.
Course syllabi are on file in the JMC School office and are given to any faculty member new to teaching
a course.
The director gives new faculty members an overview of the degree program and assigns a senior faculty
mentor to a faculty member new to a course.
One faculty member is normally responsible for ordering books for all sections of a single course,
following consultation with other persons who teach the course.
Articulation with community colleges
The school ensures curricular integrity in community college courses through articulation agreements
with those schools. Journalism faculty members meet with area community college journalism faculty
members on the San Jose State University campus each year and a number of less formal meetings are
held throughout the year. At these meetings, journalism course syllabi are provided and discussions of our
course objectives, texts used and similar matters ensue. The large number of California community
college transfer students (currently down from a high of almost 62 percent in 2007) contributes breadth to
the sharing and comparing of their college experiences with those of the SJSU students who matriculated
as freshmen.
Quality of internship opportunities
The school has specific procedures and policies to ensure the quality of internships for all majors. A copy
of internship policies and materials is included in this self-study in Exhibits and Appendices, Section 2,
“Curriculum.”
The internship company, student, the school’s internship adviser, and the faculty adviser must sign an
agreement that spells out the duties of the intern, the amount of pay and the start/stop date of the
internship. The 240-hour internship must be completed within 15 weeks (20 hours per week maximum).
School policy mandates that interns should be paid at least enough to cover the cost of enrolling in the
class, though employers may apply for an exemption from this policy. Certain types of employers
(nonprofit organizations, broadcast stations) tend not to pay students for internships, but a student may
agree to this if the experience is deemed important enough to forgo payment.
In contrast, we have been lucky enough to have some Bay Area broadcast stations, such as NBC 11, pay
students a stipend for their internship service. During the summer of 2014, students taking an internship
there for three units credit were paid $1,700.
The student intern must submit to the school adviser a report following each 40 hours completed. The
form contains a summary of the work experience for the reporting period, offers an opportunity for the
intern to ask for help from the adviser and is accompanied by examples of the student’s work (press
releases, clips, etc.) whenever possible. The faculty coordinator/supervisor checks in with the internship
supervisor midway through the internship, and evaluates the student’s work. They also talk with the
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intern and provide help and constructive criticism. The student’s supervisor at the internship must be a
media professional.
At the conclusion of the internship, the student must answer a questionnaire about the internship
experience and must obtain a letter from the employer to indicate satisfactory completion of the
internship.
The journalism faculty and school solicit internship opportunities; however, the majority of them are
volunteered, and we rarely have enough students to fill all the available internships.
Publicizing internship opportunities
New internships are posted on the JMC website, announced in class and posted on bulletin boards outside
faculty offices. The school office maintains internship books that list more than 300 internships and
pertinent information about them. A sample of an internship announcement, as it appears in the book, is
included in support materials in Part II, Standard 8. Questionnaires filled out by students are available to
future students who want to sample opinion about the quality of the internship they might be considering.
Examples of special internship opportunities
Photojournalism students have found particular success through the internship program. In the last five
years, several have interned during semesters and summers at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Although the Dow Jones News Fund in 2009 stopped including the West and SJSU in its boot camp sites,
five SJSU reporting majors earned internships in the last four years. They worked at the Denver Post, the
Tucson Star, the Contra Costa Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Since the last accreditation report,
students have interned at major dailies throughout California and in more than 10 different U.S. states.
Electronic/broadcast news students have interned recently at the CBS Los Angeles Bureau and other
national locations.
Journalism majors are often chosen as Chips Quinn Scholars. Recent recipients worked at the Louisville
Courier Journal, Oakland Tribune and Bay Area News Group.
Student organizations and honors
Kappa Tau Alpha, a national honor society for journalism students and educators, invites undergraduate
students with 12 units completed in the major and a minimum 3.5 GPA and graduate students with 15
units completed in the major and a minimum 3.7 GPA.
The magazine club was founded in 1987 to bring together magazine students to participate in activities
which would benefit student education, help them to get internships and make contacts in the profession.
Activities of the club vary from year to year, reflecting the interests of its members and student officers.
Over the years the club has hosted guest speakers, raised funds for scholarships through special projects,
arranged tours of media in Northern California and New York, sponsored workshops and published
magazines.
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One such magazine, Helium, moved off campus when its student editor graduated. It can still be found
here: http://www.heliummagazine.com/. More recently, Magazine Club members have focused on student
issues with Vine magazine. The club’s trip to New York included magazine students back home via a
panel discussion that linked students and magazine editors in New York with students and experts in San
Jose via Cisco Telepresence suites.
The student chapter of the Radio Television Digital News Association, a former chapter-of- the-year
recipient, brings in guest speakers from the field, organizes tours and sponsors an annual Radio-TV
softball game and barbecue. Members regularly attend professional meetings and international and
statewide conventions. The students have also helped the school with tours or other activities that have
brought high school students or professionals to campus.
Occasionally, the student groups combine to co-sponsor workshops or talks. Students served as interns
and reporters for the RTDNA/SPJ conference in Las Vegas in 2009, as well as in New Orleans in 2011
and in Fort Lauderdale in 2012. Students also worked as servers/hosts for the RTDNA dinners in San
Francisco in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Students reactivated the SJSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. They had
13 members in 2013, but 10 graduated and the club is seeking to return to the 10 needed for
SPJ and SJSU organization requirements.
Student participation in conferences and competitions
Information on journalism scholarships, conferences and competitions is posted on the JMC School
website, announced in classes and periodically detailed in handouts circulated to students in journalism
classes. Further information and applications are available in the school’s office or from program
advisers. Advisers make a point of calling students’ attention to national scholarships, conferences and
competitions, and encourage them to participate or apply. Advisers assist students with the application
process.
In addition to annual scholarships awarded through the school’s Scholarship Committee each Spring,
students regularly have been awarded scholarships through outside organizations.
The school encourages students to participate in a variety of conferences. Some of the meetings attended
by students include: regional and national meetings of the Society of Professional Journalists; National
Association of Hispanic Journalists convention; Radio Television Digital News Association international
and regional conventions; National Association of Black Journalists conventions; Seminars of the
National Press Photographers Association; the California Press Photographers Association.
Students enter several national, regional, state and local journalistic competitions each year, including the
William Randolph Hearst Foundation competition, Associated Collegiate Press, California College Media
Association (CCMA), California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA), Northern California
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences video and scholarship competition, Radio-Television
News Directors Foundation (RTNDF) scholarships, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) both
national and four-state western regional, and the San Jose CreaTV awards competition.
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For the past nine summers the school has co-hosted the MOSAIC Program with the San Jose Mercury
News in cooperation with the local chapter of the California Chicano News Media Association.
Journalism concentrations send copies of school publications to area community colleges. Access
magazine is sent twice a year to all California community colleges, along with a cover letter explaining
the program and a brochure explaining programs in the school.
Examples of other types of recruitment activity
A student from the radio-television news concentration, under the direction of a faculty member, has
produced a promotional video highlighting degree programs within the school.
Each year since 2000, approximately 50 students from the Watsonville High School Video Academy
spend a day on campus to tour broadcast and print labs and watch the live taping of the school’s “Update
News” television program. Arrangements are also made for the students to tour other parts of campus and
talk with a counselor from the Financial Aid Office.
Faculty have arranged tours and informational sessions for numerous prospective students and their
families.
Some Recent Awards Since the Last Accreditation Report
College Photographer of the Year (national)
2013
Raphael Kluzniok, Gold, Sports Action
James Tensuan, Silver, Sports Action
James Tensuan, Award of Excellence, Spot News
Hearst Journalism Awards (national)
2009
Jon Xavier, fourth place, Editorial Writing
2008
Lindsay Bryant, eighteenth place, Editorial Writing
Jessica Drnek, 10th place, Television
2007
Matthew Zane, second place, Editorial Writing
Banks Albach, 11th place, Editorial Writing
California College Media Association awards (statewide)
2014
Stephanie Wong and Christiana Cobb, first place, Best Special Section
Leeta-Rose Ballester, first place, Best A&E Story
Codi Mills, second place, Best Photo Series
Codi Mills, third place, Best Sports Photo Carolyn Seng, second place, Best Features Photo Raphael
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Kluzniok, first place, Best Sports Photo Raphael Kluzniok, third place, Best News Photo Daily staff, third
place, Best Overall Design Daily ad staff, first place, Best Color Ad
Daily ad staff, third place, Best Promotional Campaign
2013
James Tensuan, first place, Best News Photo
James Tensuan, Raphael Kluzniok and Jasper Rubenstein, second place, Best Photo Series
Sage Curtis, first place, Best A&E Story
Brittany Patterson, Ron Gleeson and Leo Postovoit, second place, Best Special Section
Leo Postovoit, third place, Best Photo Illustration
2012
Vernon McKnight, first place, Best Features Photo Vernon McKnight, second place, Best Sports Photo
Lyell Marks, first place, Best Non-Breaking News Story Daily staff, second place, Best Overall Design
Francisco Rendon, third place, Best Editorial
Chris Marian, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Brian O'Malley, third place, Best News Photo Virginia Ochi, third place, Best Online Ad Virginia Ochi,
third place, Best Color Ad.
Steve Lopez (alumnus), CCMA First Amendment award
2011
Husain Sumra and Joey Akeley, second place, Best Special Section
Jaimie Collins, second place, Best A&E Story
Kelsey Lester-Perry, first place, Best News Photo
Tanya Flores, third place, Best Sales Promotion Materials
2010
Daily Staff, first place, Best Overall Design
Jill Abell, second place, Best Non-Breaking News Story
Chad Ziemendorf, second place, Best Multimedia Presentation
Suzanne Yada and Michelle Gachet, third place, Best Multimedia Presentation
Stefan Armijo, third place, Best News Photo
Stefan Armijo, third place, Best Feature Photo
Megan Hamilton, third place, Best Feature Page Design
2009
Jon Xavier, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Colleen Watson, first place, Best A&E Story Carlos Moreno, second place, Best Sports Photo Suzanne
Yada, third place, Best Infographic Daily staff, first place, Best Special Section Daily ad staff, first place,
Best Color Ad
Access staff, second place, General Magazine Excellence
2008
Daily Staff, third place, News Series
Kris Anderson and Nick Veronin, second place, Breaking News Story
Lindsay Bryant, third place, Best Personal Opinion Column
Daily staff, second place, Best Special Section
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Daily staff, third place, Best Use of Multimedia
Access staff, first place, General Magazine Excellence
Daily ad staff, second place, Best Black and White Ad
California Newspaper Publishers Association (statewide)
2013
Vince Ei, first place, Best Feature Story
2012
Cynthia Ly, second place, Best Writing
Outreach of journalism degree program recruitment of majors
Journalism conducts several types of activities as part of its recruitment effort. The following are
representative of school efforts:
Faculty members speak at area high schools and lead special tours of the school. Community college
instructors who meet at the school to discuss curricular issues have been instrumental in recruiting their
students to attend San Jose State University.
Faculty members arrange for professionals to judge student competitions of the Journalism Association of
Community Colleges (JACC) and California College Media Association. The Fall meetings of the NorCal
JACC branch have met at CSU Sacramento in recent years, but are scheduled to return to SJSU in 2015.
JACC journalism instructors and more than 250 students are involved in their community college
newspapers and journalism programs each year.
Outreach to professional community
A sampling of activities include the following:
Media professionals are involved through several advisory boards in the school.
Some faculty work part time, usually summers, in area media organizations.
Media professionals teach part time in the journalism concentrations.
Faculty internship supervisors and the director meet with professionals at media sites throughout the year.
Faculty maintain memberships and leadership roles in professional organizations.
Interaction between professionals and academics results from such activities as visits to classes,
presentations before our student organizations, individuals and panels invited to speak on topics currently
in the news.
Faculty members serve as resources and news sources to Bay Area media.
Faculty members publish in trade papers/magazines.
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Faculty members engage in consulting activities.
All faculty members have close working relationships with professionals, and professionals have been
supportive of our concentrations. Professionals are frequent guest speakers in classes and at student club
meetings and they serve as judges and mentors.
Electronic/broadcast news
A former broadcast journalist from San Francisco who is now the owner of a very successful production
company works with students in the JOUR 165 class. He conducts a workshop on shooting and lighting
and discusses story coverage, current industry problems and policies with students.
Graduates working in the area frequently “drop by” for informal discussions with students. This is one of
the advantages of being centrally located in Silicon Valley.
Advising majors
Advising begins when the student is accepted for admission. The JMC School mails a letter and a school
brochure to each accepted student. The letter includes the director’s letter and phone numbers and email
address, and invites the student to contact the director if more information is needed. The letter also
provides the names and telephone numbers of the undergraduate adviser and selected faculty members.
All new students are invited to campus for student advisement days. Faculty members meet with first-year
students in the morning and with transfer students in the afternoon.
All new students, whether participating in university-sponsored advising days or not, are given an
overview of the program. Prerequisites are carefully explained (both verbally and in printed handouts).
One faculty member assumes the role of undergraduate academic adviser. This provides an opportunity
for the school to maintain quality and consistency in the process.
The school urges students to check with the academic adviser every semester to make sure they are
staying on track and advancing in their majors. During advising meetings, the adviser also discusses
selecting an academic focus or minor and the student's progress on completing university upper division
general education requirements, including meeting the 72/65 rule requirement.
Starting in their junior year, students are strongly encouraged to bring a filled-out major form and
courses-completed form to their advisement meetings so the adviser can better help them plan for a timely
graduation. To apply for graduation, each student must complete their major form, the courses-completed
form and graduation application, then meet with the adviser for review and approval of those documents.
At that time, the adviser also confirms with the student which courses and university requirements remain
to be completed.
Once the graduation application is approved, the student takes it to the school's main office so JMC staff
can make file copies for the JMC School and for the student. Then the student delivers it to the registrar's
office for processing.
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University graduation evaluators review each student's graduation application and follow up by emailing
each applicant a graduation worksheet. The worksheet details all remaining coursework and any
additional paperwork that must be completed before the student can receive a degree. The university has
assigned two outstanding graduation evaluators, Renee Yuen and Julie Murotsune, to review our students'
graduation applications. The undergraduate adviser works closely with the graduation evaluators and
consults with them on more complex cases, such those involving returning students.
Maintaining consistency/quality of advising
Faculty members regularly discuss advising and curriculum standards. Issues and advising updates are
addressed as needed at the school's monthly faculty meetings.
In addition to the undergraduate adviser, several senior faculty members and the director are available to
share advising information and help students with academic and career planning. The adviser, senior
faculty and the director have online access to students' academic records to easily confirm GPAs,
completed courses, outstanding requirements and other relevant academic information needed for
accurate advising. Faculty members meet to discuss advising issues and regularly consult on individual
advising cases that prove to be difficult.
The adviser regularly attends the university's adviser update workshops to stay current on university
enrollment and graduation issues and any changes in university policies and graduation requirements. The
adviser and director have completed training sessions on using the MySJSU system to perform limitedaccess advising tasks such as reviewing and removing holds.
Career counseling
In classes, where appropriate to the content, and in club meetings, faculty members stress the importance
of understanding the career field. Students are engaged in discussions about the responsibilities of
professional journalists and other media professionals. In each of the school's degree programs, a required
internship and capstone course help students prepare for and make the transition to a media career in
journalism, public relations or advertising.
Area media professionals, including JMC School alums, regularly speak to students in classes, or sit in
and advise students during group project presentations and student media post-production review
sessions. Student club meetings regularly feature media professionals speaking on the topic of careers.
Because all full-time faculty members are also ad-hoc academic advisers, student contact with faculty is
ongoing, extensive and consistent. Career counseling is an intended by-product of this system. Students
are required to meet with academic advisers for internship counseling, and career counseling is part of the
internship advising process.
Placing recent graduates
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The University Career Planning and Placement Center has established a strong reputation for its work
with student graduates. A member of the planning and placement staff specializes in programs of the
College of Applied Sciences and Arts and is available to faculty/students in the school for meetings.
Job and internship openings are kept on file in the JMC main office, announced in various classes, and
posted on the JMC School website. Faculty members refer individual students to appropriate internships
and job openings.
Traditionally, the aim of the journalism program has been to prepare students for entry- level reporting
positions in newspapers, magazines and online publications, as well as at broadcast stations. While these
media continue to be attractive to students beginning their careers, many look to opportunities at Silicon
Valley high-tech, social media and biotech companies, local government and nonprofit organizations, and
Bay Area advertising, marcom and public relations agencies.
Faculty members regularly refer graduating seniors and recent grads to job openings, writing letters of
reference and making personal calls on behalf of job seekers. Openings are announced and posted, and
students are sent information on openings.
Equipment and lab facilities used by majors
A major enhancement in the Fall 2014 remodeling project is DBH 226. It now has 40 iMacs with full
Adobe Creative Suite software and a sound-proof movable center wall, which will create the option of
having two separate 20-computer user labs, beginning in Spring 2015. These labs are critical to the JMC
School’s overall convergence initiative.
All JMC students are now required to take a beginning skills course, MCOM 63, to learn
the basics in digital still and video fieldwork. They also learn editing for both print and Web design using
Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro and Dreamweaver. In the advanced digital skills class, MCOM
163, they learn HTML, CSS and jQuery coding with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Adobe Muse and
Adobe Edge Animate.
Journalism majors also use one Macintosh and one PC lab for the basic writing courses. The labs are
located in DBH 222 and 224.
A Cisco Telepresence lab, DBH 225, is detailed elsewhere in the report.
The DBH 209 complex of rooms contains three iMacs loaded for multimedia projects, nine iMacs for
editing and designing the Spartan Daily, three more for Daily advertising design and pagination and one
fully loaded iMac for paginating and designing Access and SHiFT magazines.
The DBH 221 electronic/broadcast newsroom is equipped with eight iMacs installed with state-of-the-art
software. These computers allow students to edit breaking stories using Final Cut Pro X or Adobe
Premiere Pro. All of our programs are closed-caption accessible through the EZ News computer writing
and teleprompter system.
Our convergence journalism program equipment includes:
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Six Nikon and six Canon DSLR cameras for stills or video.
Approximately 25 lenses for Nikon and Canon cameras, ranging from 18mm to 500mm.
Two sets of professional strobe lights for studio or location photography.
The photography studio is now part of our renovated DBH 139/141 Digital Television Suite. There,
photographers are able to shoot a wide variety of images such as tabletop pictures, illustrations and studio
portraits.
Students who are members of our converged newsroom can check out camera, lenses, on-camera flash
units, tripods and professional accessories including remote control units and camera sliders.
Educational/library resources
DBH 109, the Dennis Brown Room, named for our department chair in the 1980s, has served as a library
in the past. It is now outdated. For research purposes we now rely on our proximity to the university’s
world-class library. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, the nation’s first joint city-university
collaboration, offers the JMC School its own librarian. Liaison Toby Matoush provides our students and
faculty members with database or research websites. Detailed information about offerings are available
online at http://libguides.sjsu.edu/journalism .
The School of Information, formerly the School of Library and Information Science, is a
graduate program in our college. It was named in 2014 the No. 1 online library and information science
program in the country.
Of particular value has been the media center collection. The periodical collection at the main library
contains major magazines. The convergence journalism faculty members also make great use of materials
provided by the Instructional Resource Center (IRC).
King Library is now responsible for subscribing to a variety of magazines, journals and newspapers
recommended by the JMC School. Historical papers and books that were formerly housed in our building
are now preserved at the library.
School and faculty audio and videotape libraries provide students with a variety of additional resources.
Journalism tape collections are now found in the King Library.
Professional activity
A number of methods are used by faculty members to keep their practice up to date.
Attendance at local, regional and national meetings of professional groups, such as NPPA, SPJ, First
Amendment Coalition, RTDNA and others is regular and ongoing.
Faculty members subscribe to professional periodicals and meet frequently with professionals in the field
to discuss current trends, concerns and technology. They work with the professional media to set up
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site visits allow faculty members to evaluate professional operations, as well as the extent of student
preparedness.
Graduates and alumni tracking and contact
The JMC School director has worked with the SJSU Alumni Association to develop a comprehensive list
of contacts for graduates. We now have a listing of more than 2800 contacts. The majority of the names
on the school list are alumni from the journalism degree program.
A list of graduates who have distinguished themselves is included in this self-study in Standard 9.
Alumni have been invited back for guest lectures and reunions. They are also periodically contacted for
updates on their professional lives. Alumni serve as judges, mentors and guest speakers. They critique
student work and offer advice and information about the radio- television news field. Alumni provide
tapes of their professional work for students to view and critique as part of their learning process.
Additional Assessment Information
Please see Appendix for the comprehensive JMC School accreditation report produced for the university
WASC accreditation effort. It was submitted and approved June 1, 2014.
Addressing weaknesses since the last accreditation visit
A strategic program and curriculum planning.
The JMC School now engages in strategic or long-range planning that provides vision and direction for
its future, identifies needs and resources for its mission and goals, and is supported by the university
administration and the community.
In 2010 faculty members in the JMC School developed a five-year strategic plan. We committed
ourselves to constantly re-inventing the JMC School as a recognized leader in teaching, research and
scholarship in mass communications education that enable students to develop critical thinking, problemsolving, teamwork and media-management skills while including diversity and global community needs.
To achieve the JMC School program learning outcomes and meet 21st century media expectations, we
pledged to take these steps:
1. Enhance faculty research, grants/contracts and dissemination.
Define standards and definitions for research and scholarly/creative activity.
Articulate school expectations for retention, tenure and promotion. Support grant development, proposals,
and innovation in media.
2. Review curriculum regularly and align it with our vision, mission and goals.
Investigate areas for one-credit and short courses. Identify gaps and areas of duplication in the
curriculum.
Investigate and plan for the extended integration of technology, tying fund development to specific
priorities. Enhance faculty orientation and structured mentoring programs.
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4. Define standards and support for student success.
Review standards for admission and graduation.
Establish and monitor schoolwide policies and standards.
Enhance the Web presence for recruitment and advising for current students.
Track use. Address retention and graduation rates.
Develop a plan to monitor and support first-year students
Develop an exit survey for graduating students.
Develop a consistent and congruent plan for tracking graduates.
5. Enhance revenue streams.
Identify potential revenue streams (continuing education, donations, grants, special sessions).
Develop a specific plan for fund development including priorities, sources, and timelines.
Establish realistic targets comparable to other academic units.
Establish and maintain contact with alumni and retired professors.
6. Focus operations on strategic planning, effective communication, sense of cohesion and accountability.
Identity and streamline unnecessary steps in processes. Streamline processes using e-tools.
Develop quality service assessment tools to create baseline data and annual reviews.
Develop benchmarks and goals for areas identified for growth such as fund development, research
funding.
Ensure that strategic planning is more of a process than an event.
Ensure that strategies and tactics for implementation and monitoring are in place.
7. Improve governance and operational models.
Review and streamline governance and consultative processes to reduce faculty time commitments.
Reduce "bureaucracy" as much as possible.
Develop a plan for ongoing professional development in current educational practice, research interests
and activities for faculty through peer teaching.
Better equipped labs and equipment
The Spartan Daily newsroom (also a classroom) has been extensively remodeled with new computers,
new desks, and other furniture to give it a more modern look. The news writing classrooms, DBH 222 and
224, have been re-configured to make it easier for the professor to monitor and assist students working on
assignments. In addition, all computer labs now have overhead computer projectors.
See Standard 7 for a detailed accounting of the new and updated technologies.
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Offer better student access
The school has also experimented with using graduate assistants to be monitors for labs so students can
use the equipment when there is no class in the room.
Identify goals for the next five years
The journalism faculty is committed to focusing on changes in several areas during the next five years:
(1) faculty diversity; (2) curriculum; (3) student enrollment; (4) outreach; (5) technology; and (6) funding.
All these areas affect the unchanged primary mission to teach students (1) how to gather, synthesize and
disseminate information; (2) how to incorporate legal and ethical considerations as part of their career
performance; and (3) to be aware of the changing cultural, political, societal and technological
environments that influence them personally and professionally.
Five-Year Strategic Plan Projections: JMC Faculty Recruitment Schedule
To ensure the continuity of the JMC mission and commitment to a multimedia/convergence model for
teaching and research in all degree granting programs in the school, the five year plan calls for the
following:
Schedule for conducting national searches and hiring JMC tenure-track faculty
2011 Online / New Media Technology / Communications — Based in Journalism.
2012 Advertising Creative / Global Communications / Media Technology — Based in Advertising.
2013 Strategic Communications / Crisis Management / Social Media Research — Based in Public
Relations.
2014 Cross-Disciplinary / Cyber Security partnership with Food & Nutrition Sciences, Health,
Economics, or Business partnership. Based on converged JMC School disciplines.
2015 Advanced Convergence / Social Media Research cross-media disciplinary specialist.
Notes: JMC School priorities for new faculty hires are always adjusted to meet ever-changing media
developments. Adjustments are also made to accommodate unexpected trends, faculty retirements, FERP
situations. resignations, or faculty promotions.
Due to continuing reductions in California state funding allocations between 2011 and 2014, and new
SJSU administration policies on faculty recruitments in 2013, repeated JMC School faculty recruitment
proposals have not been approved.
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Advertising Degree Program
Self-Study Narrative
Compiled by the faculty of the Advertising Degree Program
General statement
A baccalaureate degree in advertising has been available since 1953, with a B.A. degree awarded after
students completed a minimum of 124 units. In 1990, the School of Journalism and Mass
Communications began offering a 132-unit Bachelor of Science degree. In 1999, responding to student
and institution needs, the school tightened its major requirements and now offers the Bachelor of Science
degree within a 120-unit program. The advertising curriculum continues to fit in well with a liberal arts
institution while providing emphasis on theory, principles, methodology and practical applications of the
advertising profession.
It is an exciting time for the advertising degree program. Four years ago, an on-campus advertising/public
relations agency, Dwight Bentel & Hall (DB&H Communications), was developed to give students realworld experience working for a diverse group of clients and projects. Students earn six units for working
on the agency and must commit to both Fall and Spring semesters. The agency competes in numerous
national competitions. Our teams have won first place three out of the last four years for clients such as
Chevrolet, AT&T and Honda. The synergy of an Integrated Marketing Communications effort having
advertising and public relations working closer together has been a challenging but very rewarding
experience for both students and faculty members.
Degree objectives
The advertising degree program strives to furnish a broad liberal education. Its objective is to provide a
combination of theoretical and direct preparation so that its graduates are equipped to compete for entrylevel positions in the profession and to distinguish themselves in the field.
A strong SJSU general education program supports degree program objectives. In addition, students
select from a wide range of elective courses within the JMC School as well as from other appropriate
areas of the university. Requirements within the major attempt to reflect current industry trends and
concerns highlighted against a solid, societal responsible professional background.
Advertising faculty members also have the responsibility to provide information that will lead majors and
non-majors alike to make valid business decisions. Course material within the program is also formulated
to integrate with overall mass communications theory.
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Brief history
A four-year course in advertising leading to the A.B. degree in journalism was added to the journalism
program beginning with the Autumn quarter in 1939.
The original advertising concentration emphasized newspaper and retail advertising. The first course —
and at that time, the only one offered — was a class in newspaper ad sales. Strong support from an
advertising community heavily involved in commercial and agriculturally related advertising assisted the
major. A number of professionals took a direct interest in the concentration and offered to teach their
specialties. This added to a sound reputation fostered by permanent faculty with recognized professional
backgrounds, and the concentration became a B.A. degree of its own in 1953.
In 1957, the Department of Journalism changed its name to the Department of Journalism and
Advertising, reflecting the success of the degree program. A year later, the advertising degree program at
San Jose State College was accredited, becoming one of only 23 in the nation.
While the Advertising major has seen fairly consistent growth throughout its history, it became the largest
degree program in the School (then, department) in 1984, a position it holds today with almost 160
majors.
Distinguishing aspects
For many years, San Jose State University was the only West Coast school that offered an advertising
degree. It has been joined in that distinction by at least one private school in California but remains
unique among its sister public California institutions. Others offer emphasis in advertising but a degree in
communications.
The advertising degree program’s offering of five specific courses, which help to form ties to the
professional community, is particularly distinctive. MCOM 111: “Internship” and ADV 116: “Daily
Newspaper Advertising Staff” each provide opportunities for students to test career decisions, explore
skills and to meet members of the advertising profession in a business-like setting. ADV 129:
“Advertising Campaigns” forges ties to local businesses in the Fall semester and exposes students to
national clients in the Spring. ADV 126: “Advertising Media” prepares students for actual work in an
agency media department. The newest course is the MCOM 199 A&B, which is the student advertising
and public relations agency, DB&H Communications.
Certainly the advertising program includes one of the most extensive curricula in the nation. Courses
include these requirements and electives:
Introduction to Advertising
Daily Newspaper Advertising Staff (Sales)
Consumer Advertising
Business-to-Business Advertising
Broadcast and New Media Advertising
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Copywriting
Advertising Layout and Production
Media Planning and Buying
Integrated Marketing Communications
Advertising Campaigns
Advertising Internships
DB&H Communications
The internship program (MCOM 111) is a model for other programs throughout the country. A required
course of all advertising majors (as it is for all in the school), it gives the students real-world exposure and
helps the faculty stay in touch with the local community (every intern keeps the advertising program at a
high level of positive awareness).
Each Fall, ADV 129: “Campaigns,” a capstone course, uses a real-world local client for student agencies.
Two unique aspects of this are that the activity has generated donations from these clients of from $1,000
to $5,000 over the last 12 years. This provides a source of soft money for sequence needs such as
preparation of spring AAF (American Advertising Federation) competition presentations, faculty travel to
conferences and workshops, and receptions and publications related to the sequence. It provides
competitive experience that is reminiscent of the real-world agency business.
Perhaps the most important characteristic of the advertising degree program is the close relationship
found between its students and faculty members. While it is a large program within the school, faculty
members and students take advantage of opportunities to interact, which are provided by the program’s
classes and its academic advising relationship, as well as its formal student advertising organizations, the
Spartan Ad Club and its involvement with local professional advertising organizations.
Mission
It is the mission of the advertising degree program to provide an intellectually stimulating program while
immersing students in theory and practical application of coursework, thereby preparing them for a career
in communications.
Recent changes in major requirements
Recent changes have affected the requirements in the major. The advertising curriculum within the new
120-unit program continues to provide coursework to prepare advertising students for the advertising
industry. A substantial change in the program was to incorporate two tracks, management and creative,
within the curriculum changes. Majors now choose with their adviser a specific track and follow a slightly
different path from the other until graduation. Another important change is the dropping of the minor
requirement and the institution of a 12-unit academic focus. The focus provides the major with outsidethe-major work in an area of interest without obligation to a large number of units that extend beyond the
120 required.
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Required mass communications courses provide the advertising student with a background in research
and information gathering in preparation for synthesizing, evaluating and organizing data into wellwritten and -produced papers, reports, portfolios, plans books and projects and presentations. These
changes were designed to help students move on to successful careers in related advertising or
communications fields.
Students are provided with a core of required mass communications courses, closely patterned after those
required for all majors within the JMC School, as well as the introductory advertising class (ADV 91).
This course serves the entire university community and consists of approximately 40 percent advertising
majors. Numerous students each semester explore advertising through this class with many changing their
major to advertising on completion.
The integrated marketing course, ADV 128, and the media course, ADV 126, are required of management
track majors. ADV 124: “Copywriting” and ADV 125: “Layout and Production” are required of creative
track majors. MCOM 111: “Internship” and ADV 129: “Advertising Campaigns” require students to
apply information they have acquired and are required courses for both tracks. Majors are then offered
further specialization with two of the following electives: ADV 116: “Daily Newspaper Advertising
Staff,” which teaches ad sales within the college media, ADV 121: “Advertising to the Consumer,” ADV
122: “Business to Business Advertising” and ADV 123: “Broadcast and New Media Advertising.” Each
track can also select required courses from the other track as electives if they wish (ADV 124, 125, 126,
128). MCOM 199: “AD/PR Agency (DB&H Communications)” was added for students to gain realworld experience working with clients obtained by the professors. It is a commitment of six units and also
covers the internship requirement. Each year students have to apply to the agency as they would for a real
job.
Course restructuring
Most courses within the JMC School continue to take advantage of technology and are organized to apply
the proper technical skills as the need arises. The advertising major offers students production and media
courses in which the computer plays a major role. We are also requiring that all students in the major will
have an understanding and experience with Adobe Creative Suite so that they are up to date with the
primary industry software.
Brief description of required support courses:
Statistics 95/Business 90 — “Statistics” (required of management track students)
English 71 — “Creative Writing” (required of creative track students)
Business 130 — “Introduction to Marketing”
Literature Elective — Students may choose from a variety of English or theater courses that assure
exposure to literature and the humanities.
Art Elective — Students may choose from a variety of art or art history courses to provide contact with
the visual in theoretical or actual form.
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Courses that serve non-majors in the university
ADV 91: “Introduction to Advertising” and ADV 125: “Advertising Layout and Production” are also
open to the university community. The introductory course also serves as an entry point for students
“shopping” for a major. “Layout and Production” is a course often selected by art/design or business
majors, although a variety of majors are enrolled.
ADV 91 is also an elective class for other majors within the school. Many times public relations majors
routinely select ADV 125. Advertising is also a popular minor with majors outside the school, particularly
design, art, television, radio, film and theatre in the College of Humanities and the Arts, and marketing
majors in the College of Business.
How ethics, law and history theory are taught
Advertising students often enter the program not understanding the significance of advertising’s ability to
communicate and unaware of its ethical and, of course, legal responsibilities. Therefore, ethical and legal
issues have been incorporated into all levels of the curriculum including MCOM 101: “Media Law and
Ethics” and MCOM 72: “Mass Communications and Society.”
In ADV 91: “Introduction to Advertising” and ADV 128: “Integrated Marketing Communications”
specific sections emphasize ethics and the law in repeated references throughout the courses. Specific
class sessions are designated for discussions of ethics from both definitive and applied standpoints.
Discussions revolve around case studies where ethical lapses and dilemmas have occurred. Specific class
periods are designated to include a complete review of regulatory agencies, primarily the FTC and FCC
as well as a discussion of state and local codes on regulatory law. Consumer protection issues are also
part of these discussions and include reviews of both public and industry protection agencies and groups.
ADV 116: “Daily Advertising Staff” and ADV 121: “Retail Advertising” utilize the code of ethics for
sales people as a basis for discussion. Advertising ethics and sales ethics are dealt with on a daily basis in
these courses. ADV 128: “Advertising Management” includes ethics, regulatory bodies and the law as
part of its course syllabus. ADV 122: “Business-to-Business Advertising” expands the ethical and legal
discourse into cyberspace.
Creative courses (ADV 124 and ADV 125) also incorporate ethics and discuss the legal applications of
the law, emphasizing truth not only as a moral necessity of advertising but also as a business necessity as
well. Copyright and trademark law are discussed. The emphasis in these courses frequently involves the
ethical presentation of advertising in a form that can be easily manipulated, particularly in a visual sense.
The recognition of stereotypical images and the use of women and minorities in advertising are developed
in lectures and critique sessions.
How majors learn about the contributions of minorities and women
The advertising program shares the department’s and the university’s commitment to diversity and the
presentation of information about the contribution of women and minorities. At the university level,
general education requirements must be met with courses specified as multicultural. The JMC School has
its own course dedicated to diversity, MCOM 105: “Diversity in the Media.” In addition to coursework, a
special effort is made to invite women and minorities as guest speakers in appropriate classes and at club
meetings.
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Assuring continuity, instruction objectives in multiple class sections
Course green sheets or syllabi are kept on file in the JMC School office and are exchanged among faculty
members to assure that course needs are being met in a functional manner. This year for the first time, all
green sheets have been completed in a universal template utilized by all instructors in the school. Senior
faculty discuss with part-time faculty how to approach their course organization and needed outcomes.
The department curriculum committee reviews course developments each year and takes appropriate
action where necessary.
Full-time faculty members make it a point to talk with all new part-time adjuncts who are teaching a
section of a shared course. Dialogue is continued throughout the temporary teacher’s time with the
school. Particular care is taken with ADV 129: “Advertising Campaigns” because of its local, regional
and national affiliations with the advertising profession.
Procedures in place to assure quality in internship opportunities
As part of school policy, agencies and companies new to the internship program are asked for details
about their organization, and faculty internship supervisors review these.
The school requires from intern employers a signed contract, which lists areas to be covered during the
student’s stay with the firm. This contract also obligates the company to pay at least the amount of tuition
for the course to the student.
Once the contract is in place, students still must seek approval of the internship from their faculty adviser.
Final approval comes from a faculty internship supervisor who is familiar with the program. Students are
required to complete a questionnaire at the end of their internship period. All students planning to
complete an internship keep these questionnaires on file for review.
How internship opportunities are publicized
Announcements of internships are maintained in binder files at the school office. Copies of these
announcements are sent to appropriate faculty members for posting outside their offices. We also have
created an internal website that students can refer to when looking to fulfill their internships.
The close ties that the advertising faculty maintains with the professional community encourage
individual contacts with prospective internship employers. The faculty circulates these announcements
among themselves for posting outside their offices or for announcement in classes. They are also posted
to the SAC (Spartan Ad Club) listserv. Opportunities are also discussed directly with individual students
as they meet with their advisers regarding the internship or for other counseling.
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Opportunities in national scholarships, conferences and competitions
While the JMC School maintains a committee, which coordinates local and regional scholarship awards,
advertising faculty members periodically review and recommend outside opportunities. Students from
underrepresented minority groups are recommended to apply to the national scholarship program of the
Multicultural Alumni Intern Program of the American Association of Advertising Agencies each year.
We are proud to say that we have four to six winners who intern at major agencies across the country
every summer.
Members of the student chapter of the school’s American Advertising Federation affiliate advertising
organization, Spartan Ad Club, participate in local, regional and national competition sponsored by the
AAF each year. Student teams in the DB&H agency also compete in national competitions and have won
many awards and accolades. Faculty members also look for and are made aware of opportunities for
students through professional associations.
A San Jose State advertising student has been chosen each of the last three years as the outstanding
minority advertising major by the AAF. The California Newspaper Advertising Executives Association
and the Stickly Scholarship Fund regularly honor our students. Our ad students also enter the CCMA and
CNBAM advertising creative contests each year and bring home many first- through third-place awards.
In addition, creative majors enter the local AAF ADDY awards and garner numerous gold and silver
trophies from the professional world.
Outreach of the degree program
The JMC advertising faculty members have been actively involved in outreach through a number of
pursuits.
Junior/community college and high school interaction
Advertising faculty interaction with junior and community colleges (primarily Northern California) and
high schools (Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Alameda and San Mateo counties) is concentrated and ongoing in
two areas—outreach to students who wish to major or minor in advertising but don’t know which school
to attend when they transfer or graduate, and networking and advertising seminars with the faculty
advisers for the campus newspapers at those community colleges and high schools.
Student outreach
Each faculty member either by invitation or suggestion visits major feeder schools regularly to speak to
journalism classes, visit student newspaper staffs, attend school-sponsored directional clinics and
advertising and marketing club meetings for the purpose of explaining the advertising degree program at
SJSU and to encourage students to enroll upon completion of their academic studies. Through advertising
sales training programs put on by our faculty members at the local and regional levels, many students
make a commitment to the advertising program at SJSU.
Students and their parents are routinely encouraged to visit the department and see firsthand the
newspaper, classrooms, computer labs and other facilities. Frequent inquiries by prospective students who
have heard about our program are made by telephone, letter or most frequently by email. A prompt
response results, which includes department brochures and program description or email information.
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Intern outreach
One of the more important opportunities for transmitting the advertising department's program to the
community is through the department’s internship program. All advertising majors are required to
complete a 240-hour internship with a company not connected with the university. Typically these
students are placed with advertising agencies, media and inside the advertising departments of various
businesses. These opportunities have expanded to include a variety of marketing communications
oriented companies such as direct mail, direct response, database marketing, and specialty advertising,
outdoor advertising, desktop publishing and, increasingly, cyberspace promotional businesses offering
Internet access, home pages, interactive media sales and other emerging electronic advertising
newcomers.
As a requirement of completing the internship a department intern adviser accepts weekly reports from
the intern indicating that student's activities and learning experiences in the past week. At least once
during the internship a faculty adviser visits the actual site where the student is working and interviews
the intern's supervisor and often other principals in the business. A tour of the facilities is usually included
providing the adviser the opportunity to determine the viability of the internship experience and network
with a company that may provide employment opportunities for graduates as well as allow principals in
these businesses to recommend the SJSU advertising program to aspiring potential students. Many of the
new students entering the department arrive as a result of such recommendations.
Most internships are completed in the summer between the student’s junior and senior year. Combined,
there are approximately 90 completed internships each year. These internships also provide faculty
advisers with perhaps 250 business contacts as a result of interaction with those companies offering
internships and assuming about five contacts per company. Some companies providing internships (often
multiple internships) include:
Advertising agencies
Douglas, Rosewater & Brown
The Evans Group
Elkins Retail Advertising (ERA)
Goldberg, Moser O’Neill
Tessanomiso Retail Services
L'Estrange Associates
On Line Design
Orloff, Williams Inc.
Positive Communications
PRX Marketing Communications
Harte Hanks Communications
Saatchi & Saatchi
JWT
DDB
U.S.–Japan Publicity Inc.
Coakley-Heagerty Advertising
Deutsch
San Jose
San Francisco
San Jose
San Francisco
Oakland
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Jose
Pleasanton
San Jose
Santa Clara
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Jose
San Jose
New York City
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McCann-Erickson
Ad West Association
Bay Area Communications
3Marketeers
Thomas J. Payne Marketing
Ad Vice Advertising
Purematter
Catapult
NY and SF
Santa Clara
San Rafael
San Jose
Burlingame
San Jose
San Jose
Campbell
Media internships
Advo Inc.
Metro Newspapers
San Jose New Media magazine
San Jose Mercury News
Watsonville Register Pajaronian
KBAY Radio
KRTY
Sacramento Bee
Fresno Bee
Morgan Hill Times
Peninsula Community Newspapers
Santa Clara Valley Weekly
San Francisco Bay Cable Advertising
KTVU – Channel 2, Oakland
Palo Alto Daily News
KEZR Radio
Pacific Media Center
Viacom Cable Advertising
KICU-TV
KSTS-TV
KPIX-TV
KRON-TV
KGO-TV
Empire Broadcasting (Radio KARA and KLIV)
KNTV
KSBW
Clear Channel Communications
Charter Cable
Other businesses and associations
Pacific Gas & Electric
VISA, U.S.A
San Mateo Citibank Inc.
Milpitas Downtown Association
San Jose Rotary Club
San Jose Silicon Valley Advertising Association
Companies offering internships
Any Mountain Ltd.; Cupertino Health Dimensions Inc.; Lockheed Martin Inc., Sunnyvale; The Music
Annex; Oakland Athletics (Major League Baseball); Planned Parenthood; San Rafael San Francisco
Convention and Visitors Bureau; Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods; Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara;
Doctor’s Medical Center, Modesto; California Teachers Association; Logitech Design Systems Group;
Pro Fasteners; San Jose YMCA; San Jose Decathlon Club; Santa Clara Diabetics Youth Foundation;
Walnut Creek General Electric Nuclear Energy Division; Levi Strauss and Company, San Francisco;
March of Dimes, San Jose; Walmart.com, San Francisco Weekly Times
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Faculty outside consulting
Some faculty members have performed outside consulting with a variety of companies including
advertising agencies, media, trade associations and individual clients. Some examples include Morgan
Hill Chamber of Commerce, Airfoil Public Relations, Bay Area News Group.
Membership in professional organizations
Each advertising faculty member maintains membership in a number of professional associations and, in
many cases, holds offices in those organizations. Individual vitae indicate the breadth of these
memberships but a sampling includes:
Associate Professor Timothy Hendrick and Assistant Professor John Delacruz are active in the
appropriate areas of AEJMC and both are also active in the American Academy of Advertising and the
American Advertising Federation.
Hendrick is on the boards of the National AAF, the Silicon Valley Advertising Association, CCMA
(California College Media Association), Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, Morgan Hill Community
Partnership, and an active participant (trainer) in CNBAM (College Newspaper Business & Advertising
Managers). He is also governor of the western region of the AAF.
Delacruz was the past president of EDCOM (European Foundation for Commercial Communication
Education), a current member of D&AD (Design and Art Direction) and SCUP (Society for College and
University Planning) and also belongs to Greenpeace and the Surfrider Foundation.
Delacruz and Hendrick also bring extensive experience in the Internet space to the program.
The department maintains memberships in the following organizations and associations in which one or
more faculty members is actively involved:
AEJMC
American Advertising Federation (AAF)
Newspaper Association of America (NAA)
California Newspaper Advertising Executives Assn. (CNAEA)
Silicon Valley Advertising Association
CNBAM
CCMA
CMA
American Academy of Advertising (AAA)
Student advisement
All full-time advertising faculty members serve as faculty advisers, with at least five hours per week set
aside for academic counseling.
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Students receive an advising pamphlet upon entering the department. This pamphlet, which is updated
each Spring, provides the advertising major with all needed information regarding course requirements.
Most advisers insist that new students read this document thoroughly before a complete program of study
is developed, and all new majors are required to see an adviser during their first semester at San Jose State
University. Failure to meet with an adviser will result in a flag being placed on the student’s record,
preventing the student from registering for classes for the following semester.
Career counseling for students
Advertising faculty members are also industry professionals who take a great interest in the future careers
of their students. Therefore, career counseling is an integral part of the academic advising provided by
advisers. Furthermore, most faculty members bring professionals into the classroom to talk about careers
in the advertising industry. Many of these speakers are former students. The success of the advertising
graduates attests to the excellence of career counseling offered in the degree program.
Faculty members work on an individual basis to help place recent graduates or secure employment for
those who will be graduating within the year. This is, of necessity, done individually because each faculty
member has different professional experience and expertise and, therefore, different contacts throughout
the industry. By the time advertising majors are ready to graduate, most have a good idea of the area of
advertising in which they desire to work.
How the program places recent graduates
Students have access at all times to a complete JMC file of all job opportunities. Because the faculty
maintains professional relationships, and the program has strong awareness through out the industry,
many companies call or list new opportunities with the school every semester. Also, job opportunities are
posted regularly on a bulletin board located in a high-traffic area of the building and on the internal
student website. It should be noted that students refer to both the bulletin board and the job file regularly.
We are told time and again by major agencies and clients that our students go to the top of the pile
because beyond academics, they also “get it!”
Students are allowed to ask any faculty member to advise them if they are unable, or do not want, to meet
with the assigned adviser.
Equipment and facilities
Dwight Bentel Hall is wireless, has state-of-the-art Cisco Telepresence systems for worldwide
conversations and keeps its labs up to date with the latest software. But also, whenever budget allows, the
goal has been to provide additional equipment and facilities that mirror industry standards. A complete
creative/production space has just been completed for teaching and a work-related (ADV/PR)
environment.
Three computer laboratories are available to advertising students for their classroom use. In addition, the
Spartan Daily provides a complete, Mac-based newspaper advertising layout system for students enrolled
in ADV 116, the newspaper ad sales class. All of these labs have Internet access and are email capable.
The laboratory facilities used for most advertising classes contain more than 100 Macs and PCs loaded
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with Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Word, FrontPage, and numerous other appropriate software
packages.
In addition to computer laboratories, a special presentation classroom was designed for use by senior
classes including ADV 129: “Advertising Campaigns.” The facility includes a raised platform and
audiovisual accessories.
New to Dwight Bentel Hall this Fall 2014 is a state-of-the-art creative/production space, which will also
be used for creative classes and the DB&H agency.
All of DBH has been upgraded to smart classrooms with full a/v capabilities. Students also have access to
digital video cameras and recorders when needed for class projects. Large lecture class needs are met by
DBH 133, which provides lecture hall seating for more than 70 students. The classroom is equipped with
a full screen monitor and other up-to-date audiovisual accessories. The JMC School also provides
computer facilities with presentation software (PowerPoint) for the production of campaign materials and
presentations.
Most urgent need for equipment and lab facilities
Of great concern is the need for “open” computer laboratories. Students require adequate exposure to new
graphics software and creative printing capabilities and must be allowed an area where they can utilize the
latest versions. Budget problems prevent the school from providing the necessary technical supervisory
help, although some faculty members are spending their office hours in the labs so that students can fully
utilize the facilities. Graphics software in all of our labs is up to date and includes the latest versions of
Adobe Creative Suite as well as proprietary layout software.
Availability for students of periodicals, books, resources, software
Advertising faculty members express general satisfaction with university library resources for their
students. It is particularly fortunate that library holdings and purchases benefit both the advertising
program and the College of Business because this increases the materials available.
The library contains an adequate collection of periodicals (4,000+) related to journalism and mass
communications. Some materials, such as Standard Rate and Data Service, and Simmons, both updated
monthly publications, are sent to the library. Advertising faculty members also place books in the reserve
book room. The Instructional Resource Center maintains a variety of video titles, which are used in
advertising classes. Faculty requests for purchases are honored when funds are available. Videotapes kept
by IRC are available for playback on monitors within the JMC School. Many of the faculty members
keep updated video files of commercials and such on their own.
Special programs for maintaining contact with alumni
The JMC School maintains a database of the names and addresses of alumni which are updated each
semester. The mobility of graduates and size of the school cause some difficulty in maintaining current
information, thus each degree program attempts to keep an updated file of its own alumni.
Maintaining contact with alumni
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The program has websites and blogs published by the school for its general contact with alumni. The
JMC School’s home page has brought contact with alumni onto the information highway and caused
many alumni to contact the program faculty rather than the other way around.
Composition of student advertising majors
As indicated elsewhere in this report, there are currently 158 students majoring in advertising at San Jose
State University.
Because of the influence of the community college system in California, a significant percentage of
advertising majors are juniors and seniors. Fewer than 15 percent of students in the program begin as
freshmen at San Jose State. While there are some transfers from other four-year institutions, most are
from community colleges within the state.
Ethnically, the advertising program is 31.5 percent white, 20 percent Hispanic, 18 percent Asian, 2
percent African-American, 7 percent Filipino, 0.7 percent American Indian/Alaskan, 0.3 percent Pacific
Islander, 12 percent other, 8.5 percent decline to state ethnicity or race. Women are well represented as
members of the advertising student body at 60 percent.
Composition of advertising faculty
Faculty members teaching within the advertising program are chosen for their balance of professional
experience and academic preparation. The master’s degree is the terminal degree for probationary
appointment or tenure. Temporary faculty members have extensive professional experience in newspaper,
agency, Internet and radio-television advertising.
There are two full-time-equivalent faculty members (FTE/F) teaching in the advertising degree program.
Both professors are male (one tenure-track, the other tenured).
Professional activity of the advertising faculty
The advertising faculty members are involved in a variety of activities associated with the industry, as
well as those within the academic world. Faculty members participate in local activities through AAF
affiliations. AAF activities include those on a regional basis and participation in conferences and
seminars. Faculty members also attend numerous conferences and seminars organized by the American
Academy of Advertising, the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) and various other academic
institutions.
The faculty through the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the California Newspaper
Advertising Executives Association and the Silicon Valley Ad Club maintains strong comprehensive
media contacts. All of these organizations provide scholarships to advertising majors at San Jose State
University on the advice of faculty members.
All full-time faculty members devote time to consulting with local advertising agencies, retailers,
advertisers, media and government agencies and other firms and businesses needing advertising advice.
Tim Hendrick keeps up with owners and principals in advertising and graphic design firms and John
Delacruz brings extensive International contacts. Many of his classes utilize our Telepresence system to
meet and work on a variety of campaigns.
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Temporary or adjunct faculty members also bring professional expertise to the program through their
outside activities. Experience includes impressive brand strategy backgrounds in both corporate and
agency settings as well as heavy emphasis on account and creative department management. Contacts
with the media are utilized for various guest lecturers. Appropriately this faculty brings professional
experience with clients ranging the full spectrum from consumer to high-tech. In addition to library and
personal subscriptions, the JMC School subscribes to several periodicals including Advertising Age,
Adweek, Marketing and Media, and Mediaweek.
Changes since last accreditation report
Our entire advertising faculty is involved in the graduate program where expertise or interest is
appropriate. Since the last accreditation report Tim Hendrick received tenure, bringing an extensive
agency background and training skills. Scholarly output is accomplished by all advertising faculty
members (see vitae) even though it is tied to a heavy teaching load. Two faculty members have both
media management and agency/client experience, an excellent combination to support the career goals of
many of our students.
It was hoped that the track system, both management and creative, would help to eliminate the overlap of
information from course to course. To further this end, courses have been reorganized and designed to
provide distinct separation from one another. For instance, because “Advertising Management” tended to
duplicate information in “Advertising Campaigns,” the course has been redesigned and renamed
“Integrated Marketing Communications” to mirror changes in the communications field. A heavy
teaching load and an ever-present appointment calendar of advisees does not allow for a great deal of
extra time for research and publication for the faculty in advertising. This outstanding program has only
two full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members.
Summarizing strengths and weaknesses in assessment
This is a strong program with a bright future. The primary strength of the advertising degree program is
its sound, extensive curriculum taught by a well-complemented faculty with academic and professional
experience. The DB&H agency, which services real clients and their advertising and public relations
needs, also makes a small profit and has been a resounding success, and both students and clients clamor
to be involved.
The faculty brings a great deal of professional experience to the classes, balancing theory with actual
practice wherever appropriate. It is a group that shares a conviction that the liberal arts are the backbone
of advertising, and urges students to seek out a well-rounded education beyond their major discipline.
Faculty members also share high ethical standards, and try to inculcate our students with our passion for
doing good advertising, and doing it without crossing the line from persuasion to deception. Another
strength lies in the recognition of two curricular areas, advertising management and advertising creative
— and their placement within general liberal arts and mass communications study. The degree program
benefits from being located in the heart of an area devoted to technological development. Students within
the program are exposed to technology both in a supportive manner and in the form of opportunity
through laboratory experience, classroom theory and practical internship situations.
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The JMC School is providing excellent help by ensuring that laboratories are maintained at the standard
of the industry and those faculties, particularly those involved in courses which require the latest
expertise, have access to current hardware and software. Along with our new student lounge there are
many common areas and discipline clubs for majors to gather, exchange ideas and form friendships. Both
students and faculty enjoy a closeness, which adds extraordinary value to the advertising program.
Faculty members spend a great deal of time with students in the classroom as well as in their offices, at
Spartan Ad Club (SAC) functions and outside the university. There is a cost to this strength of the
program: Tenured and tenure-track faculty are spread thinly and often have to sacrifice research and
professional activities.
Plans to address weaknesses in the program
As enrollments increase additional full-time faculty members will be added to the program.
Meeting the program’s stated objectives
The advertising major continues to offer an ample curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree that is
well-received and -respected by the industry. The program is more than meeting its objectives. Its interns
are sought after (we have more requests for interns than we have students to fill them, and that’s with the
sponsor paying $450 toward the student’s tuition.) and its graduates are contributors in the field or related
fields. Elements of the curriculum are continually updated as markets change.
Program planning
Advertising, like all of communications, is experiencing rapid, dynamic change. The tools are becoming
more and more sophisticated while society is reading less. Mass communications is an outdated term, and
targeted or customized communication is the growth field these days.
The advertising faculty is abreast of these changes, but clearly the degree program must change as
needed. It must keep the strong positives, internships and live case studies, for example, but should
continue to add content on the emerging disciplines. With the faculty members we currently have, the
program is in a good position to do this. There is room, in many of these courses, to expand or alter
content, as faculty members deem appropriate.
The industry is changing. Graduates will work in the traditional media, but must also continue to
understand the Internet, social media, other interactive media, direct-response dynamics, and the changing
consumer media consumption patterns. It’s an exciting time for them and they will get to shape many of
these new forms.
While these forms and dynamics continue to change, the basics of persuasion, such as encoding a
persuasive message from the audience’s viewpoint and being attentive to feedback, continues. Career
opportunities in the community are also rapidly changing, but they will be here. Much of the emerging
communications technologies and strategies are emerging from in the Silicon Valley or Multimedia Gulch
in San Francisco. Students in the program are at an age and in a place that put them right in the middle of
this powerful evolution … if they choose to accept it.
Public Relations Degree Program
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Self-Study Narrative
Compiled by the faculty of the Public Relations Degree Program
General statement about degree program and nature of the curriculum
Public relations is one of three undergraduate degree programs in the School of Journalism and Mass
Communications. The curriculum offers a variety of conceptual and skills courses in public relations and
is supplemented by courses in mass communications, journalism and advertising. In addition, there are
required support courses from the areas of business and social sciences, which are designed to help
students understand and interpret the world around them. These required support courses are
supplemented by the university's extensive general education course requirements in the liberal arts,
humanities and sciences.
Basic objectives of the degree program
The basic objective of the degree program is to prepare students for professional careers in public
relations and related fields.
Within this context, the curriculum is designed to teach students (1) the basic concepts and principles of
effective public relations, (2) the theory of mutually persuasive communications and the ethical
obligations of such communication, (3) the ability to solve problems, (4) the strategies and techniques of
effective communication focusing on the use of all media, and (5) the development and management of
communication programs directed at a variety of diverse publics. All the above include teaching students
to think critically and strategically about how events and issues can impact their organizations.
It also should be noted that the curriculum objective is not merely to tell students “how” public relations
is practiced, but to tell them how it should be practiced. Indeed, a major objective is to train students who
will increase and improve professionalism in the field.
The public relations curriculum also includes the JMC School objective of teaching students how to be
sophisticated “consumers” of information.
An integral part of the curriculum, within the context of the university, is to prepare students to become
well-educated citizens possessing a broad background in the liberal arts, humanities and social sciences.
The public relations curriculum is related to the central mission of the university, which is to provide
broadly educated citizens who can make a meaningful contribution to democratic society.
History of the program
The first public relations program west of the Mississippi River was started at San Jose State University.
Public relations as a subject was first proposed in 1949 by the chair of the social sciences department, and
the first course was taught during fall semester of 1951 as a “general major” in the department of social
science. In 1955, it became an interdepartmental major jointly sponsored by the social science, business,
psychology, English, and journalism departments. In 1957, the program added an “internship” course to
the curriculum. Then, in 1963, it became a degree program in the department of journalism and
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advertising. The program received ACEJ concentration accreditation in 1965, thus becoming one of the
first seven programs in the nation to achieve this recognition.
In another first, SJSU became one of the three founding chapters of PRSSA in 1967. Pearce Davies, a
retired AP bureau chief and managing editor of the San Jose Mercury News who also operated a local
public relations agency, is credited with shaping the program and curriculum in its first 16 years. He
served as an adjunct professor and headed the entire curriculum from 1952 to 1968. He was known as
“Mr. PR” and the SJSU chapter of PRSSA now bears his name.
From 1968 to 1971, Frances K. Smith was head of the public relations program. He was succeeded by
Franklin Karmatz, who was a tenure-track faculty member between 1971 and 1973. During this time, the
degree program lost its ACEJ accreditation (1971). The program continued for a year with part-time
faculty members from the professional field until Dennis Wilcox became coordinator of the PR degree
program in 1974. The concentration again gained ACEJMC accreditation in 1976, and Professor Wilcox
spearheaded the program until 2000 when he became the director of the JMC School.
For a period of about five years, the program had only one full-time faculty member assigned to it. At the
time, the public relations degree program consisted of four public relations courses and the required
internship course.
The decade of the 1980s brought the most change to the degree program. In that decade two more faculty
members, Jim Noah and Bill Briggs, joined the degree program and there was expansion of the basic
curriculum. PR 130B: “Writing for Public Relations” was introduced as a complement to PR 130A:
“Media Publicity.” In addition, two elective courses — “Special Event Management” and “Fundamentals
of Fund Raising” — were added to the curriculum. At the time, the fundraising course was one of the few
courses in the nation taught as a regular undergraduate course.
This was also a time of enrollment growth, and the number of degree candidates rose from about 100 in
the 1970s to about 300 at the end of the 1980s.
The early 1990s saw the addition of several graduate courses that incorporated public relations. “Public
Relations Management” was added, which is now MCOM 280: “Communication Management,” to
encompass the broad interests of graduate students. A second course, MCOM 260: “Integrated Strategic
Communication,” was added in 1997.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the PR degree program had three full-time faculty members assigned to
it—Briggs, Noah and Wilcox. Noah entered the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) and taught
only in the Fall semesters until 1995. Kathleen Martinelli joined the faculty in 1991, entered FERP in Fall
2012, and now teaches only one semester (until 2017). Ken Plowman joined the PR faculty in 1994 and
left SJSU in 2004 to take a position at Brigham Young University. Hyo Suk Kim, a 2005 Ph.D. graduate
from the University of Maryland, was an assistant professor briefly in Fall 2005, before resigning and
returning to Korea. Matt Cabot joined the PR faculty as associate professor in 2007.
Two PR professors became JMC School directors: Dennis Wilcox (2000–2005; retired in Fall 2009) and
William Briggs (2005–2010), before leaving to Cal State Fullerton in January 2011 to become the dean of
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the College of Communications. The public relations faculty currently has one full-time associate
professor (Cabot) assigned to it.
In Fall 2013, there were 194 public relations majors.
What makes the program special or unique in comparison to other universities?
First public relations degree program west of the Mississippi River.
One of the oldest programs in the United States (1949).
Only fully accredited program in Northern California.
The first PRSSA chapter in the U.S. to be organized. This took place at the founding of PRSSA in 1967 at
the PRSA national assembly in Pebble Beach, Calif. The next year, PRSSA chapters were launched.
Ranks as one of the most extensive public relations curricula in the United States with 11 courses in
public relations. They are:
 Contemporary Public Relations
 Case Studies in Strategic Public Relations
 Media Writing
 Strategic Writing for the Organization
 Internship
 Special Event Management
 Fund Raising Management (inactive but in catalogue)
 Campaign Planning and Management
 Integrated Strategic Communication (graduate level)
 Social Business
 Social Media Technologies in Business-to-Business Marketing Communications
Probably one of the first programs in the U.S. to require an internship (1957).
One of the few degree programs in the U.S. that offers a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations.
Dwight Bentel & Hall Communications, a student agency, was formed in 2008. This was the first class in
the JMC curriculum that converged both majors (public relations and advertising) in one class.
Faculty background/characteristics
Full-time
William Briggs (Director 2005–2011)
Kathleen Martinelli (half-time undergraduate adviser; FERP 2012)
Matt Cabot
Adjunct
Chris DiSalvo
Michael Brito
Rob Barlow
Faculty balance between full- and part-time instructors
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Public relations faculty members teach core PR curricula, mass communications courses and in the
graduate program. Until her retirement (FERP) in 2012, Martinelli served as the academic adviser for the
entire school. Starting in 2012, Martinelli began teaching a full four-course load each fall (until 2017).
One adjunct faculty member (DiSalvo) teaches at or near full-time level. Two adjunct faculty members
are employed each semester in the PR degree program.
Faculty balance between male /female, doctorate/master’s degrees
The program currently has only one full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty member (Cabot). He has a
doctoral degree.
The program’s three part-time instructors (DiSalvo, Brito, Barlow); all have master’s degrees.
Faculty balance in terms of professional work experience vs. academic experience
Cabot has more than a decade’s experience as a professional public relations practitioner and has taught in
the CSU system for 15 years.
The two part-time faculty members have extensive professional experience. Chris DiSalvo is an alumna
of the degree program with a master’s degree in public administration, and has operated her own public
relations firm for more than 25 years. Michael Brito is group director (digital media) at WCG and the
author of two books on social media, “Smart Business, Social Business” and “Your Brand: The Next
Media Company.”
Faculty involvement with professional organizations, community public service and academic
research
Professional Involvement
Past JMC School Director Bill Briggs twice served on the national board of the International Association
of Business Communicators, has been a trustee of the IABC Research Foundation and a past chair of the
IABC Educators Academy. In addition, he has served as president of the South Bay Public Relations
Round Table. Martinelli was past president of the local PRSA chapter and also served as a member of the
PRSA Educators Academy executive board.
Cabot, who is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, is the faculty adviser for JMC’s
PRSSA club (the student branch of PRSSA). During the last six years, JMC’s PRSSA club has hosted
three regional events, which has raised the status of JMC’s public relations program and built ties with
local practitioners who have served as guest speakers. Additionally, each year JMC’s public relations
program hosts PR Day, an event that features numerous workshops staffed by local PR professionals. It
also includes a job fair that has successfully connected local corporations and strategic communications
agencies with our PR and advertising students.
Community Service
DiSalvo was board president of the YWCA for two years and is a member of the San Jose Rotary Club.
She is vice chair of Santa Clara County Sister–County Commission with the Province of Florence.
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Former director Briggs twice served as a county commissioner for the Santa Clara–Hsinchu County
(Taiwan) Sister County Commission; as a director on the University of San Francisco School of
Education Alumni Board; and as president of the board of directors of Silicon Valley Habitat for
Humanity.
Martinelli was a member of the board of directors of OUTREACH Inc., Santa Clara County’s paratransit
and assistance program. She has given a talk before the International Council of Shopping Centers and
has served as a judge on high school writing competitions and the Western Regional Travel Writer’s
Association.
Cabot served as the moderator of the “Basics of PR” panel at Sister Cities International’s 58th Annual
Conference in San Jose in Summer 2014. He previously was the keynote speaker at the Business
Marketing Association PR Roundtable.
Research/Publication
During the past six years, Cabot has produced the following:
“Educating Global Citizens for the 21st Century: The SJSU Salzburg Program,” in The Journal of
Corporate Citizenship, Issue 49 (March 2013)
“Introduction to Public Relations” — Designed and wrote a six-week course for JMC’s AJEEP program
that will be used by journalism/PR professors in Afghanistan.
Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank for “Think PR,” a new textbook from Dennis Wilcox (Allyn & Bacon,
2010).
“Barry Bonds vs. The Media,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Winter 2011).
“Re-Thinking Public Relations Ethics: New Directions in Research, Instruction and Practice” (Book)
VDM Verlag, February 2010.
In addition, one of our adjunct professors, Michael Brito, published two books during this same time
period: “Smart Business, Social Business” and “Your Brand: The Next Media Company.”
Composition of students in the degree program
There are nearly 200 majors in the degree program. A majority are female. Most of the majors are juniors
or seniors because six out of 10 transfer from two-year community colleges and from four-year
institutions. In general, public relations students are in their mid-20s (22 to 28) and a large majority of
them work either part- or full-time.
More than half of the students are white, but there have been increases in Hispanic and Asian students
during the past several years. Black students still remain a small minority compared to the numbers of
Asian and Hispanic students. This closely reflects the population distribution of the service area. The
students primarily come from Santa Clara County, but also from the counties surrounding San Francisco
Bay and, to a smaller degree, the Central Coast region.
Curriculum and mission of degree program
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Recent changes in major requirements
Within the last six years, dramatic changes have occurred in the public relations industry, most notably
with new and social media. While writing is still considered the most important skill employers want
from PR grads, competency in social media is increasingly in demand. Likewise, the ability to create
visual content has become more important as information streams widen while attention spans narrow.
Additionally, public relations grads, according to national surveys, need more business knowledge (i.e.,
business literacy). As a result, we have made a few changes to our curriculum:
Michael Brito joined our adjunct faculty in 2011 to teach a social media course. That first class — always
taught at night because Michael is a full-time PR professional — had around 20 students. That same
course in spring 2014 had nearly 70 students. Michael is a nationally recognized expert in social media
strategy. Students who take his class — an increasing number every semester — have an advantage over
other PR graduates in programs across the nation. Our location in the Silicon Valley, combined with our
emphasis in social media training, makes our PR program very competitive in this new area of social
media.
All public relations majors must now take MCOM 70: “Visual Communication” as part of JMC’s core
curriculum. This course serves as an important conceptual foundation for most of our skills courses that
increasingly focus on the production of visual communication assets, whether that’s a brochure, video or
multimedia presentation.
Any course restructuring
We have revised the curriculum for PR 191 to avoid overlap with PR 190 and to create yet another
opportunity to teach visual communication/design. While the course still offers writing instruction (i.e., a
two-week writer’s boot camp), PR 191 now emphasizes the basic principles of design. Students
demonstrate their grasp of these principles by producing a flier, brochure and slide presentation. Because
there has been a revolution in slide design during the last six years, this course teaches cutting-edge
PowerPoint and Keynote design.
PR 99 now requires that students divide into groups and read a current (or classic) business book. At the
end of the semester, the group does a 15-20 presentation (with slides) summarizing the book’s content
and connecting it to course material. The group also has to produce a 1-2 “graphic” summary using some
sort of page composition software. With a dozen or so groups in the class, the students get an overview of
some of the most important business books currently being read by business men and women today. The
overarching goal of the project is to increase students’ business literacy.
PR 99 also now requires students to do “media briefs” on current public relations issues, encouraging
them to connect course content with contemporary events. Significantly, the assignments also encourage
greater engagement with current events, another demand from employers.
MCOM 180: Global Leadership
In Summer 2009, Professor Cabot launched his first four-week international public relations study-abroad
program. That year, he took 23 students to Paris to visit some of its top strategic communications
agencies and provide students with a firsthand experience of global PR. For the next three summers,
Cabot took an average of 20 students each year to Paris, Italy and Spain and visited agencies such as
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Havas Worldwide, Edelman, APCO Worldwide and MS&L. In addition to these organizations, the
program has included visits to KPMG, Louis Vuitton, UNESCO and the European Parliament in Brussels.
In line with SJSU’s initiative to “globalize the campus,” Cabot has expanded his curriculum to include
concepts of globalization, corporate social responsibility and global corporate citizenship. Summer 2014
marked his fourth consecutive summer leading his “global leadership” program, which now attracts
majors from across the campus.
The success of this program, among other successful programs led by other JMC faculty members,
resulted in JMC being selected as one of only three programs in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts
to pilot an international requirement for all students starting Fall 2014.
Dwight Bentel & Hall Student Agency
Formed in Fall 2008, DB&H was the first course in the JMC curriculum that converged both the public
relations and advertising majors into one class. Students must “apply” to be accepted into of this twosemester course, which is designed to give students a chance to collaborate on “real life” projects with
real clients, most of whom pay for the agency’s services. In the past six years, our students have created
outstanding, award-winning (see the Advertising self-study report) work for dozens of clients. In addition
to boosting the status of our public relations and advertising programs among local and national clients,
DB&H agency has helped numerous students get top-notch jobs in the strategic communication field
upon graduation.
Brief description of required support courses
BUS 130: “Introduction to Marketing.” To acquaint students with marketing and how it relates to
communications, etc.
COM 144: “Organizational Communications.” To familiarize students with models of communication
within organizations.
Approved Academic Focus
Students are required to take 12 units of study in an area outside the JMC School approved by their
adviser. Six of the 12 units must be upper division courses. A large percentage of majors select a focus in
marketing in the College of Business. For many years, business has offered a special minor for public
relations majors, which allows them to take some of the courses without the normal required prerequisites
for business majors. This, however, now varies with enrollment swings in the College of Business.
Another special focus area for public relations majors has been developed with the department of
communication studies. The focus emphasizes persuasion concepts, as well as skills in public speaking
and theory of organizational communications.
What courses in degree program serve non-majors in the university?
The primary course available for non-majors is PR 99: “Contemporary Public Relations,” which attracts a
number of majors from environmental studies, communication studies, human performance, speech
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communication, recreation and leisure and English. In addition, a number of journalism and advertising
majors take this course as an elective.
How are ethics, law, history, theory taught in the degree program curriculum?
All public relations majors are required to take MCOM 101: “Media Law and Ethics.” Within the public
relations curriculum, the philosophy and practice are to integrate such topics as ethics, law, history and
theory into all the courses within the context of the course’s subject matter. In PR 99 the required text has
chapters on all these topics. In PR 190, for example, there is discussion of regulatory law as it relates to
SEC, FTC and copyright, as well as discussion of ethics in writing. PR 192: “Case Studies” is designed to
help students apply concepts and theory to specific problem-solving situations. In all courses, the ethics of
specific public relations programs are discussed, often within the context of contemporary campaigns —
the public relations activities of tobacco companies, for example, or even the ethics involved in litigation.
How are majors informed about the contributions of minorities/women to the field?
This is primarily done in the basic introductory survey course, PR 99: “Contemporary Public Relations.”
A special effort is made in other courses to feature female and minority guest speakers, so there are role
models for students, most of whom are female.
PR 199: “Campaign Planning and Management” also addresses women and minorities, particularly the
concepts of the “Velvet Ghetto” and the “Glass Ceiling” in the workplace. Campaigns for various
organizations include reaching diverse and multicultural audiences. Diversity issues are an integral part
of PR 192, “Case Studies” in the respect that students must research the characteristics of diverse
audiences and read about campaigns that reached such audiences.
PR majors often take MCOM 105: “Diversity in the Media” as an elective.
How does the program assure continuity and instructional objectives in multiple class sections?
There are several methods:
The public relations faculty members meet regularly to discuss the objectives of each course in the
curriculum. This assures that the overall curriculum covers everything necessary for the student's major,
but it also assures there is no overlap or duplication between courses.
Course syllabi for each semester are put on file in the school office. This provides a resource base for new
part-time instructors to learn how the regular faculty members have taught the course in prior semesters.
Regular faculty members take it upon themselves to meet with new part-time faculty members and give
them an orientation to the entire curriculum, as well as the particular course. It is important to give new
people an overview of the entire curriculum because it gives them a better sense of what is being covered
in other required courses.
To minimize confusion between multiple sections of a course, the JMC School attempts to assign one
faculty member (full- or part-time) to teach all the sections in a given semester.
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What procedures are in place to assure quality of internship opportunities?
All public relations majors must complete 9 units of major work in the degree program, including PR 99,
PR 190 or PR 191, and another course, before they can take an internship for credit. In addition, they
must be in good academic standing.
All internships must be held at regular business addresses. Independent consultants working out of their
homes do not qualify for interns.
Public relations internships can only be taken during Fall, Spring semesters or Summer sessions.
Increasingly PR alumni solicit and recruit our students for internships and positions.
What opportunities are there for students to participate in national scholarships, conferences,
and competitions?
Scholarships
The availability of local, regional, or national scholarships is widely publicized through classroom
announcements, notices on bulletin boards, and academic advising. In many cases, the faculty adviser
asks a particular student to fill out an application. There are several scholarships on a national level such
as PRSSA, but students can also receive scholarships from such local organizations as the San Francisco
Public Relations Roundtable, and the Silicon Valley chapters of PRSA and IABC, the Rene Siegel
Award, High Tech Connect and the Wilcox endowed scholarship.
Conferences and Meetings
Majors are encouraged to expand their learning outside the classroom by attending various conferences,
workshops and seminars. On a local level, almost all the public relations organizations (PRSA, IABC,
Roundtables, etc.) have student rates for attending their meetings and professional development
workshops.
On the national level, students are encouraged to attend the national PRSSA conference every year. This
is primarily through the PRSSA chapter. Partial funding for student travel comes from local firms, the
local PRSA chapter and the JMC School.
National Competitions
Majors, usually in the campaign planning class, have participated in the PRSSA Bateman Case Study
competition. In the past six years, public relations and advertising students have participated (and placed)
in national competitions. (See the Advertising program Self-Study for details).
What recent honors have come to the students and the degree program?
At present, the local PRSSA chapter is strong and particularly active, having hosted three successful
regional events in the past six years. In fact, the Silicon Valley PRSA chapter awarded our PRSSA club
with $1,000 in recognition and support for its outstanding work on the Spring 2014 regional conference.
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Some of the students’ and program’s most celebrated honors in the past six years have come in
collaboration with the advertising program through our DB&H student agency. (Please see the
Advertising Self-Study for more details).
Outreach of the degree program
How does the program recruit majors? Is there any attention given to the recruitment
of minorities?
Recruitment of minorities has been included in general recruitment activities, and no specific program has
been undertaken to reach them. One reason is that the San Francisco Bay area is very diverse, and the
program seems to attract students in proportion to the general population.
What is the program’s involvement with working professionals, professional organizations,
companies, etc.?
The degree program has a strong tradition of fostering and maintaining relationships with the professional
community. This is done in several ways:
All public relations majors must take a required internship consisting of 240 hours work under the
guidance of a professional practitioner. Through the years, hundreds of public relations employers and
students have benefited from the internship program. In fact, a significant number of graduating seniors
get their first full-time jobs with their internship employers.
The degree program’s seminal course, “Campaign Planning and Management,” involves corporations,
nonprofits and public relations firms as clients for student teams who prepare PR plans and compete for
the client's account.
The master’s program in mass communication includes a number of students who select a public relations
focus. Approximately 60 percent of those domestic students are professionals in the field.
Alumni and working professionals are regularly invited as guest speakers into the classroom.
Does the degree program have an advisory board?
The SJSU PR degree program was one of the first in the country to have a professional advisory board,
which was started in 1983. For many years, the board had about 30 top public relations officers
representing the major corporations, public relations firms, and non-profit agencies in the San Francisco
Bay Area, such as Hitachi, Bank of America, Visa International, Edelman Worldwide, Ketchum, Bechtel,
Pacific Gas & Electric, Apple Computer, etc. Through the years, various members of the advisory board
provided equipment donations, grants, and student internships.
That board became inactive some time in the late 1990s because of several board-member and key-faculty
retirements. There have been recent talks with a few key alumni (who are PR professionals in the Silicon
Valley) about reconstituting a professional board. In the meantime, these alumni along with our strong
adjunct professors (who are active in the public relations profession) have continued their support and
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advisory role on an ad-hoc basis. One alumna in particular (Rene Siegel of High Tech Connect) has been
invaluable as a commencement speaker, guest lecturer, and mentor to dozens of students in our program.
Student Advisement
How do faculty members advise majors about course requirements?
New students attend a school orientation before the semester starts. There are separate sessions for
freshmen and transfer students.
The JMC School now employs centralized advising, whereby a single faculty person advises all
undergraduates. This faculty person happens to be a public relations lecturer, so PR students are
particularly well served. Students, depending on their schedule of classes or work, can also see other PR
faculty members for advising.
Outside the JMC School office handouts give students specific information on (1) course requirements,
(2) approved special minors in other fields, and (3) graduation forms. Information is posted to the JMC
website.
To apply for graduation, students must see the adviser who checks the student’s entire record and assures
that requirement of 65 units in liberal arts and sciences is met, as well as the 72 units outside the major.
Students complete these forms at least one semester before the projected graduation date.
Finally, school Director Bob Rucker frequently sends out an email blast called The Buzz, which features
important announcements concerning curriculum, registration and school activities.
What is the amount/quality of career counseling for students?
The amount of career counseling is extensive, primarily because full- and part-time faculty are available
and have major professional experience. Cabot also discusses career issues each semester in PR 99:
“Contemporary Public Relations”, which always generates significant discussion both in and outside the
classroom. In fact, careers are discussed in almost every class, but the topic is particularly emphasized in
PR 199: “Campaign Planning and Management”; MCOM 100W; and PR 190: “Mass Media Writing.”
About a third of PR 190 course is devoted to (1) how to do a job search, (2) preparation of resumes, cover
letters, and portfolios, and (3) having a number of working professionals as guest speakers.
In addition, a representative from the SJSU Career Center focuses on JMC School students, talks with
students about how the university placement service operates and holds Job Fair days that include
employers in public relations.
Students also frequently visit faculty members during office hours to discuss internships, review resumes
and cover letters (or emails), and to strategize interviews.
Graduating students also are strongly encouraged to attend the professional chapter meetings of PRSA,
IABC, etc., to develop their networking skills.
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Describe the activities of the program in placing recent graduates.
Job openings are announced in various classes and emailed to seniors. In addition, faculty make it a
standard practice to refer students when specific job openings are available. PRSA and PRSSA Web sites
also post job openings.
Additionally, in the last year, we have formed an informal partnership with High Tech Connect, a Silicon
Valley public relations consulting founded by one of our alums (Rene Shimada Siegel). In addition to
making presentations in our classes, she advises and helps prepares students for the Bay Area job market.
In general, the majority of graduates get placed in some type of communications job. However, there has
not been systematic tracking of each graduating class.
How does program assure that student advising is consistent and of high quality?
Through its Student Information System the university provides an internal check,
requiring all students to be officially advised before they are able to enroll in their third semester. Without
evidence of advising appearing in their record, the computer will not allow students to register for classes.
The faculty is small and there is regular dialogue about curriculum standards and advisement. The PR
faculty meets on a regular basis to discuss various issues affecting the curriculum so that all of us “sing”
on the same key.
Equipment and facilities
Describe the equipment and lab facilities primarily used by majors.
Public relations writing courses (PR 190/PR 191) are taught in Mac labs, which are also used by other
courses in the school. In addition to the Microsoft Office Suite, the Macs have the entire Adobe Creative
Suite, which provides students with industry- standard programs such as InDesign and Premiere (among a
host of other content-creation programs).
Each classroom (including labs) is equipped with Internet access, audio-visual equipment and a projector.
What does the degree program consider the most urgent need in the area of equipment
and “lab” facilities?
The Macs need to be updated. While we have access to the latest industry-standard content creation
software, these memory-intensive programs can overwhelm the older computers.
What is the availability of periodicals, books, educational resources, software for students
in the program?
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Most all references, resources and databases are available online. Our assigned reference librarian Toby
Matoush is extremely helpful and proactive in meeting our needs.
Professional activity
How does the faculty keep up to date?
This is unique challenge for faculty who teach strategic communication – especially in the last five years.
The profession has changed dramatically during that time with the ascendancy of social media and mobile
computing. While many of the core principles remain (e.g., transparency, honesty, clarity, etc.), the means
for delivering messages and maintaining relationships have changed.
Toward that end, Cabot joined the Twitter revolution on March 8, 2012, with a tweet about “hashtag
marketing.” Since then, he has tweeted more 1,000 times mostly about articles concerning strategic
communication — curated from the dozens of industry professionals he follows on Twitter. This has
become Cabot’s primary way to keep current, as it has for most professionals today. Our faculty members
also receive update email newsletters from agencies (e.g., Eastwick Communications).
The faculty members also keep up to date by talking with each other. Having Michael Brito as an adjunct
professor has tremendously benefited our program and helped our faculty understand social media
strategy. Brito is a sought-after speaker globally on social media strategy.
Faculty members also have guest speakers in their classrooms who are currently in the field.
Finally, each summer for the past four years, Cabot has led a four-week study abroad program in Europe
where he visits some of Europe’s top strategic communication agencies. He, and some 80 students who
have accompanied him during that time, have had the opportunity to learn the state of global PR from
European industry experts. Cabot then shares his knowledge on Twitter (and with the many professionals
and students who follow him) and with all of his students during the Fall and Spring semesters.
Graduates and alumni
Does the program have any special programs for maintaining contact with its alumni?
Public Relations students coordinate the Spring and Fall School Convocations
(commencements) as part of DiSalvo’s PR 193 class, “Special Events Management.” The primary means
of engaging alumni has been the regular PRSSA meetings and the annual PR Day, both of which depend
upon alumni support and participation.
Does the program have a newsletter or maintain its own alumni list?
Although the JMC School maintains its own alumni list, the most reliable list is currently compiled by the
University Alumni Association. Due to frequent relocation of our graduates, it is very difficult to keep a
current list, but it is updated as possible.
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Changes since the last accreditation report
Summarize the major recommendations made for the degree program in the last Accreditation
Report as it relates to the degree program.
No specific weaknesses were cited in the previous report. There was concern about having a more
modern and “smart” classroom for presentations, and more access to computer technology. Public
Relations, along with the other degree programs, has made efforts to improve alumni relations, emphasize
diversity and ethics in all classes, keep the curriculum modern and relevant and enhance development
efforts.
What has been done to correct these “deficiencies?”
Through a licensing agreement with Adobe, all of our students now have free access to the entire Abobe
Creative Suite (or Cloud), which is the industry standard for creative design. Given that we are “all in the
content creation business now,” this is a huge advantage to our students. Also, with the recent Anderson
Grant, we will be able to create a creative working space similar to those at the top strategic
communication agencies. The new space will allow for greater collaboration between our PR and
advertising students and foster an environment conducive to creative work. Additionally, the new space
will serve as a gallery for creative work, as well as an impressive forum for alumni and recruiting events.
The last accreditation report noted the decrease in the number of PR majors, ranking it third behind
journalism and advertising. Today, however, the public relations program has more majors than any other
in JMC, despite having two-thirds fewer faculty members (addressed below).
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Recommendations relating to the entire school
Assessment
Summarize the current strengths and weaknesses of the degree program
Strengths include:
The program offers a solid, comprehensive curriculum.
The program is in the top tier of American universities in terms of offering at least eight courses in public
relations. One course is offered at the graduate level.
It is one of the oldest public relations degree programs in the United States, with its roots going back to
1949.
The Pearce Davies PRSSA chapter is one of the first chartered chapters in the nation, dating back to 1967.
It shares the honor with the University of West Virginia and the University of Florida.
Faculty and students have an excellent rapport and partnership with the professional community —
especially in Silicon Valley.
Public relations faculty members are capable of teaching courses across the curriculum.
Our faculty members are available and accessible to students, offering valuable opportunities for
academic and career mentoring.
One of our adjunct faculty members (Brito) is a leading expert in social media strategy.
We continue to develop our international public relations program through yearly visits to Europe and
other places around the world.
As of Fall 2014, we are one of the only public relations programs in the U.S. that requires an
“international experience” before graduation.
A recent endowment will provide much-needed funds for continued facility and equipment renovation.
We have an award-winning student agency (Dwight Bentel & Hall) that provides students with significant
professional work prior to graduation, building their portfolios and creating meaningful ties with local
and national clients.
Weaknesses include:
Faculty turnover continues to be the largest weakness. During the period under review, Wilcox completed
his FERP, Martinelli began hers (ending in 2017), and Briggs left the school to become dean of the
College of Communication at Cal State Fullerton.
That leaves Matt Cabot as the only full-time tenured/tenure-track professor in the program. Despite the
strength of the adjunct faculty (primarily DiSalvo and Brito), the program obviously needs another
tenure-track faculty member. The last accreditation report cited the lack of full-time tenured faculty as a
serious challenge for accomplishing the program’s mission. With two-thirds fewer faculty now, the need
for another tenure-track faculty member has become critical.
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Compounding the problem of being understaffed, funds for research, travel, and professional
development have become almost nonexistent. Faculty members who want to attend conferences must
therefore pay for these themselves. Cabot has been able to run his study-abroad program in Europe for
the past four summers because it is totally self-funding.
What plans are being made to address weaknesses in the program?
It is clear that the solution to several of the weaknesses is “fundraising,” finding non-state monies to
directly support the needs of the degree program. JMC School Director Bob Rucker has helped raise
thousands of dollars for our school. And the Anderson Grant will be tremendous help going forward.
However, our biggest challenge — lack of full-time faculty — cannot be addressed through fundraising
or grants. That can only happen through university money. Currently, university funds for new faculty
positions are extremely sparse, with most of the funds going toward STEM programs.
We are hopeful, however, that our need for another full-time faculty member in public relations will take
priority in the coming year or two. The answer so far from the administration has simply been to increase
class sizes. For example, PR 99 (our introductory PR course) has gone from a cap of 70 (large by
historical standards) in Spring 2014 to 150 in Fall 2014. It should be noted, too, that this course (despite
doubling its size) will still count for just one course in a four-course teaching load (Cabot’s). Likewise,
our PR 192 course (traditionally capped at 20) has incrementally increased to 25, then 30. In Cabot’s Fall
2013 PR 192, the class had 38 students.
Is the program meeting its stated objectives?
In general, yes. The program does remarkable things with limited resources. Note: We said the same thing
in our previous report, despite having three times more tenured faculty members and more funds for
travel, research and professional development. But perhaps this is the problem. Our university and college
(CASA) administrators continue to see our students do amazing work, win awards and achieve
campuswide recognition. They see us host successful events, raise thousands of dollars, and build
international partnerships. They hear about our graduates getting top-notch jobs in the Silicon Valley and
beyond. And they may conclude that we are doing just fine without more faculty members and funds.
What they don’t realize, however, is that we could be doing much better, especially in research, outreach
to the professional community and recruiting. That simply can’t happen effectively without the addition
of at least one or two more full-time tenure track faculty (still not enough according to our previous
accreditation report).
The fact is, we are continuing to offer a broad, comprehensive undergraduate program that combines both
theory and practice. Our majors are employable and seem to go on to successful careers in public
relations, marketing communications, and allied fields. Job prospects, particularly in Silicon Valley, are
currently good. Constant financial constraints, as well as too many duties heaped on the plate of present
faculty obviously limit the full potential of the program.
Program planning
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Will the degree program's curriculum be the same in the next five years
as it is today?
The core courses in the basic public relations curriculum probably will remain the same, but the content
of courses will constantly be changing. Undergraduate courses will continue to reflect changes in the field
and are increasingly focusing on the ability to “create content,” and manage social media strategies.
The public relations program will continue to collaborate with the advertising program as the industry
moves toward integrated strategic communication. And both the PR and advertising programs will also
increase their efforts to forge connections with SJSU’s graphic design programs and School of Business
(especially the marketing program).
We will continue to globalize the curriculum. In addition to adding more course content about the global
practice of public relations, JMC’s new international requirement (spearheaded by Cabot) will usher
many more students into international experiences. This will give our students a distinct advantage over
their peers in other programs that do not have such a requirement. We will also continue to send students
and faculty to SJSU’s Salzburg Program. In fact, proportionally, JMC has sent more professors to
Salzburg than any other department or school at SJSU.
Will career opportunities in the community be the same in the next five years?
Several factors suggest that opportunities in the public relations field will increase in the next five years:
We now live in the “age of transparency.” Because of mobile technology and social media, the cameras
and microphones are always on. There is simply no place to hide.
Performance with purpose is becoming increasingly important. Consumers today expect more from
companies than creating a good product or service. Reputation is increasingly being driven by what kind
of good an organization is doing for the world.
The rise of social media is creating new positions such as community managers, who can manage the
online presence of an organization.
New “pull” strategies require organizations to create compelling content to engage their various
stakeholders.
Developing economies around the world will need PR practitioners to help manage stakeholder relations.
Do the current faculty members have the knowledge and experience to teach the curriculum as it
will exist in the next five years?
Yes and no. Employers still say the ability to write is the number skill they’re looking from graduates.
Our PR faculty, supported by the rest of the JMC faculty, can teach writing. We also understand strategy
and how to effectively craft messages that resonate with different audiences. We also can teach students
the public relations process using research, goals and objectives, strategies and tactics, budgets and
timelines. We can also teach our students to do effective presentations, including how to create powerful
visuals.
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The key challenge for our faculty will be to stay abreast in new communication media (i.e., channels
through which various audiences are reached). Fortunately, Michael Brito is an expert in an area where
we’re not as strong. With that said, however, faculty members have learned a lot from Brito, as well as
other experts in social media, and are able to pass this along to students.
Will the current resources be adequate to permit the maintenance of program quality in the next
five years?
To quote our last accreditation report in 2007: “The current resources are barely adequate to maintain
today’s programs, let alone five years from now. The university no longer describes itself as ‘statesupported’ but rather ‘state assisted.’ The problem of asking faculty to do more and more with shrinking
resources remains. There are only 24 hours in a day, and faculty burnout is a distinct job hazard. But there
is still frustration about how to maximize fundraising potential when the daily duties of faculty members
require almost all of their energies to teach four classes, advise majors, attend multiple committee
meetings and find the time for research, writing and paying some attention to their personal and family
lives.”
The problem has only become worse. We have one-third the faculty in public relations since the last
report. Class sizes have doubled in some cases and faculty salaries have remained stagnant (and have, in
fact, become “inverted” and “compressed”).
And, yet, despite these challenges, the public relations program has more majors than ever before, and we
continue to offer students an outstanding education, and graduate majors who are prepared for the
workplace. The question now is sustainability.
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