Dean's Welcome

A key measure of an academic program like ours at Gaylord College is to be reviewed by peers to ensure that we provide strong value to students and the industries we serve. Trite but true: Do we walk the talk?

Which is why we stand for accreditation. OU journalism has been accredited, with a few bumps here and there, since the late 1940s. Hundreds of colleges and universities across the country have programs under various titles – often with communication, journalism or media in them. But less than 120 programs submit to the accrediting process.

A key reason why? It’s a heavy lift.

I’ve estimated that over the past seven years, since the last accreditation cycle, we at Gaylord spent a half-million dollars, maybe more, in labor contributed by faculty and staff on reaccreditation. My great colleague David Craig, who oversaw the effort, devoted the equivalent of a year and a half since 2015 on nothing but reaccreditation. (That was atop his duties as associate dean, teaching one or two classes a semester and running a national research project on media ethics. Talk about commitment!)

David and our team submitted a 205-page report, with multiple attachments, to meet a September deadline. He and I spent the next six weeks answering questions from members of a site team in advance of their visit in early November. Then, for parts of four days, the team met with Gaylord deans, faculty, staff and students, as well as the university’s provost and the executive vice president.

The result? A strong and positive report. We were found in compliance with all nine standards as set by the national accrediting body, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC.) The team prefaced each of our strengths in bold face:

-- “Faculty, administration and advisors are passionate about supporting student learning and success. Students uniformly praised Gaylord for the way it empowers and supports students. This dedication to students is palpable and powerful.

-- “The facilities are simply astounding: spacious, state-of-the-art, welcoming. The Gaylord buildings are a point of envy for other academic units at OU, and a point of pride for Gaylord students and faculty.

-- “The college is a vibrant community built around a strong brand. Students overwhelmingly report a strong affinity with and pride around the “Gaylord” brand, and “family” was a word used by faculty, staff and students alike to describe the ethos.

-- “The students graduate with the skills and knowledge they need to compete for the best jobs in markets big and small. Students secure multiple internships and jobs – as evidenced by “brag boards,” which showcase where graduates have been professionally employed following graduation, throughout Gaylord facilities.”

Meantime, the site team also encouraged the college to continue making strides to diversify our faculty ranks and student population. And it told OU’s administration that Gaylord will need more faculty going forward, to meet curriculum and enrollment aspirations.

The site team’s recommendations were forwarded upstream to accrediting oversight bodies, which met a month apart in Chicago this spring. David Craig and I were on hand for both meetings should there be any questions. There were none, and the recommendations were approved unanimously.

Next time the college undergoes the accrediting process will be in 2027-28. And we’ve already begun preparation for it.

Gaylord is a good program, but we’re always striving to get better. It’s important – and gratifying -- when others take note of it.

Ed Kelley, Dean
Class of 1975