| February 6th, 2018

SJGC hosts All-School Colloquim in Lee Hall

By: journeymagazine

Staff Writer | Asia Irvin

The FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication hosted its “All-School Colloquium,” a time to come together to receive important information that we as students need to know about the program, according to Professor Francine Huff, who is the Knight Chair for Student Success.

Dr. Valerie White, Interim Journalism Division Director, recapped the guidelines and expectations for the Journalism “J-School” program. She started by going over the University’s attendance policy. “Perfect attendance is expected. Students who are not in their seats when the instructor checks the roll will be marked absent, because in our business seconds is money, she said.”

Dr. White then explained the accreditation process.”The accreditation team is called the Accrediting Counsel on Education & Journalism and Mass Communication. They will be here Feb. 4th through the 7th. The accrediting committee meeting will be March 24th, where they will give us preliminary reports. The options are reaccredited, provisional, or unaccredited,” White noted.

“We don’t want unaccredited, she said.”

White further encouraged students to get involved in student media and to prepare for capstone now. She said, “We allow students to be involved in student media your freshman year. Therefore, you don’t have to wait until your junior year to even get into your major.” 

President of the FAMU Student Government Association, Devin Harris, said,”Some of us get so consumed with our agendas, deadlines, and tasks that we forget to to take the time to breathe in and out. I think it is important to take the time and look at the quality of our work, as Professor Huff always mentions.”

Harris added, “For us students, I don’t want for us to overwhelm ourselves. I don’t want us to get so consumed in what’s going on online or on social media that we forget our personal mind and our personal state of being.

Professor Huff recognized J-School students for their academic achievements. She acknowledged the students on the president’s list, the dean’s list, and the honor roll.  

One of those exceptional president list scholars was graduating senior Kayla Parker, who expressed her gratitude to be a part of an accredited program. “I am proud to say that the work I have done is accredited,” she said.

Parker added,”While I already have all my articles published for capstone, some of my articles are from a long time ago, and I think my craft and skill has definitely improved since then, so I want to write more stories to show off my new skill.

“If we lose our accreditation we lose funding, we lose scholarships, and we lose faculty positions, so we do not want that to happen to faculty, the interim dean, and all those working hard in SJGC to make sure that we attain our accreditation,” Dr. White emphasized.