Students with a love for writing and a zeal for reporting will soon have an opportunity to develop their skills while earning academic credit and a recognized certificate from UB.
According to Beth Del Genio, assistant vice provost for Academic Affairs, the university is making progress in its plans to begin a new journalism certificate that would combine coursework from the departments of English, communication and media studies.
"The program is for students to be able to indicate to potential employers that they have practical and academic experience in the field of journalism," said Del Genio.
This allows students to have an impressive resume whether they decide to enter the job market or go on to graduate school, she said.
Teresa Steenburgh, a sophomore English major, said she thinks the program is a good idea, especially for communication majors, who might have wanted to go into journalism but previously did not have the ability to do so.
"I think if there is a high enough demand with people making special majors, then they might as well create a program," said Steenburgh. "It complements communication majors and gives them a better focus."
According to Del Genio, the program - which was initiated in spring 2002 after a conversation between former Spectrum Editor in Chief Emily Dalton Smith and Provost Elizabeth Capaldi - still has to move through "various internal approval processes," but she hopes to have the program in place for the fall.
According to Dalton Smith, her interest in forming a journalism program at UB stemmed from a desire to provide prospective journalists with a thorough education.
"We didn't have any method for turning students into journalists and reporters," Dalton Smith said, adding that although working for The Spectrum is a great experience, it does not fully provide the education a journalism program would.
According to Del Genio, the program will require a total of 21 credit hours, including Communication 101 and English 201, and other classes already offered within the three departments.
"As of now, we are utilizing the resources that we already have," Del Genio said.
According to Stacey Hubbard, associate professor of English and former director of undergraduate studies, UB decided on a journalism certificate and not a new journalism major because creating a new major is a more complex process that includes petitioning the SUNY administration for approval.
"A certificate program does not replace a major, but complements it," said Hubbard. "One reason not to establish a journalism major is that good journalists need to have a field of expertise beyond journalism, whether it is chemistry, politics, sports, film or literature, so they have something to write about."
Hubbard said the certificate program will allow students to gain experience that was not available to them before.
"The journalism certificate will allow students to develop writing, research and communication skills appropriate (for) journalistic careers through interdisciplinary coursework and hands-on experience writing for and editing publications," said Hubbard.
Although students from all majors could pursue the certificate, students already majoring in English, communication or media studies would have an easier time fulfilling the requirements because some of the courses in the program would count toward their primary majors.
Students who do not think the certificate program will satisfy their needs can still put together a special major in journalism.
"A special major is an opportunity for students to do their own thing," said John Riszko, director of Special Major Services.
According to Riszko, journalism is a fairly popular choice among special major students.
"In recent years, the Special Majors Committee created a set of guidelines and made it a bit more challenging for students to do the major," said Riszko.
Riszko said the committee decided to make the program more challenging after it realized many journalism special major students were taking electives, such as The Spectrum, to fulfill requirements.
However, Riszko said students who are interested in the field of journalism could take the traditional route -majoring in English, according to Riszko - instead of going through the trouble of coming up with their own major.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
