IU journalism school weathers funding battle

While journalism schools across the country are facing financial problems, the IU School of Journalism is weathering the battle for funding.\nThe Sept. 8 issue of Editor and Publisher outlines the financial woes state journalism schools across the country are being forced to handle -- with the end result for many being closure.\nAccording to the article, "at state colleges and universities across the nation, journalism schools are coping with their worst public financing crisis ever." \nThe article later describes programs where faculty had been laid off and students had been turned away.\n"I think the article was a little overwrought," said Dean of the School of Journalism Trevor Brown, who was quoted in the article. "It suggested somehow that journalism schools were being selected by universities for peculiar cruel and unusual punishment."\nHe explained that as state funding for higher education in general has decreased, funding for all schools -- including journalism -- has declined as well.\nBrown said IU is in no immediate trouble because for the past 20 to 30 years the journalism school has attracted about 40 to 50 percent of its students from out of state. This is helpful since out-of-state students pay much higher tuition.\nAnother reason the IU journalism school is in no danger of closing any time soon is because fund-raising has always been an aspect the dean has focused on.\n"We've accumulated an endowment that makes a big difference in the level of quality in teaching and research," he said. "We've been protected, I suppose." \nEven though the school is in no immediate jeopardy, it's still feeling the pinch. Because IU is an accredited school by the Accrediting Council of Journalism and Mass Communications, it is required to meet certain specifications to keep the accreditation. For example, all skills or lab classes must have only 20 students or less.\nWhile the introductory classes are large, as students specialize, the classes shrink.\nSophomore Emily Boric thought her J110: Introduction to Journalism class was too large, but her current class, J200: Writing, Reporting and Editing, is a perfect fit.\n"It's 14 to 15 students," she said, "My professor is wonderful and any questions and comments we have, we can talk about them in class. Before, there just wasn't room for that."\nJunior Sarah Weiss said while the small classes let students get to know the professor individually, it does make it harder for students to get the classes they need to fulfill the major.\n"I'm not worried," she said about getting the classes needed for next semester, "but I probably should be. Who knows (how much) room there is? It's hard to make sure you can get a spot in them."\nThe smaller lab classes require students to use a substantial amount of expensive technology. This adds to the many expenses the school has to pay for. As a result, Brown said the school has to make the most of the technology it has.\nWhile funding is and will continue to be an issue, Brown emphasizes it is not the only problem that journalism schools face. Currently, the school is struggling to achieve a fair balance of students and faculty members. \n"Do journalism schools represent the multicultural makeup of the nation? The answer is no," Brown said. "There are very significant challenges in ensuring that a field that seeks to prepare people to report or comment on a very diverse population in its student part and its teaching part is appropriately representative of the population."\n-- Contact staff writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.