New York, N.Y.—Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York announced today that five additional journalism schools at major research universities have been asked to submit proposals for curriculum enrichment and to join an initiative begun this year to revitalize journalism education.
The five schools, which will present proposals for the approval of the Corporation’s board, are the College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida; Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland; Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri; S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University; and the School of Communication, University of Texas at Austin.
At the launch of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education in May 2005, the deans of leading journalism schools at four of America’s top research universities—Berkeley, Columbia, Northwestern and USC—in partnership with Carnegie Corporation of New York, laid a foundation for developing their vision of what a journalism school can be at an exemplary institution of higher education. The goal of this curriculum enrichment is to encourage experimentation within the journalism school and to forge a greater integration with other departments in order to offer students the riches of the larger university community. While training tomorrow’s reporters, editors, writers and producers, the initiative is focused on attracting and preparing top students to become the journalism leaders of tomorrow, prepared for a more complex and intellectually challenging world and news business.
“Schools of journalism at exemplary American research universities, where the academic disciplines still coexist, are positioned to draw upon the full intellectual and educational resources of the university environment to help produce the skilled, responsible, expert, knowledgeable and highly proficient journalism leaders that our society—indeed the world—has need of, especially in these complex and challenging times,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. “Our democracy depends on journalism to keep its institutions challenged and responsive to the public’s needs, and the quality of the profession demands the best a university can offer.”
The Corporation, under Gregorian’s leadership, has made journalism education, one of its key priorities and it will invest in the initiative over the next three years. Schools invited to become part of the initiative must reflect the following criteria:
- Freestanding journalism programs at research universities.
- Schools with graduate programs.
- Schools with established deans.
- Universities that have the institutional and financial commitment of the president to support this project.
The initiative is expected to include more journalism schools in curriculum enrichment efforts by the fall of 2006. The five schools currently submitting proposals for consideration will be able to receive up to $250,000 for two years for expanding, and developing specific courses that offer students a deeper understanding of issues, content and context. The university must agree to underwrite the third year of the enrichment program.
“A key feature of this curriculum enrichment focus is to offer students a deep and multi-layered exploration of complex subjects like history, politics, classics and philosophy that will undergird their journalistic skills,” said Susan King, vice president, public affairs at the Corporation and national director of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. “The Corporation hopes to encourages journalism schools to go beyond their current boundaries—to be expansive about the kind of courses and information their students should absorb while attempting to raise the profile of journalism education and its place within the university.”
The five universities announced today will not be part of a second element of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education: News 21 Incubators, which are annual national investigative reporting projects overseen by campus professors and distributed nationally through both traditional and innovative media. The invitation to submit curriculum enrichment proposals likewise does not convey immediate membership in the third part of the Initiative: The Carnegie-Knight Task Force, which is focusing on research and creating a platform for educators to speak on policy and journalism education issues. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is partnering with Carnegie Corporation of New York in supporting both News 21 and The Carnegie-Knight Task Force. Information about the Initiative can be found on the Corporation’s web site, www.carnegie.org and on the Knight Foundation’s web site, www.knightfdn.org.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” As a grantmaking foundation, the corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie’s vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim “to do real and permanent good in the world.” The Corporation’s capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.9 billion on September 30, 2004. The Corporation awards grants totaling more than $80 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.