Students at the University of Colorado can still achieve their journalism dreams through the Journalism Plus Program.
On June 30, journalist hopefuls saw the School of Journalism and Mass Communication officially close its doors. However, the Journalism Plus Program will allow students to achieve journalism education by completing a double degree.
(CU Independent/Greg O'Brien)
There has been confusion as to whether the program is a double major program or a double degree program. The program is a double degree, not a double major. The journalism program will not be in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Students will be able to double-major and be a part of the Journalism Plus Program. Participants will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in journalism and a Bachelor of Art in whichever major they choose within arts and sciences.
Steve Jones, the assistant dean of the journalism school, answered Journalism Plus candidates’ questions this past week. Jones said that the student response has been positive thus far.
“Even under discontinuance and not knowing what we would be after this fall, we still had about the same number of pre-journalism students coming to CU this semester as we did last year,” Jones said.
The program seeks to make CU students more competitive by requiring a degree within the College of Arts and Sciences. Suggested second majors include history, art, political science or English.
Chris Tetreault, an 18-year-old freshman mass communications and pre-journalism major, is participating in the Journalism Plus Program.
“I was really worried about the school closing because I really wanted to major in journalism, but now the school of journalism is a degree-granting major due to coordinating with the regents,” Tetreault said.
Ryan Patterson, an 18-year-old freshman open-option major, planned on applying to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication when he applied to CU last fall. He is not part of the Journalism Plus Program.
“I decided not to apply for the Journalism Plus Program because I wanted a certificate from an actual journalism school,” Patterson said. “I plan on majoring in business because you can do pretty much anything with a business degree, even if I decide I still want to do journalism or go to law school. I’m also interested in math, and business works better for math.”
The Journalism Plus Program officially begins spring 2012. The program is considered an interim program currently. The Board of Regents is discussing the possibility of a new college being created to accommodate the journalism degrees.
Question and answer sessions are being held on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Armory 218 and Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Armory 206A.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Mahala Proch at mahala.proch@colorado.edu.
