Group cites diversity issues in downgrading UNC-CH journalism school’s accreditation status
The national accreditation group for UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media voted to downgrade the school’s accreditation status to “provisional” following a routine review.
The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) made the decision after UNC-CH’s failure to meet diversity and inclusion standards. The vote was 7-5, with multiple recusals for conflicts of interest for individuals with ties to UNC.
Peter Bhatia, president of the accreditation council, said the conversation during the meeting centered a great deal around the way journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones was treated during her hiring and tenure appointment and the diversity issues raised in the accreditation team’s report last fall.
“It’s a really fine journalism school in so many ways, but clearly there are some issues here that need to be fixed,” Bhatia told The News & Observer.
The accreditation team visited the campus in October 2021, following the national controversy surrounding the tenure appointment for Hannah-Jones and concerns about race, politics, academic freedom and donor influence in the journalism school. While the program will keep its accreditation, the council’s vote shows the significance of diversity issues in the university’s educational environment, particularly for people of color.
Friday’s vote came a day after a national faculty group published a report about violations of standards of shared governance, threats to academic freedom and institutional racism across the UNC System that highlighted critical issues at UNC-CH and its journalism school.
Diversity issues at UNC
The ACEJMC is the national organization that evaluates journalism and mass communication programs every six years. Its site visit was postponed to last fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ACEJMC Council has included a diversity standard in its program reviews since 1985 and upped those expectations in August 2021 with a Resolution on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice.
During the site visit last fall, some faculty members told the team the atmosphere wasn’t as inclusive as they’d like it to be, and students said they didn’t feel the school was committed enough to diversity in their experience and teaching.
The issues raised in October’s report were not directly related to Hannah-Jones or Walter Hussman, the school’s top donor and namesake, Bhatia said.
Bhatia, who was also the team lead for the campus visit, said their job is not to accredit the university’s administration or fundraising departments, and their report is based on the quality of the education, including the atmosphere of the school.
‘Unexpected’ outcome
Heidi Hennink-Kaminski, interim dean of the journalism school, could not be reached for comment Monday. But she shed light on the process Sunday in an email to faculty and staff.
She explained that the university typically will get a letter with details of the deficiencies and the process for reconsideration about two to three weeks after the group’s council meets to review those reports. She asked faculty and staff to treat the information as “preliminary” and wait for more clarity on the issue before “drawing conclusions or making public statements.”
Hennink-Kaminski said she’s seeking more information and potential actions the school can take regarding this “unexpected” outcome. The university could get “official notification” from the ACEJMC Accrediting Council by Wednesday morning, she said.
The school can appeal the decision through the accreditation council.
Last fall, the accrediting team recommended reaccreditation, despite finding the school out of compliance with diversity and inclusiveness standards, according to Hennink-Kaminski. That team’s recommendation was then affirmed by a unanimous 12-0-0 vote by the ACEJMC Accrediting Committee in March before being sent to the full council for review, she said.
The Hussman School faculty and staff plan to meet virtually Wednesday morning to talk about the accreditation issue.
The school created the Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee as part of its strategic plan and to help meet ACEJMC’s standards.
“My hope is that the Accrediting Council’s decision will not undermine the significant strides or slow the momentum that our ABIDE committee and our community are making,” Hennink-Kaminski wrote. “We know we have more work to do.”
Much discussion about diversity
Bhatia said there’s been a lot of discussion at the council over the past year about diversity in higher education across the board, including curriculum and faculty composition.
The council passed a diversity and inclusion resolution holding itself and schools more responsible, making the diversity standard tougher than it was in previous years, Bhatia said.
This year, 31 schools were up for accreditation, and Kent State University was also placed on provisional status for diversity issues.
UNC’s journalism program will remain accredited, and the school has two years to resolve the problems. Another team will visit campus then, and the school will go through the same process again.
Bhatia said he’s certain the school will address the issues under the leadership of its incoming dean Raul Reis.
This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 3:16 PM.
