Candace Bowen, Director of the Center for Scholastic Media, speaks about the new JMC master's for journalism educators

JMC adds options for PR, scholastic journalism, online

In a field where there is debate on even needing a bachelor's degree, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication is constantly developing its journalism master's program.

The value of a master's degree in the professional world is "immeasurable," said Evonne Whitmore, associate professor and graduate studies coordinator.

"A bachelor's degree is what a high school diploma used to be," she said.

The grad program offers news managers and other professionals the opportunity to work with students who just graduated from a journalism school.

"They would be working side by side with the next generation of workers," she said.

Whitmore is developing a course in media convergence for the graduate and undergraduate level. She is also the first point of contact for anyone seeking a graduate degree.

Whitmore said most of the students in the grad program are working professionals. She said they recognize that a master’s degree will help them advance in their careers.

"We have a professional program that is hands-on," she said. "You can add to the toolbox of stuff you already know."

Online courses
To meet the needs of out-of-state students and students with full-time jobs in the journalism educator concentration, the School began offering online courses. The plan now is to offer the entire program online.

"It's for high school publication advisers or people who think they want to be high school publication advisers," adjunct professor John Bowen said.

The online program started out as just an online course a few years ago, he said. It has two components: working on the weekly assignments at the student's own pace and a weekly online chat.

The weekly schedule allows students to go at their own pace, he said, letting them work around their jobs. The online aspect lets students from anywhere take the courses as if they were actually sitting in the classroom.
Bowen, who will teach the online version of the Legal Problems course, said the weekly chat will let students ask questions and hold discussions. This helps make up for the missing physical presence of classmates and instructor.

Another draw to the program is no other university offers the same opportunity.

Unique Program

"To our knowledge, there are two universities that have one or two classes available: Eastern Illinois and Rutgers," said Candace Perkins Bowen, director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism.

The University of Missouri offers a master's degree as well, but she said it's taught through the College of Education under an English component.

Because the online master's program is ever developing, Perkins Bowen said the School rolls out a couple new online classes a semester.

Jim Gaudino, dean of the College of Communication and Information, said the online journalism programs fit in perfectly with the university's online learning goals. It reaches students who aren't physically here, and it delivers education to those who can't make it to campus for the classes.

The online courses show a shift in the delivery of education, he said.

"There's a growing expectation that content should be more conveniently located and scheduled from a consumer point-of-view," he said.

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