Internal Audit and Organizational Recommendation



Internal Audit and

Organizational Recommendation

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Florida International University

Submitted April 1, 2005

Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, Dean

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Florida International University

Table of Contents

Background and Introduction 3

The Process 3

Development of Mission Statement 3

Vision Statement 4

Proposed New Programs 4

Reorganization Analysis 6

Partnership with the College of Business Administration 6

Partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences 7

Recommendation 7

Appendices:

A. SJMC Mission Statement: Revised / Vision Statement 10

B. Bio of Fraser Seitel, Consultant 12

C. Summary of Consultant’s Report 14

D. Current New Program: Global Entrepreneurship Partnership 17

E. Proposed New Programs and Partnerships 19

Master’s Degree in Business Journalism 20

Undergraduate Area of Concentration in Science Journalism 22

Master’s Degree in Hispanic Media Management 24

Joint Undergraduate Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communications 26

Joint Graduate Certificate in Public Relations Management 27

Joint Graduate Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications: 28

Latin American Certification

Internal Audit and Organizational Recommendation

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Florida International University

Background and Introduction

Over the past year, the Florida International University administration has challenged a number of its colleges and schools to

• Identify potential partnerships with other units of the university to promote efficiency of operation and introduce new programs

• Identify opportunities for organizational consolidation with other units of the university to reduce the number of direct reports to Provost Rosenberg

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) at FIU filed an initial report with the Provost on Dec. 1 detailing ways to achieve the objectives stated above. That report emphasized that SJMC should remain free standing and independent of any other school in order to retain and build upon the school’s strong national presence. The faculty’s rationale for this was detailed and it led to the conclusion that the SJMC was not a good fit with either the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Business Administration. However, after consideration of the report, the Provost challenged SJMC to look more closely at its mission, potential partnerships, and the pros and cons of joining with another college. That process is complete, and this report summarizes the results.

The Process

This review is a continuation of the process faculty began in August when a new administration began its work. Specifically, during the Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 semesters, SJMC has

• Examined and rewritten its mission statement

• Hired an external consultant to examine the market position of Advertising and Public Relations and the SJMC, and recommend a specific market niche

• Identified a host of new programs and partnerships which can be created with other units of the university

• Identified the pros and cons of reorganizing under the College of Business Administration and the College of Arts and Sciences

Development of Mission Statement

The first step in the process was the development of a revised mission statement building on the strengths of the previous statement which served us so well over the years. The proposed new mission statement looks to the future with its challenges to the profession for which we prepare students. The faculty reaffirmed that our primary mission was to prepare students to succeed in the professions for which we train them.

Simultaneously, we brought in Fraser Seitel, a recognized expert in image management (see Appendix B), to consult with us on positioning the SJMC in the national market. Seitel identified three major strengths of the program (see Appendix C):

1) A significant Hispanic population as the main composition of the student body

2) A practical orientation of the program

3) A focus on the Miami/South Florida community

Since these strengths were not totally reflected in our originally proposed mission, we modified the mission statement to read:

To graduate broadly educated, critical thinkers, particularly Hispanic-oriented communications professionals, who can understand, decipher and interpret multi-cultural health, social, economic and environmental issues across the globe in general and to the people of the Americas in particular.

Vision Statement

In addition, in concert with the revised mission statement, we crafted a vision statement for the SJMC as follows:

To expand our graduate and professional curricula to include cross-disciplinary multi-cultural, economic, environmental and technological courses. To position our program among the top communication universities in the country generally and the nation’s number one Hispanic-oriented communications program, in particular.

Expanded details of both the revised mission and vision are found in Appendix A.

Proposed New Programs

The next step in the process was to identify new programs to introduce which would accomplish the following:

• Build upon the existing strengths of SJMC

• Promote partnerships with other colleges and schools at FIU

• Reflect the South Florida job market

As previously reported, we have already started to work with the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center (see Appendix D)

Faculty explored and discussed six other new programs. They include the following:

• Master’s Degree in Business Journalism

• Undergraduate Area of Concentration in Science Journalism

• Master’s Degree in Media Management

• Joint Undergraduate Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communications

• Joint Graduate Certificate in Public Relations Management

• Joint Graduate Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications: Latin American Certification

The specific details of these programs are in Appendix E.

While some of these programs are still in the developmental phase, based on the expressed interest of those schools as well as the relative ease of implementation, we anticipate that the following two programs will in place fall 2005:

• Undergraduate Area of Concentration in Science Journalism

• Joint Undergraduate Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communications

Reorganization Analysis

Based on our strengths, proposed partnerships, and internal and external realities, we then analyzed potential reorganizational options:

Partnership With the College of Business Administration

|Pros |Cons |

|External Perceptions |External Perceptions |

|Liaison would put us in the league of top universities: NYU; |Business and journalism have a long history of conflict; in a time of |

|Columbia; Berkeley; Northwestern; UNC/Duke/Fuqua; INSEAD/Wharton; |media consolidation and increased profit pressures, a move to COBA |

|Jönköping International Business School which have programs between |would give the SJMC the appearance of being an arm of business. |

|communications and business. | |

|Would be in line with current newspaper trends showing a move toward |Even NYU; Columbia; Berkeley; Northwestern; UNC/Duke/Fuqua; |

|emphasizing consumer relationships and strengthening the bottom line. |INSEAD/Wharton; and Jönköping International Business School have free |

| |standing journalism schools; journalism has kept its separate |

| |identity. |

|At newspapers, management frequently comes from the business side of |While newspapers ask consumers: ‘What can I do to help you?” |

|the newspaper; entrepreneurialism is “in.” New York Times’ success is|(Sun-Sentinel) the editorial/reporting side remains totally separate |

|consumer orientation: “knowing who the readers are, what they want.” |from the business side of the organization. |

|Growing trend to teach PR in business schools (recent Wall Street| |

|Journal article) . | |

|Major academic organization (American Academy of Advertising: home of | |

|the Journal of Advertising) important to both SJMC and COBA. | |

|Internal Benefits |Internal Realities |

|Team teaching or cross-listing of many of our undergraduate courses. |COBA emphasis on PhDs vs. professional practice track faculty may |

| |prove disadvantageous to SJMC. |

|Can build “business” areas of concentration for undergraduates and |Journalism and Broadcasting faculty/department vigorously object to |

|graduates; will, however, need more courses taught at BBC. |alignment with COBA; they view it as a threat to freedom of the press.|

|Share technological expertise in putting courses on line. |Many business school faculty consider advertising programs “lite” |

| |versions of marketing programs. |

|Share development expertise – many targets overlap: Opportunity for | |

|increased, targeting funding from high-powered media (Univision, | |

|Telemundo, Dow Jones, etc.). | |

|A more important seat at the table in the Kaufman Initiative since | |

|communications are vital in an entrepreneurial setting. | |

|Joint partnering with the Hispanic marketing organizations: Elam has | |

|partnered with the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC); Rose | |

|heads an effort for the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. | |

|Business writing skills – demanded by the business community. | |

Partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences

|Pros |Cons |

|External Perceptions |External Perceptions |

|A number of colleges of arts & sciences have working liaisons with |Arts and sciences programs seen as too philosophical and not practical|

|journalism units in environmental studies: University of California, |or professional by the communications professions for which we train |

|Berkeley; Central Michigan University; Colorado State University; |students. |

|Michigan State University. | |

|40% of accredited programs are housed in liberal arts schools; |Industry perception of being diminished in status by returning to |

|however, half of all accredited programs are free-standing and that |where we began 14 years ago. |

|percentage is increasing every year. | |

| |Hard to justify move backward to accrediting agency; they will |

| |question this. |

|Internal Benefits |Internal Realities |

|SJMC emphasis on writing parallels core curriculum requirements housed|Does not share our professional orientation. |

|in A&S. | |

|SJMC emphasis on creativity parallels the artistic and creative |Faculty & university perception of going backward – from whence we |

|aspects of A&S in photography, theater, visual arts, etc. |came. |

|Possible programs: Area of concentration in science journalism: either|A&S still undergoing its own re-organization and not sure of final |

|environmental studies or health issues |organization. |

|Emphasis on global communications and Spanish-language journalism ties|Many A&S faculty deride journalism programs as “trade schools” or |

|with political science. |“vocational” programs that have no real place in the academy. |

| |A&S is a very large unit and we would lose any sense of strength of |

| |our own program and faculty; faculty would be lost. |

| |Do not have much affinity with many of the disciplines represented |

| |there other than as general background requirements. |

| |Some SJMC faculty against being assimilated by Arts and Sciences. |

Recommendation

Based on SJMC’s mission, vision, and strengths, we plan to:

• Position SJMC as the nation’s leading training ground for Hispanic-oriented professionals, both in the United States and the Americas.

Rationale: (1) Capitalizes on FIU’s greatest strength, i.e., its Hispanic population, and the nation’s and the communications professions’ greatest need, i.e., the necessity of understanding, reaching, and influencing the nation’s single largest minority through culturally-sensitive journalism, advertising and public relations. (2) Capitalizes on FIU’s close ties with Latin American countries and the need in those countries for theoretically-and technically-proficient communications practitioners; (3) Seizes a unique leadership position in the nation, before others similarly “equipped” do so, e.g., University of Miami, San Diego State, University of Texas, USC, etc.

• Position SJMC as a learning center for “strategic” communications.

Rationale: The practice of modern communications in all forms is a combination of two aspects: first, the “practical,” consisting of the skills requisite for each of the professions, and, second, the “philosophical,” consisting of the judgmental ethical and legal underpinnings of the professions for which we prepare students. More encompassing – and more beneficial in the real world – would be to position the program as “strategic,” emphasizing both the theoretical and practical.

• Position SJMC as a Miami/South Florida-centric provider of well-trained communications professionals.

Rationale: As noted, the vast majority of graduates remain in the South Florida area. Ties between SJMC and local organizations are strong. This bond can be strengthened even further, largely through heightened integration with existing campus resources that cater to the unique needs of this part of the world.

While the Hispanic-oriented, South Florida-centric portion of the positioning might blend with other colleges, the professional strategic communications element will not. If we are to have a viable, meaningful position within both the national academic community and the communications industries, we cannot compromise either the independence of the news gatherers or our professional orientation. An independent and free press has been at the heart of democracy since the Age of Enlightenment. The press is the organ that gathers news and information in the public interest and helps foster group discussion and group decision-making, which are also at the heart of a democracy. We live in a time when media consolidations have placed news gathering in the hands of few corporate entities, with the effect of limiting the range and thoroughness of American reporting, investigative and otherwise. We are also in an age when a presidential administration has aggressively used the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report, a favorite tool of major corporations, to distribute and “market” policy objectives, such as regime change or Medicare reform, blurring the line between reportage and commercial advertising.

Thus, the idea of being aligned or under the aegis of the business school—especially coming from a free-standing status – could create the perception that the journalism and broadcasting department is an arm of business, charged with producing students who are being prepared to report and write in the service of corporate entities instead of the public interest.

Likewise, the College of Arts and Sciences is not professionally oriented. Although there are a few disciplines which attempt to mirror the creativity found in SJMC, they do not support the professional training in concert with strategic thinking. Indeed, the advertising and professional communities view their job as business oriented and hire a number of business school graduates. More importantly, however, the SJMC was accredited by ACEJMC in 1991 when the full expectation and university commitment that we would become free-standing, and we did upon being accredited. To return to the CA&S would signal to our accrediting body that there is a lack of direct university support and communication and jeopardize our reaccreditation.

As a point of context, Drake University recently placed its journalism school into its College of Business. Their accrediting site visit team found them deficient in the standards covering “governance” and “finances” because of this change and recommended they not be reaccredited. If the SJMC becomes part of another unit, there will be a loss of autonomy and diffused decision-making, which will directly impact the “governance” and “finances” standards of the accrediting agency.

Even within our own state, the trend is toward free-standing schools. The Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida, which has over 2000 students enrolled in its program, is preparing to go free-standing in the near future.

With regard to the “finances” standard, and to cost savings if SJMC joins with another school/college, as you once mentioned, we have had minimal budget enhancements over the last half dozen or so years, yet our enrollments have steadily increased. For example, for spring ’05, undergraduate enrollment is up 6% and graduate, 16.9%. We run an efficient operation, lean, in fact. And now that we are beginning a fund-raising phase, we can anticipate additional private-based revenue to support expanded programming. So economically it would not generate financial savings for the university for us to become part of another school/college as versus remaining free-standing.

The academic discipline of communication studies human behavior, interaction, activity, and cultural phenomena in mediated and non-mediated interpersonal, group, and social settings. It ranges across individual action, social processes, organizational behavior, and industrial structures. The field focuses on how people use messages to generate meaning within and across various contexts, cultures, texts and media. It encompasses studies of private and public, as well as interpersonal and mass communication.

The reality is still that neither CA&S nor COBA is an appropriate umbrella for the school and for the study of communications as a discipline. While partnering with both schools will be vital to our plans for future expansion and the development of specialized programs, we believe that the preservation of the SJMC’s autonomy is critical for our academic and professional credibility. We have a strong national program. Nothing should be done to diminish that status.

APPENDIX A

|SJMC MISSION STATEMENT: REVISED |

| |

|The School of Journalism and Mass Communication advances the university’s mission of teaching, research and service by the following: |

| |

|1. Providing a supportive student learning environment for the basic skills necessary to meet professional requirements of communication in a |

|multi-cultural world through journalism, advertising, public relations, television, and emerging media; this includes oral and written |

|communication skills and the ability to work in a team environment; |

| |

|2. Assuring that our students understand the social, ethical, economic, philosophical, and political aspects of the communication professions|

|in the diverse U.S. and international markets; |

| |

|3. Graduating students who are a) broadly educated, demonstrated by a grasp of the liberal arts, with an appreciation of the value of |

|wide-ranging knowledge including some comprehension of a specific field outside of communication b) knowledgeable about the theory and |

|practice of communications, with an emphasis on writing skills and c) specifically proficient in Hispanic-oriented communications in the U.S. |

|and the Americas. |

| |

|4. Producing alumni who can interpret the complexities of the modern world and, using multiple communications techniques, effectively |

|communicate this information to targeted audiences, particularly Hispanic-oriented publics in the U.S. and the Americas. |

| |

|5. Providing professional training in communication for both the local and international communities, with a particular emphasis in training |

|communications students of the Americas. |

|THE SJMC MIRRORS THE UNIVERSITY’S VISION AS A |

|Top |To be recognized in national rankings and reputation as a professionally-oriented school of journalism and |

| |mass communication, among the top communication universities in the country generally and the nation’s number |

| |one Hispanic-oriented communications program, in particular. |

|Urban |To respond to the professional communications needs of the South Florida |

| |metropolitan area. |

|Public |To be known as the premier academic program for providing Hispanic-oriented |

| |communications professionals to the communications industries of South Florida |

| |and the Americas. |

|Research |To enhance FIU’s reputation in discipline-related research, creative |

| |and professional publication or works. |

|University |To be an integral part of the overall university by working with other schools and disciplines, including in |

| |offering inter-disciplinary courses, to the benefit of our students. |

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

Summary of Consultant’s Report: Positioning Integrated Communications: Advertising and Public Relations in FIU’s School of Journalism & Mass Communications

By Fraser Seitel

SJMC’s Unique Strengths

Significant Hispanic Population

FIU’s student body is 60% Hispanic. Students come to FIU from throughout Latin America – Cubans, Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans, Columbian, Brazilians, Argentineans, etc. This Hispanic orientation is a clear and differentiable strength, in the nation generally and in the public relations and communications profession in particular.

In the U.S., the Latino population is growing three times faster than the rest of the country. Currently around 38 million, by 2050 Latinos will comprise one-third of the U.S. population, nearly 100 million people. Latinos will soon be the nation’s most prominent minority group.

Reaching this growing population is a challenge to every U.S. entity that sells a product or offers a service. Since 1980, the number of Spanish-language radio stations in the U.S. has increased five fold. The number of Spanish-language TV stations numbers 100, and there are 350 Spanish-language periodicals.

No wonder, then, that the practice of public relations has redoubled its diversity efforts, particularly to attract Spanish-speaking practitioners conversant with this expanding Latino market. As SJMC has found with its graduates, “Recruiters want Hispanic professionals.” The composition of the study body, then, is a unique strength for SJMC.

Practical Orientation

The hallmark of SJMC has, from its inception as a stand-alone school, been its practical training. Its emphasis on writing -- in a world where writing skills even among communications professionals are abysmal -- is exemplary. Its core curricula, while including theoretical and research training, is heavily weighted toward the practical. And the school’s professors offer a strong experience-based background in communications work.

This practical orientation is another clear strength for SJMC.

Miami Community Focus

The school’s ties to the Miami community also serve as a unique strength.

Where competitor institutions have to struggle to place students as interns in area organizations, SJMC has no such problem. Even with 75-80 SJMC interns, there are still three times as many internship positions available as there are students to fill them. Other schools would salivate at such a situation.

Upwards of 90% of FIU graduates remain in the Miami vicinity. SJMC alumni are employed by the area’s major communications companies, including the Miami Herald, Univision and Telemundo.

Indeed, Miami has become an Hispanic communications hub, not only in serving the local community but also as a gateway to Latin America. For example, many leading advertising and public relations agencies locate their Latin American headquarters in Miami. In addition, growing Miami industries, such as hospitality, fashion and sports, depend on effective communications and, therefore, have great needs for skilled advertising and public relations practitioners.

Recommendations: Positioning

Toward that end, SJMC should consider adopting three positioning recommendations.

• Position SJMC as the nation’s leading training ground for Hispanic-oriented professionals, in the United States and the Americas.

Rationale: (1) Capitalizes on FIU’s greatest strength, i.e. its Hispanic population, and the nation’s and the public relations field’s greatest need, i.e. the necessity of understanding, reaching, and influencing the nation’s single largest minority. (2) Capitalizes on FIU’s close ties with Latin American countries and the need in those countries for theoretically-and technically-proficient communications practitioners. (3) Seizes a unique leadership position in the nation, before others similarly “equipped,” do so, e.g., University of Miami, San Diego State, University of Texas, USC, etc.

• Position SJMC as a learning center for “strategic” communications.

Rationale: Modern communications’ practice is a combination of two aspects: first, the “practical,” consisting of the skills requisite for integrated marketing, promotion and publicity and second, the “philosophical,” consisting of the judgmental underpinnings. More encompassing – and more beneficial in the real world – would be to position the program as “strategic,” to include both the theoretical and practical.

• Position SJMC as a Miami-centric provider of capable communications professionals.

Rationale: As noted, the vast majority of graduates remain in Miami. Ties between SJMC and local organizations are strong. This bond should be strengthened even further, largely through heightened integration with existing campus resources that cater to Miami’s unique needs.

In sum, by establishing, both programmatically and perceptually, SJMC’s program as being 1) Hispanic-oriented 2) strategic and 3) Miami-centric – FIU will separate itself from the vast majority of competitive schools and position itself as a unique leader in the instruction of communications.

APPENDIX D

Global Entrepreneurship Partnership

Rationale

The Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center facilitates all entrepreneurial activities at FIU. The center plans to provide campus-wide awareness of entrepreneurship as an approach to life that enhances and transcends traditional academic experiences. The center’s guiding principles are to enhance the economic well-being of the community, encourage the development and sharing of wealth with those who helped produce it, and build a sustainable community of lifelong learners.

One of the main pillars of the entrepreneurial program is education through formal courses and informal activities at FIU on both the graduate and undergraduate levels on the special issues facing entrepreneurial enterprises. Current course in the overall curriculum include courses from business and history. Graduate courses include MAN 6805 - Entrepreneurship cross-listed with EIN 6324 - Technology Entrepreneurship; GEB 6116 - Advanced Business Plan Development; MAN 6038 - Family Owned Businesses; FIN 6936 - Special Topics in Finance – Entrepreneurship; and AMH 5935 - Topics in American History - Technology & American Society.

As communicators, we believe that promotional activities are vital for most entrepreneurs and thus have joined forces with the center to add our expertise to the totality of the FIU effort. Indeed, their BBC director will be housed within the SJMC.

Type of Program

The SJMC has already agreed to contribute to this body of educational knowledge by including its graduate courses in Integrated Communications: Account Planning (currently PUR 5806, to be renumbered and renamed as Strategic Communications Planning) and PUR 5607: Advertising & Public Relations Management (to be renumbered). Both will be fine-tuned to be pertinent to cross discipline studies in entrepreneurship.

Courses

Graduate: In addition to the above two courses, SJMC has already committed to accept a new entrepreneurial course, Starting and Managing your Professional Practice, as appropriate for our graduate students.

Undergraduate: In addition to recommending that our students take a concentration in Entrepreneurship for Non-Business Students, we are also looking at adding specific entrepreneurial courses at the undergraduate level, to be included in the university-wide curriculum. Although these courses would be initially covered under MMC 4930 – Integrated Communication Seminar or MMC 4936 – Special Topics, they would evolve into separate courses.

One possibility is our current Seminar on Media Management; the other is a new course being considered on Experiential Entrepreneurship.

APPENDIX E

Master’s Degree in Business Journalism

Rationale

Business and the economy are becoming more and more important to the American public. Whether it's the scandal on Wall Street, lawsuits against students who download songs, the future of Social Security, or battles over opening pristine nature preserves to oil drilling, it's clear that business is the exciting story that news organizations have to cover. In addition to seminars put on by Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and some major academic institutions, the Dow Jones organization is investing heavily in this area. Not only have they just awarded a summer grant to New York University to train minority college sophomores and juniors, they have also just hired, as the new president of their Newspaper Fund, the gentleman who spearheaded the endowment of a chair in business and financial journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. They believe that most journalism schools do not place a great emphasis on business reporting courses.

The following top universities now offer degrees or seminars in business journalism: NYU; Columbia; Berkeley; Northwestern; UNC/Duke/Fuqua; INSEAD/Wharton; Jönköping International Business School.

Equally important, most U.S. newspapers have small numbers of minority journalists and editors. This is especially true for business sections. “Minority business reporters and editors are rare,” said Earle Eldridge, a business reporter at USA Today. “They are not fairly represented in the field and that makes it challenging to get stories of relevance to minority business owners.” Out of 559 members of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) who chose to state their ethnicity, only 60 were minorities. SABEW has a total of 3,419 members. Obviously, one of FIU’s strengths is our vast minority student body

A future hire of a journalist with experience in business journalism will be vital to the development of this degree.

Curriculum

The configuration of the degree would combine the following course:

Current SJMC Courses

1. JOU 5193 -Thinking Like A Writer, I

2. JOU-6185 -Covering the City, l

3. JOU 6186 - Covering the City, II

4. JOU 6118 - Investigative Reporting Techniques

5. JOU 6119 - Advanced Print News Reporting

Current COBA Courses

6. ACG 6026 - Accounting for Managers

7. BUL 6830 – Survey of Business Law

8. ECP 6705 – Managerial Economics

9. FIN 5XXX – Financial Markets and Analysis

10. MAN 5782 – Managing in the 21st Century

11. MAN 6066 - Business Ethics

12. MMC6950 – Professional Project

To Be Developed

The journalism department will develop the following course: “Covering Business”

Level of Interest

Initial conversations with Dean Elam spurred interest. Conversations continue with Jose de la Torre and some of his faculty.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Fall 2006

UNDERGRADUATE AREA OF CONCENTRATION IN SCIENCE JOURNALISM

Rationale

The basic premise of an undergraduate science journalism concentration is to expand upon the journalist's focus on getting "the story" and explore science more deeply and broadly learning the history of a field and understanding how scientists pursue their work. Our classes would be devoted to the craft of science writing and issues involving interactions between science and society. The concentration would help young journalists develop experience in the coverage of science—including health and the environment—as well as stay up-to-date on current research.

Science journalists can take courses in reporting and science and investigate how good science can go bad. Since South Florida is one of the largest health centers in the United States and has one of the two largest retirement communities in the country as well as a huge population of poor immigrants with serious health issues, the area is vulnerable to medical and scientific fraud and malfeasance by industry and government. Relationships between industry and science (such as in the pharmaceutical industry) often create conflicts of interest. Political leaders stack scientific panels or cite research findings with self-interested selectivity, and the people who decide public policy often make ill-informed choices. So, science reporters should do more than just translate scientific jargon. They should apply the tools of investigative journalism by probing deeper, asking tougher questions and sometimes following the money.

Courses

Students would choose 12-15 credits from a prescribed list. Potential courses would include the following:

For students who want to report on global warming, sustainable resource development, population and environmental issues or other aspects of environmental studies, the following courses could be required:

EVR 1001 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

EVR 4352 U.S. Environmental Policy

EVR 4411 Human Organizations and Ecosystem Management

EVR 4415 Population and Environmental Issues

EVR 4321 Sustainable Resource Development

PCB Everglades Research and Resources

For students who want to specialize in health issues, such as the above mentioned relationship between politics, industry and the public, the following courses could be required:

CHM 1032 Chemistry and Society

BSC 1010 General Biology 1

BSC 2023 Human Biology

BOT 5852 Medical Botany

HAS 4159 People, Power and Politics in Health Care

Special Topics courses might include a combined course teaching the business of science; this course would be particularly appropriate for students who want to study the relationship between politics, the pharmaceutical business and the consumer. Another might cover the emergence of integrative medicine (also known as alternative or complementary medicine); the course would focus on the alternative therapy industry and its integration into the conventional medical world.

The SJMC could also develop a specialized course in science writing.

Level of Interest

This program was discussed with Joyce Peterson of the College of Arts and Sciences and was favorably received.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Fall 2005

Master’s Degree in hispanic Media Management

Rationale

There are a number of media management programs available from several top tier universities in the United States such as Syracuse, Missouri, Tennessee, and Northwestern. Many news media executives who speak English attend these universities. However, there are very few graduate programs in news media management taught entirely in Spanish in Latin America or Spain and none in the United States.

Our niche is the delivery of a program in Spanish, tailored for Latin America and for the Hispanic media market in the United States. Such a program in conjunction with our College of Business Administration would include an emphasis on how good journalism is done and demonstration of the economic truth that good journalism is good business. Students who have completed relevant programs in journalism (print or broadcast) can petition to be excused from taking up to six credits, thus reducing the additional credits to be taken for degree completion to 30. There should be a strong emphasis on newsroom convergence and on how technology is changing the media business almost daily.

There could be several models. One would be a one-year track similar to our Spanish-language journalism master’s but shooting for a cohort rather than mid-stream admissions. A cohort would give us easier handling of such things as internship placement. A good model might be similar to what COBA does with its International Master’s in Business Administration (IMBA). This requires 42 credits over a 12-month period. This would include an internship.

Revenue

Almost all newspapers and most radio and television stations in Latin America are still family-owned enterprises, although ownership by corporate conglomerates is spreading, especially in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the United States. Many of the general managers and publishers of today have been educated outside their home countries. Some have attended the most prestigious business schools in the world. We can reach those who would rather study in Spanish than in English, particularly if we are able to regionalize the economics and business classes so that they are pertinent to the situation in their home countries. Additional revenue could be generated from sponsored-credit and on-line classes which may not generate FTEs but which would produce money to pay for FTE-generating scholarships.

We have traditionally been hampered because the low salaries paid to journalists in Latin America make it impossible for most journalists to even meet our in-state graduate tuition rates. But this media management program is aimed at a higher income group who can afford graduate education, who recognize the benefit of graduate education and who can afford to pay out-of-state tuition rates. Many of those in the potential student pools already have U.S. visas. Some may have already qualified for entrance into U.S. graduate schools.

COBA has been very successful marketing its graduate programs internationally with traditional classroom education being supplemented by on-line and video conferencing.

Courses

These are the proposed courses for the master’s in Spanish -Language Media Management:

|MMC 6635 - Contemporary Issues in Mass Communication |3 |

|PUR 5607 - Advertising & Public Relations Management |3 |

|JOU ???? - Understanding the Media and its Content (New Course)Or it might be the Role of|3 |

|the Media | |

|JOU???? - International Broadcast and Press Law (New Course) |3 |

|JOU 6193 Thinking Like a Writer |3 |

|MAR 6805 Marketing Management in Global Economy |3 |

|FIN 6428 Financial Management in the Global Economy |3 |

|Accounting for Managers Workshop |3 |

|MAN 6726 Strategic Management |3 |

|MAR 6816 Corporate Simulation |3 |

|MAN 6356/57/58 Leadership and Ethics Seminar |3 |

|Internship |3 |

|JOU???? - Convergent Media Technologies (new course) |3 |

|JOU???? - Managing a Newsroom (new course) |3 |

| |42 |

Level of Interest

COBA is very interested. A meeting is scheduled next week with Toni Mandakovic to further discuss details.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Spring 2006

Joint Undergraduate Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communications

Rationale

The tourism industry is one of the largest industries in South Florida. The size and scope of this industry is driving a need for communications professionals with knowledge of the unique characteristics of communications programs to support tourism-related businesses.

Program Components

The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management currently has a 15-credit certificate program called the Hospitality Studies Certificate that allows students to design their own program “cafeteria style.” This certificate is open to both degree and non-degree seeking students. The latter serves currently-practicing professionals looking to strengthen their skills.

Based on this idea and using already-existing classes in both schools, a “menu” of six to nine courses toward a Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communication could be offered, allowing students to choose the courses in which they were most interested. An area perceived as weak in the HTM curriculum is writing. In addition, the introductory courses of ADV 3000 and PUR 3000 would provide HTM students with a broad foundation for communications work in the tourism industry.

Three courses appropriate to offer from HTM include:

• HFT 3770 Cruise Line Operation and Management

• HFT 3600 Hospitality Industry Law

• HFT 3760 Tourism Transport Systems

None of the above has prerequisites.

The three courses from SJMC include:

• PUR 3000 Introduction to Public Relations

• ADV 3000 Introduction to Advertising

• PUR 4100 Public Relations Writing

Level of Interest

The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has indicated that it is very receptive to the idea of a Certificate in Tourism Marketing Communications.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Fall 2005

Joint Graduate Certificate in Public Relations Management

Rationale

A study to identify currently-available coursework in public relations/reputation management in the curricula at leading U.S. MBA programs was recently conducted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in cooperation with the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. That study concluded that MBA students are receiving little if any preparation on how to manage corporate reputation issues. At the same time, a 2004 survey conducted by Hill & Knowlton shows CEOs consider reputation management to be an important factor in business success.

Program Components

These factors support a joint College of Business Administration/School of Journalism and Mass Communications Certificate in Public Relations Management to be developed at the graduate level. From the existing Integrated Communications: Advertising and Public Relations (ICAP) program, the following courses would be appropriate:

• PUR 5607 Advertising and Public Relations Management

• PUR 5806 Account Planning

• MMC 6402 Theories of Mass Communication

• PUR 6935 Advanced Integrated Communications Seminar

From the existing Master’s in Business Administration program, the following courses would be appropriate:

• MAN 6066 Business Ethics

• MAN 6295 Conflict in Organizations

• MAN 6297 Labor Issues and Conflict Management

• MAN 6446 Negotiations

• MAN 6608 International Business

• MAN 6706 Crisis Management

Level of Interest

COBA is currently very interested and a meeting is set for April 1 to refine the proposal.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Spring 2006

Joint Graduate Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications: Latin American Certification

Rationale

The global economy has forced the need for culturally-sophisticated, internationally-literate communications professionals. These professionals, typically hired by multi-national corporations or agencies operating in offshore locations around the globe, must know how to assimilate into a culture and develop communications strategies and programs appropriate to the populations they are trying to reach. With its strong ties to Latin America, SJMC is ideally suited to offer a unique certificate concentrating on Latin American-based IMC programs and practices.

Program Components

The Department of International Relations and the SJMC can jointly offer a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications with a regional certification in Latin America. Borrowing on a model already in existence in the Department of International Relations, and using already-existing classes in both schools, a “menu” of six to nine courses toward a certificate could be offered to choose from, allowing students to select the courses in which they were most interested.

From the existing Integrated Communications: Advertising and Public Relations (ICAP) program, the following courses would be appropriate:

• PUR 5607 Advertising and Public Relations Management

• PUR 5806 Account Planning

• MMC 6402 Theories of Mass Communication

• PUR 6935 Advanced Integrated Communications Seminar

From the existing International Relations Program, the following courses would be appropriate:

• INR 6209 Comparative Foreign Policy of Latin America

• INR 6604 International Relations Theory

• INR 6606 Political Psychology of International Relations

• INR 6609 Dynamics of International Relations in the 20th Century

• Current selections from the Latin American and Caribbean Center

If this model is successful, additional regional certifications could be pursued.

Level of Interest

This program has been forwarded to the Department of International Relations for review, and feedback has been requested.

Anticipated Time for Implementation: Spring 2006

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