Students beginning their pursuit of journalism degrees this semester will follow a different curriculum plan from that of students already enrolled in the program.

According to Dean for Undergraduate Studies Bonnie Brownlee, the changes have three goals.

"The first is that students now will be able to get started in journalism courses right away when they enroll at IU," she said. "The second is that they will have an opportunity to take more classes in journalism and their main area of interest than they could have before. And the third is that the changes provide a little more flexibility in navigating through the degree."

The changes include:

Freshmen now may take J110, J200 or J210, whereas only J110 was available to freshman before this fall.

New students will be required to take 39 credits in journalism compared to the 31 credits current journalism majors must have.

J201 Reporting, Writing and Editing II becomes an elective under the new curriculum whereas it is a required course for students matriculating before this fall. It becomes an advanced elective, along with many other advanced courses devoted to study of a single media area, such as specialized reporting, design or public relations.

Journalism electives increase from six credits to 14.

Requirements in the Social and Historical area have changed slightly.

Adding eight credits to the basic requirements will give students more opportunities to explore a variety of journalism interests or perhaps more thoroughly study one or two areas of media. Brownlee said that current students and alumni sometimes point out that they could not get to the types of classes they really wanted to take until they were nearly finished with their undergraduate
degrees.

This delay also limited their abilities to seek and land internships. With the curriculum changes, students will attain more skills more quickly, qualifying them for internships.

"And we're encouraging students to have more than one internship," Brownlee said, "which should be possible with this curriculum." A freshman who completes J200 and J210, for example, could have a solid resume to submit with an internship application as early as the summer after freshman year.

Current students who may view the new curriculum as preferable to theirs could make a switch, Brownlee said.

"Those students would want to weigh goals for completing their degrees on time versus following a new plan," she said.

The school's advisers, Director of Advising Services Lauren Kinzer and Undergraduate Academic Counselor and Recorder Jean Person, are available to talk though degree plans for new students and current students to be sure all meet their goals.

Curious about the changes? Check out this PDF document that shows that compares the new curriculum and one that guides current journalism students.