<p>This article indicates there are a number of problems in the journalism dept mostly stemming from the leadership. It indicates there is speculation the journalism dept may be on the chopping block, although the administration is not validating that. </p>
<p>Does anyone know how much of this is true? and how much of a concern this should be for someone considering journalism at cal poly? Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m a second year journalism major. I highly doubt they will cut the program completely, however, it certainly is not doing too well right now and I wouldn’t chose Cal Poly for journalism unless your really, really love other aspects of the school (location, cost, etc.) Right now we don’t have a broadcast professor, one of our two PR professors left, and at least one other tenured professor is leaving this year. They won’t give us details as to why our department head was fired and why now we are without a department chair when we need one the most. The department was accredited for a fairly short time about ten years ago, but lost its accreditation and can’t seem to get it back, partially because the faculty does not seem to get along well and can’t agree on how to run the department. This means journalism does not get much funding. </p>
<p>I’ve noticed that in general, the liberal arts type classes (journalism, comms, english, etc) tend to be held in the old buildings that don’t have the same resources as the more technical majors. By this I mean even simple things, like properly working TV’s or projectors in the rooms. The rooms themselves look old, but not in a good way. Cal Poly is definitely a polytechnic school. </p>
<p>Apparently, they are working on hiring four-five new journalism teachers and I guess finding a new department chair. The liberal arts dean told us that their mission over the next two years or so is to hire new faculty and revitalize the journalism department. Which is good for students who will be going to school here four years from now (if they really do manage to improve the department), but not so good for students who are here now and not exactly having the best journalism education experience possible. </p>
<p>So if you really have your heart set on Cal Poly and feel like this is truly the place for you and you wouldn’t be as happy anyplace else, then I guess I could understand if you still wanted to go here. But you’re only considering it, then I’d suggest looking at other schools’ programs and comparing them to Poly’s to see how they stack up.</p>