Accrediting meeting

This Monday, February 4, I attended the accreditation meeting with five other public relations students. The meeting itself was held very casually as an open discussion and all in all was a pleasant experience.

As a fifth year student at SJSU, public relations was actually my third major. Through having experience in other departments I have truly seen the unique features special to the department of Journalism and Mass Communications. The department is very close knit and the students as well as faculty really have many opportunities to interact and know one another.

As well, I feel it is extremely beneficial to have a public relations major in the same department as journalism. There are many programs that incorporate public relations with business departments or communication studies. Through working with journalism students, and through writing pieces in journalism courses it really allows public relations students to be exposed to the life and working style of journalists. Along with exposure to journalism, exposure to other areas such as marketing and advertising also help us to progress in the field.

All of the points above were discussed in the meeting, and all of the students seemed to agree with them.

It was refreshing to hear the other public relations students as satisfied with the major and department as I have been. One aspect of the conversation that I appreciated was regarding the JMC faculty. Overall, it seemed as though the students really have an appreciation for the faculty within the department and feel comfortable approaching them with issues and concerns. In particular, the students in my session specifically pointed out Dr. Martinelli's dedication to the students and willingness to mentor and help as much as possible. Thanks Dr. Martinelli!

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