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Dale Cressman Elected ACEJMC Vice President

BYU School of Communications professor Dale Cressman was elected vice president of an international accreditation group for journalism and mass communications.

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Professor Dale Cressman was elected vice president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).

School of Communications professor Dale Cressman was elected as the vice president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) on April 26. Cressman has worked with the organization since 2011 and appreciates the ethics it emphasizes in the specific fields of study.

“ACEJMC is a great champion for free speech and diversity,” said Cressman. “It practices what it preaches, operating under the same values it expects of academic units.”

ACEJMC accreditation is regarded as the premier standard of program quality in the discipline. Currently, 115 journalism and mass communications programs at universities throughout the United States, Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have full accreditation status.

The BYU School of Communications has been ACEJMC accredited since 1984.

ACEJMC accredited schools are evaluated every six years to ensure continuous certification.

As part of the review, faculty members write a self-study to explain how their program successfully met the Standards of Accreditation. A site team from ACEJMC then examines the school’s program and recommends reaccreditation or revocation to the Accrediting Committee, who then gives a recommendation to the governing Accrediting Council. This governing council — made up of professional communications organizations and members of the public — makes the final decision regarding the accreditation of the school.

“Accreditation is a rigorous process,” said Cressman, who started in ACEJMC as a site team member. “It is time consuming, but well worth being accredited, as it tells students, parents, administrators and peers that we meet common standards in our discipline.”

Earlier this year, Cressman was named to the council’s Standards Review Committee, which reviews and amends the ACEJMC’s Standards of Accreditation every ten years. Cressman became a member of the governing Accrediting Council of ACEJMC in October 2017 when the American Journalism Historians Association appointed him as their representative.

Additionally, Cressman is currently the BYU School of Communications’ associate director for student learning, which gives him responsibility over diversity initiatives and assessments of student learning within the program.

“At BYU we don’t aspire to leadership positions, but are occasionally asked to serve our colleagues and students,” said Cressman. “It so happens that I’ve been asked to assist with an area I’m passionate about — promoting diversity.”