Enrollment swells in print, photo programs

By KRISTI ALBERTSON
J-School Web reporter

photo by Sarah Galbraith

The stairwells in the journalism building get very crowded as classes let out on Thursday, Sept. 22.

If the stairway in the University of Montana journalism building feels a little more crowded than usual, it’s not just your imagination.

Both the print and photo professional programs admitted more students than usual for the fall semester, adding traffic to the halls and extra sections of required classes to the schedules.

Typically, no more than 30 students are admitted into the print program each year. In photo, that cap is 20 students.

“We take no pleasure in turning students away,” Dean Jerry Brown said. “Capped enrollment is a necessity, not an indulgence. Nobody on this faculty wants to turn away qualified students.”

This year, there were simply more qualified students. Once the print program had reached its 30-student cap, there were still 15 applicants who had the grades and qualifications to join the professional program. Photo had two applicants who met all the criteria once the cap was reached.

“What we’ve seen is an increase in the number of students who’ve applied in the last five years,” said Keith Graham, head of the photo program. He added that applicants to the photo program have doubled in the last seven years.

Clearly, something had to be done.

“The faculty came to me and asked if there was any way we could admit more students,” Brown said.

They had to overcome a few obstacles in order to do so.

The first of these was faculty. As an accredited journalism school, UM must maintain a student-teacher ratio of about 15:1 in “skills” (professional) classes.

UM is up for reaccredidation this year, so exceeding that ratio was not an option. Brown said the School of Journalism wouldn’t have overcrowded the classes anyway.

Thus the school had to find more teachers. In the past, Missoulian reporters have served as adjunct instructors when student enrollment was high. Sherry Devlin, the Missoulian city editor, has been teaching Public Affairs Reporting for 10 years.

This fall, Missoulian business reporter Robert J. Struckman is teaching a section of Public Affairs. There are three sections of the class this fall, up from two in previous years.

News Editing, another required professional course, also added a section this fall, bringing the total to four.  Brown, who was planning to teach the class this semester anyway, is pleased his doing so has proved useful.

“I’m glad that teaching editing helps and allows us to put our resources elsewhere,” he said.

In addition to obtaining more faculty, money was an obstacle the School of Journalism had to find a way around. Brown said UM Provost Lois Muir agreed to provide the school with additional support this school year.

“The message from Main Hall has been that resources follow enrollment,” Brown said. “So if we have the enrollment, we’re more likely to have increase in resources.”

A month into the semester, Brown is confident admitting more students was the right move.

“It’s been a test, I would certainly say that,” he said. “I think it will succeed. Obviously the faculty gave this a good deal of thought. It wasn’t a whim.”

Return to J-School main page