University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
Encyclopedia
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. It comprises four departments:
- Department of Journalism (journalismJournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
) - Department of Telecommunications (telecommunicationTelecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
) - Department of Advertising (advertisingAdvertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
) - Department of Public Relations (public relationsPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
)
The college traces its origins to 1925, when the Department of Journalism was formed in Language Hall
Anderson Hall (Gainesville, Florida)
Anderson Hall is a historic building in Gainesville, Florida, in the northeastern section of the University of Florida campus. On June 27, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places...
(now Anderson Hall). Orland K. "O.K." Armstrong was the first head of the department. The first three journalism degrees were awarded in 1928.
The department moved into Buckman Hall
Buckman Hall
Murphree Area is an historic residence hall complex on the northern edge of the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The complex is adjacent to University Avenue, one of the major public roads that serve the university and define its boundaries. It was the university's first...
, a renovated dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, in 1937. http://www.jou.ufl.edu/about/history.asp
Rae O. Weimer, former managing editor at the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
daily newspaper PM
PM (newspaper)
PM was a leftist New York City daily newspaper published by Ralph Ingersoll from June 1940 to June 1948 and bankrolled by the eccentric Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III....
, began teaching in the Department of Journalism in 1949. In 1950, the journalism program was accredited
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
, although it still had only "one classroom, no equipment and only two teachers." In late 1953, broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
was transferred to journalism and the department became a school, the School of Journalism and Communications.
In the 1960s, the School of Journalism and Communications became the fastest-growing journalism program in the United States and the fastest-growing unit at UF. The growth was directly related to its national prominence as the college began dominating the annual Hearst Foundation's national collegiate writing competition.
In 1967, the school became a full-fledged college. Weimer was named the first dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
. Weimer has been referred to as the "founding father" of journalism at UF; the current journalism building, Weimer Hall, is named for him.
The centerpiece of the journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a WUFT (TV) Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) Public television and WUFT-FM
WUFT-FM
WUFT-FM 89.1 is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news from NPR.UF has been involved in broadcasting for almost nine decades. It owns WRUF , one of the oldest radio stations in the state, and sister television station WUFT-TV was...
NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
public radio station. The commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
radio station, WRUF AM850, is also one of the oldest stations in the state.
ABC News at UF
ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
opened a "mini-bureau
News bureau
A News bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate geographic location or scope of coverage: a ‘Tokyo bureau’ refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; foreign bureau is a generic term for a news office set up...
" at the College of Journalism and Communications in September 2008. It was one of five universities chosen for the ABC News on Campus program, along with Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, and the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
.
Degrees
The College of Journalism and Communications offers several degreesAcademic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
:
- Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of ScienceA Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in journalism, telecommunication, advertising, or public relations - Master of ArtsMaster of Arts (postgraduate)A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in mass communications - Master of Advertising
- Ph.D.Doctor of PhilosophyDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
List of deans
The following is a list of the deans at the College of Journalism and Communications and its predecessor units:| Years | Dean |
|---|---|
| 1925-1949 | Orlando K. Armstrong |
| 1949-1968 | Rae O. Weimer |
| 1968-1976 | John Paul Jones Jr. |
| 1976-1994 | Ralph L. Lowenstein |
| 1994-2006 | Terry Hynes |
| 2007-Present | John W. Wright II |
See also
- WUFT (TV)
- WUFT-FM / WJUFWUFT-FMWUFT-FM 89.1 is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news from NPR.UF has been involved in broadcasting for almost nine decades. It owns WRUF , one of the oldest radio stations in the state, and sister television station WUFT-TV was...
- WRUF (AM)
- WRUF-FMWRUF-FMWRUF-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Gainesville, Florida, USA, the station serves the Gainesville/Ocala area. The station is currently owned by the University of Florida...
- WRUF-LD
External links
- College of Journalism and Communications Web site
- Gainesville Sun info about the College
- University of Florida Web site
- The Independent Florida Alligator, the daily student newspaper
- About the Graduate Programs
- Press Release about the Dean
- About the founder of the College
- Capital Campaign for the College