Dale Leach of Associated Press in Seattle offers advice to graduate student Shea Andersen during accreditation visit to campus this fall.

A team from the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association visited the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in October to evaluate the journalism program and offer guidance.

In an overwhelmingly positive evaluation, the team reported that the SOJC offers an "excellent educational program" with a "solid curriculum, experienced faculty and generally state-of-the-art equipment."

The PNNA, which visits Northwest journalism programs every three years, works to encourage communication and cooperation between education and the media industry, and to provide financial support for journalism programs in order to contribute to future education in journalism.

After visiting classes and meeting with professors and students, the four-member team, which included Dale Leach, chief of bureau, The Associated Press, Seattle; Dick Hughes, editorial page editor, Salem Statesman Journal; Dave Kern, night editor, The Columbian; and Julie Wurth, managing editor, Medford Mail Tribune, provided their evaluation and recommended that the PNNA award the School a grant, which it did.

"The School maintains rigorous admissions standards and challenges students with course work that is demanding."

But the value of their visit went beyond a report and financial support. Whitney Sheppard, a graduate student in the creative nonfiction program, had the opportunity to talk with the visiting team at a reception in the School, as well as have Leach visit his lab for "Writing for the Media." Sheppard said, "I found sitting down with a couple of the visiting editors useful, and my students enjoyed having Dale Leach attend my class."

Associate Professor Steve Ponder, who welcomed Wurth to his graduate course "Mass Communication and Society," said, "It's important to the faculty and to the students to learn from these newsroom leaders, and it's also an opportunity to update them on how we are trying to prepare students for careers in journalism."

It was that same preparation that the PNNA team praised in its report. In its last study of the school, the team had criticized the "passive" nature of the School's internship opportunities, but in this most recent evaluation, it identified "positive steps" including an online database, the Charles Snowden Internship program and the hiring of an internship coordinator.

Further, the team commended the School on its active ties to the industry, noting members of the faculty who have been staff writers for daily newspapers in this decade, the importance the School places on input from professional journalists in the classroom and students' involvement in professional journalism outside of the classroom.

The report also made note of student involvement in research including, regular help with The Register-Guard exit polling, advanced reporting for an investigative study resulting in a Statesman Journal article, and market research and ad campaigns designs for clients. The team found that "the mix of research and classroom work appears to strike a good balance."

Dean Tim Gleason considers the visit, report and recommendations from PNNA extremely valuable to the School's continued success and to the upholding of the School's standards of excellence. The $9,000 grant will be used to update the Sullivan Reporting Lab.