Welcome! I like to say that The University of Montana Journalism School is a wonderful blend of the old and the new. We began in 1914, housed in tents on the Oval in the center of campus. We've been accredited since 1948. And in the fall of 2007, we moved into Don Anderson Hall, with state-of-the art digital technology for all our students and faculty.
We're a small program - about 150 students are enrolled in our professional program, which covers the junior and senior years. That means we get to know our students, and our students get to know us. Though the numbers are small, our ambitions are high. We routinely rank in the top 10 programs, measured by the Hearst Journalism Awards and other student journalism contests. Our print and photojournalism students win national competitions. Broadcast students win most if not all of the Northwest Regional Emmy competitions each spring.
We aim for excellence. And we achieve it because of our faculty. All of us have worked for years as professional journalists before coming to UM. Faculty are actively engaged in making society better and helping people understand the world around them. Professors write books, produce documentaries and direct live news shows. They exhibit their photographs and create innovative citizen news web sites.
UM is also known as a place that attracts top teachers. Veteran professor Carol Van Valkenburg was named a national Journalism Teacher of the Year by the Freedom Forum in 2000. Denise Dowling was named the most promising new journalism professor in the country in 2005.
We place particular attention on accurate coverage of Native American issues and on encouraging more Native Americans to consider journalism as a career:
- Jason Begay, who is Navajo, joined the faculty in Fall 2010 to continue to develop Reznet, our nationally known mentoring and online project for Native American college students at UM and around the country.
- And each spring semester, students who take our Native News Honors class cover stories at all seven reservations in the state as well as our urban Indian population.
Our Masters Degree in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Reporting puts students in touch with leading scholars across campus. What better topic to study in Montana than the relationship between humanity and the earth?
J-School alums do well. Recent graduates are work for such news organizations as ABC News, National Public Radio, the Austin American-Statesman in Texas and at almost every Montana newspaper and television station. They also become lawyers, or work for non-profits and private industry. Regardless of their career, our grads say a journalism degree was key to their success.
From covering the Montana Legislature to covering stories in Indian Country - from producing weekly television packages for network TV to producing documentaries and multimedia web sites - students are at the heart of our work at the University of Montana. Take a look around our web site. And if you're in town, do stop by. We'd love to show you around!
Peggy Kuhr