Southeast mass-media department receives reaccreditation

Southeast Missouri State University’s mass-media department has been re-accredited for the maximum six years.

The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications recently issued the re-accreditation, which runs through the 2021-2022 academic year, school officials said in a news release.

The accreditation “validates that the department of mass media’s program is among the best nationwide,” Karie Hollerbach, who chairs the department, said in the news release.

Southeast has nearly 400 mass-communication students. The major offers four focus areas: advertising, multimedia journalism, public relations and television/film.

The department launched the Rust Center for Media last fall in downtown Cape Girardeau. This spring, the Grauel Building, where mass-media faculty offices and classes are, is undergoing major renovations. Mass-media courses temporarily have been relocated to other campus locations.

The department will return to Grauel in the fall, officials said in the release.

The mass-media department first was accredited in 2005.