Dear Editor Van Anden:

In regard to your editorial in the last issue of the Courier calling for more curricular offerings at Monmouth College in the areas of media and journalistic writing, I support your plea for faculty and administrative action to fill this educational need and compliment you on the increasing professional quality of the paper.  From my perspective as the faculty member that has taught Monmouth College’s one media writing 3 s.h. course, as mentioned in your piece, I agree we have potential for educational curricular growth that would meet the nature of this College and for which there is increasing student and societal need; which could assist the College in garnering increased student retention and a unique and appropriate market position. Also, the current curricular system asks that one course cover the teaching of basic print journalistic writing to the highest levels of public relations and radio/television news writing and preparation, too broad a span for effective professional writing skill development. 

Media literacy is an increasingly critical skill for all engaged citizens and expanding course offerings would aid many students in a myriad of majors as they prepare roles to lead our society.   Students seeking to enter careers in media and public relations, increasingly popular majors at Monmouth College, need more choices to develop professionally competitive skill sets.  Students transferring (leaving Monmouth College before graduation) identify wanting more courses in journalism and media writing as one of the programs they will be seeking at other schools when they have left here, that they could not get at this school.  Public relations majors regularly call for more writing courses.

To this end, I formally attempted to obtain at least one more hour of course credit in the area of media writing during the last academic year.  Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. 

Having been a faculty advisor to student media at a variety of colleges in my professional career, I know the immense amount of dedicated work it takes to produce a student media product.  The Courier has been blessed with industrious and committed staffs during my entire tenure at Monmouth College.  But in the last two years in particular, and especially this year, the staff and Tom Withenbury the faculty advisor of the Courier, should take immense amount of pride in the dramatically increased professional quality of the Courier.  Story content has engaged more controversial topics, seeking to inform the community about information of which the public should be aware. The editorial staff regularly seeks professional ethical consults when engaging controversial topics.  This year’s Courier is a product of actively engaged students producing a product of which this College should be increasingly proud. While there are still ways the Courier can be better, persistent pursuit of professional progress is always a goal for all of us.  (This is not a comment on the product of my own teaching, since I am not the faculty advisor of the Courier and the staff usually has not trained in my course prior to obtaining high position with the paper.  This is a compliment for a hard working student journalistic staff and a faculty advisor, whom I have never met.)

I agree with the Van Anden editorial of the last issue which requests  that Monmouth College adopt more curricular offerings in media and journalistic writing, when resources become available, and offer sincere professional praise to the increased quality of the Courier as demonstrated over the last several semesters.

Sincerely,

Benita Dilley
            Associate Professor
            Coordinator of the Public Relations Program

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