2010 - Public Relations Society of America

Trends evident in K-12 education, the impact of digital technology on writing skills, and
financial pressures in higher education all suggest that regardless of institution type, more and
more underprepared students will be turning up at the university gates. Tougher standards, on
their own, may only result in smaller programs filled with students who still need help with basic
writing skills. Based on the results of this study, a more balanced approach between rigor and
remediation is advised.
Reviewing RQ4, it is evident that faculty believe their programs have achieved no more
than a moderate amount of success with any measures listed in the survey. The highest mean
rating of 3.22 ( language skills exam with a basic class for low scorers) is hardly encouraging,
and the cluster of mean scores near 3.0 (“neutral) for all items illustrates faculty members’ mixed
feelings toward any measures they have tried. The fact that nearly two-thirds of the open-ended
responses for this item indicated failure rather than success is further cause for concern among
program planners. It is notable that the top two measures utilized – a basic writing class for all
students and minimum GPA – garnered the lowest mean scores in terms of perceived success.
Results relevant to RQ5 highlight a major finding of this study. All respondents,
regardless of academic unit, Carnegie classification, or ACEJMC accreditation gave students
similar ratings in writing proficiency. All respondents also indicated they are dealing with many
similar writing-related issues and trying many of the same measures with mixed success. Given
that all respondents appear to be fighting similar instructional battles with similar results, future
studies might explore the best combinations of measures that could be pursued to everyone’s best
advantage.
On a more optimistic note, faculty in ACEJMC-accredited programs noted lack of quality
work in student media as less of an issue than their counterparts in unaccredited programs. This
might be explained by Standard 2: Curriculum and Instruction in ACEJMC’s accrediting
standards. This standard states, “Students may take up to three semester courses (or their
equivalent) at a media outlet owned and operated by the institution where full-time faculty are in
charge and where the primary function of the media outlet is to instruct students.” ACEJMC
adds, “The Council urges journalism and mass communications programs to advise students to
acquire appropriately supervised experience in campus media and professional internships.” In
other words, careful supervision of campus media by full-time faculty, as required by ACEJMC,
appears to improve the quality of work in student media.
Trends in Open-Ended Responses
Among the 97 respondents who answered the open-ended question on measures they
would like to see their academic unit use, by far the largest number (32%, n = 31) indicated they
would like to implement a language skills exam, either with a minimum grade required for
program entrance or with a basic class required for low-scoring students. “I think it is effective in
not only assessing student writing skill, but in getting students to realize our expectations in
those areas,” wrote one respondent. Four respondents wrote that they would like to expand the
language skills exam to include an essay. “Some students do very well on parts of speech,
punctuation, or grammar, but can’t write clear sentences,” added another. “I’d like to eliminate
sections on spelling and most of the parts of speech. You can look up spelling.”
Respondents noted several barriers to implementing language skills exams at their
institutions, ranging from time and staff shortages to faculty resistance and institutional culture.
“Most of my colleagues believe administration of the exam would be a nightmare if we don’t
have the staff to handle it,” noted one respondent. Another wrote, “A minimum skills entrance
test would probably be helpful, but it wouldn’t fit the institutional ethos of nurturing marginal
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