The national accreditation of the Nicholls State University Department of Mass Communication was reaffirmed recently by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications in St. Petersburg, Fla., during its annual meeting.

The council, which consists of representatives from a broad range of national and international associations, reaffirmed the department’s accreditation unanimously. The council acted upon the recommendation of its accrediting committee, which unanimously favored Nicholls reaccreditation when it met in Chicago in March.

The Nicholls mass communication program, first nationally accredited in 1994, will not undergo the rigorous process again until 2012. It is one of only six Louisiana journalism programs nationally accredited by the council.

Dr. James Stewart, head of the Nicholls department, called the council’s unanimous vote “a testament to the hard work and dedication of departmental faculty, to the support of the university community and to the quality of our students.”

Stewart said the chairman of the accrediting committee, in addressing the entire council, was extremely complimentary of the Nicholls mass communication program and was particularly impressed by the department’s close relations with its alumni. The chairman also strongly praised the department’s student handbook and its racial and ethnic diversity.

Accrediting committee members in Chicago based their decision primarily upon the report of an on-site visiting team, which had conducted extensive interviews on campus during a January visit and had studied the department’s 89-page self-study and its 300-page appendix.

Stewart, who answered questions about the Nicholls program at the Chicago and St. Petersburg meetings, said the council based its decision upon the site team report, the recommendation of the accrediting committee and the remarks of the committee chair.