AEJMC 2024 Election Candidate Profiles
It’s Time to Cast Your Vote!
Vote February 29 through March 29
AEJMC members are encouraged to vote in our upcoming election from February 29 through March 29.
AEJMC will use an online voting system. Eligible members will receive an email with a builtin link to the AEJMC ballot. Response deadline is March 29. After March 29, the online system will be closed, and votes will be tallied. If you have not received an email with your ballot link, contact Samantha Higgins ().
Click on the profile image to read about the candidates:
AEJMC Presidential Task Force on AEJMC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Serving the AEJMC Presidential Task Force on AEJMC’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Laura Castañeda
University of Southern California
Jerry Crawford
Virginia State University
George Daniels
University of Alabama
Melissa Greene-Blye
University of Kansas
Patrick Johnson
Marquette University
Teresa Mastin
Michigan State University
Mimi Perreault
University of South Florida
Nathian Rodriguez
San Diego State University
Bey-Ling Sha
California State University, Fullerton
Gabriel Tait
Ball State University
Elizabeth L. Toth
University of Maryland
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications
Mission Statement of The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC)
The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications is dedicated to excellence and high standards in professional education in journalism and mass communications. The Council endorses professional education that recognizes and incorporates technological advances, changing professional and economic practice, and public interests and demands.
The Council believes that students can best prepare for careers in journalism and mass communications by studying in accredited professional programs at colleges and universities. The Council embraces the value of a broad, multidisciplinary curriculum that nurtures critical thinking, analytic reasoning and problem-solving skills that are the essential foundation for journalism and mass communications education.
The Council is committed to freedom of inquiry, freedom of expression and freedom of the press as indispensable values in a free society. It expects the professional education offered by accredited programs to encourage inquiry, dissent and free expression.
To serve this mission, the Council has established educational requirements and standards and provides a process of voluntary program review by professionals and educators, awarding accredited status to programs that meet its standards. Through this process, the Council assures students, parents, journalism and mass communications professionals and the public that accredited programs meet rigorous standards for professional education.
The Council recognizes and safeguards the individual nature of each accredited program. It encourages educational innovation by programs in their efforts to meet accreditation requirements and standards to prepare students for careers in journalism and mass communication around the world.
— Revised and approved by the Accrediting Council Aug. 23, 2013
(ACEJMC Mission Statement is courtesy of the ACEJMC website)
Duties and Responsibilities of AEJMC representatives to the Accrediting Council:
- AEJMC Accrediting Council representatives are expected to attend BOTH the fall and spring meetings of the Council. The association pays for the travel expenses of its reps to attend each meeting.
- Each representative should issue a written report to the AEJMC Board of Directors following each meeting, or the reps may work together to file a single report. The reports may also be published in the AEJMC newsletter.
- The representatives should work with the Executive Director to schedule a session during the annual conference, as needed, so that members can be notified about, and discuss, current accrediting issues.
- Elected representatives serve three-year terms on the Council.
A Statement from the Organizations’ Leadership Supporting Leadership Diversity
October 19, 2023
Contact: Linda Aldoory, American University, 2023-24 AEJMC President or
Johnny Sparks, Ball State University, 2023-24 ASJMC President
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace.” – Nelson Mandela
We, the Boards of Directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), write to support minoritized and marginalized administrators and faculty in their efforts to lead universities in addressing their inclusive excellence goals, in the recruitment and retention of faculty from minoritized groups, and in the development of strategies that will further efforts and investments related to inclusive excellence.
AEJMC’s mission is “to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding.” Similarly, ASJMC works “to foster, encourage, and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning.” We cannot stand idly by while our members are under attack. Author Zora Neale Hurston stated, “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
AEJMC has a long history of advocating for the recruitment and implementation of a diverse faculty and student body in media education, and has invoked its membership to “make every effort to achieve 50 percent minority and/or female faculty and administrators by the year 2000.” While this goal has not yet been realized, current efforts in multiple state legislatures are threatening to undo any progress that has been made. Several state legislatures have considered or successfully passed bills banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at higher education institutions. Furthermore, a few states have gone so far as to restrict how race and gender topics can be taught in public higher education institutions. These efforts seek to change uncomfortable truths about the American experience to “convenient lies” which further undermine the experiences and accomplishments of minoritized populations in this country.
As a result of these measures, multiple colleges and universities have eliminated their diversity, equity, and inclusion divisions or units, and hiring decisions involving faculty from racial minority groups have been based on political agendas and rhetoric rather than the qualifications and academic contributions of faculty candidates. We are troubled by the rise of anti-diversity and inclusion activism and its undue influence on universities’ hiring procedures. Furthermore, we are committed to developing processes and systems that will enable us to map and monitor incidents and systemic practices that negatively impact our members of color and other marginalized groups.
Now, more than ever, AEJMC and ASJMC leadership realize the importance of a diverse faculty and student body in media education, and we vehemently support college and university offices, programs, and initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Representation matters, and we stand with our members. We encourage them to remain steadfast in their efforts to recruit and retain faculty from minoritized groups. We are committed to the fulfillment of our mission and will continue to advocate for our members until the goal of achieving minority and female faculty and administrators is realized.
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
AEJMC Membership Committee Members
Serving the AEJMC Membership Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Valerie White (Term 2023-2026)
Florida A&M University
Keonte Coleman (Term 2023-2026)
Syracuse University
Jennifer Vardeman (Term 2023-2026)
University of Houston
Seungahn Nah (Term 2022-2025)
University of Florida
Shafiqur Rahman (Term 2022-2025)
South Carolina State University
Prabu David (Term 2022-2025)
Michigan State University
Magdalena Saldaña (Term 2021-2024)
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Loren Saxton Coleman (Term 2021 – 2024)
Howard University
Mary D’Ambrosio (Term 2021-2024)
Rutgers University
Emeka Umejei (Term 2021 – 2024)
University of Ghana
AEJMC/Gene Burd Award Committee
Serving the AEJMC/Gene Burd Award Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Bob Trumpbour (Term: 2020-2024)
Penn State University, Altoona
Rauf Arif (Term: 2022-2025)
Towson University
Susan Keith (Term: 2023-2026)
Rutgers University
AEJMC Finance Committee Members
Serving the AEJMC Finance Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Teresa Mastin (Chair) (Term: 2022 – 2026)
Michigan State University
Bey-Ling Sha (Term: 2023 – 2027)
California State University, Fullerton
Carl Ciccarelli (Term: 2023 – 2026)
University of South Carolina Aiken
Linda Aldoory (Term: 2021 – 2025)
University of Maryland
Maria Marron (Term: 2022 – 2025)
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Calvin Hall (Term: 2021 – 2024)
North Carolina Central University
Deb Aikat (Term: 2020 – 2024)
University of North Carolina
Amanda Caldwell (Ex Officio Member)
AEJMC Executive Director
Felicia Brown (Ex Officio Member)
AEJMC Assistant Director
AEJMC/ASJMC Human Resource Committee
About the Committee
The AEJMC Board of Directors instituted on Nov. 20, 2020, a permanent human resources committee to fulfill our commitment to sustain a workplace that thrives on talent, leadership, innovation, collaboration, belonging, and professionalism.
Chaired by the AEJMC vice-president, the HR committee will advance AEJMC’s commitment to a fulfilling and engaging employment experience for AEJMC/ASJMC’s Office Staff.
The subcommittee will be charged with the following:
- Conduct annual surveys of office staff members to assess and support the overall functioning and optimal operation of the association and the AEJMC Central Office
- Coordinate and conduct annual performance reviews of the executive director
- Recommend to the AEJMC Board any steps necessary, to address the overall functioning and optimal operation of the AEJMC Central Office. Examine long- term issues related to human resources, for example, addressing and assessing the adequacy of employee benefits for staff members.
The AEJMC Central Office staff also serves and supports the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC). To that end, the AEJMC HR Subcommittee may seek inputs from the ASJMC president and the ASJMC Executive Committee in accomplishing our shared mission of promoting excellence in journalism and mass communication education.
— Tim Vos, Michigan State University, AEJMC President
AEJMC/ASJMC Human Resource Committee Members
Serving the AEJMC Human Resource Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Bey-Ling Sha (Chair) (Term: 2023-2027)
California State, Fullerton
Deb Aikat (Term 2020-2024)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Johnny Sparks (2023-24 ASJMC President) (Term 2021-2024)
Ball State University
Linda Aldoory (2023-24 AEJMC President) (Term 2021-2025)
American University
Emily Metzgar (Term 2022-2025)
Kent State University
Teresa Mastin (Term 2022-2026)
Michigan State University
Hub Brown (Term: 2023-2026)
University of Florida
AEJMC Research Committee Members
Serving the AEJMC Research Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Gregory Perreault (Chair) (Term: 2021-2024)
University of South Florida
Deborah Chung (Term: 2023-2026)
University of Kentucky
Melita Garza (Term: 2023-2026)
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Amber Roessner (Term: 2023-2026)
University of Tennessee
Denis Wu (Term: 2023-2026)
Boston University
Summer Harlow (Term: 2022-2025)
Texas A&M University/University of Texas at Austin
Jasmine McNealy (Term: 2022-2025)
University of Florida
Radhika Parameswaran (Term: 2022-2025)
Indiana University
Yong Volz (Term: 2022-2025)
University of Missouri
Katherine Foss (Term: 2021-2024)
Middle Tennessee State
Tom Johnson (Term: 2021-2024)
University of Texas at Austin
Kimberly Voss (Term: 2021-2024)
University of Central Florida
AEJMC Publications Committee Members
Serving the AEJMC Publications Committee
for the 2023 – 2024 term
Scott Reinardy (Chair) (Term 2021-2024)
University of Kansas
Teri Finneman (Term 2023-2026)
University of Kansas
Uche Onyebadi (Term 2023-2026)
Texas Christian University
Hyejoon Rim (Term 2023-2026)
University of Minnesota
Maria DeMoya (Term 2022-2025)
DePaul University
Chelsea Reynolds (Term 2022-2025)
California State University, Fullerton
Sun Young Lee (Term 2022-2025)
University of Maryland
Kim Bissell (Term 2021-2024)
University of Alabama
Donnalyn Pompper (Term 2021-2024)
University of Oregon