Six years later, as we begin our next re-accreditation process, that trajectory has accelerated, strengthening our position as one of the top, if not THE top, journalism and communication programs in the nation.

CJC’s progress, briefly interrupted by a global pandemic, has been exceptional. Some of the major accomplishments over the past six years include the continued addition of renowned faculty and staff, the introduction of four online undergraduate degrees and more than doubling of our online master’s enrollment. We launched the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, the Office of Career and Corporate Partnerships, the Atlas Lab, Fresh Take Florida, the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, and CJCxNYC, our New York program.

We continued to take top honors in national competitions, including second place in the Hearst Journalism Awards for the past three years, the PR Week Outstanding Education Program, and first place in the prestigious Bateman competition this year. Students, faculty and staff have won numerous awards at the national, regional and state level. Two of our faculty members were named UF Teacher of the Year over that period. And students and staff did a remarkable job covering three hurricanes that had a major impact on Florida.

In this year’s Dean’s Report, you will see the remarkable achievements over the past year. In fact, we have so many stories to tell that we decided to summarize our accomplishments in a smaller printed magazine and build this companion website with additional multimedia content.

But we are certainly not resting on our laurels. Our efforts to grow have been boosted, in particular, by a new allocation of funds from the Florida State Legislature. Supported by a new strategic plan, our vision for the College is to continue to improve our facilities and capitalize on our renowned faculty and staff, talented students, cutting-edge programs and forward-looking research to become the preeminent journalism and communication program in the U.S. Our focus is on:

• INVESTING to ensure our learning and research environment is state-of-the-art
• CONTINUING to assemble a diverse and outstanding group of renowned teachers, scholars and professionals
• PROVIDING unrivaled pathways to the best educational and career opportunities for our students
• BEING the preeminent program in providing scholarly and actionable insights to students, industry and academia.

Our alumni play an integral role in helping us realize this vision. Your gifts, interaction with students, career pipelines and more are invaluable and speak to your ongoing affection for and loyalty to CJC. Each successive generation has been dedicated to making the College even stronger than the one you left.

I hope you find this year’s Dean’s Report informative and inspiring. And feel free to contact me at any time if you would like to learn more.

Go Gators!

Hub Brown
Dean