Please familiarize yourself with NMSU's official social media guidelines before posting. https://brand.nmsu.edu/social-media-guidelines/ The Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at New Mexico State University came into being in the 1960s. Until 1963, the only journalism classes offered at the university were in the Department of English. In 1963, the university president, vice presiden
t and dean of academics contacted a well-known journalism educator, Harvey Jacobs, regarding the possibility of establishing a journalism program on the campus. Jacobs accepted the challenge, moved to Las Cruces, and spent a year gathering information about the state and culture. On July 1, 1964, the department began with 12 majors and 25 students in five classes, all taught by Professor Jacobs. In October of that same year, Jacobs launched KRWG-FM as a 1,000-watt (ERP), campus-based radio station in order to permit students to get hands-on broadcast experience. Later that year, the first full-time (non-administrator) faculty member was recruited. In 1965, Jacobs organized the first Communication Arts Institute, a two-week program attracting top high school students and media professionals from across the country. In subsequent years, the institute was conducted a half dozen more times. The faculty grew to three in 1966, and the campus’s public television station (KRWG-TV) began as a learning lab that year. By 1967, the department had 100 majors. A student radio station operated by the College of Engineering was moved to the journalism program and renamed KRWG-AM. It was operated by students. In 1968, the enrollment increased to 150 majors and KRWG-FM boosted its power to 2,500 watts. The first Ph.D.-holding faculty member was hired in 1969, the same year in which the department moved from World War II-era barracks to Milton Hall, where it is still housed. By 1972, the department offered courses for graduate as well as undergraduate credit. The FM power was boosted to 100,000 watts, and KRWG-TV began television programming through area cable services. The television station actually went on the air on Channel 22 in 1973. Much of the work of the station was done by journalism students, a radical concept at the time. Jacobs resigned from the university in 1974. At the time of his departure, the department had 300 majors. Between 1974 and 1982, the department had four chairs. Sean McCleneghan became department head, serving until 1994, when he was replaced by Dr. Steven Pasternack. Pasternack stepped down in 2002, succeeded by Dr. Frank Thayer. The period from 1982 to 2004 was marked by continuous improvements, the first of which was a highly successful in-state and regional internship program for deserving and qualified students that has continued to the present day under the supervision of Dr. McCleneghan and later Dr. Mary Lamonica. Also, during that period, the curriculum was changed to incorporate a second writing course as a core class and the institution of a grammar test as an entrance requirement to the program. The period also witnessed the growth of “Newsview22" (now News22), a five-night per week student-led newscast providing outstanding live broadcasting experience to students interested in broadcast news and production. The 1980s witnessed significant growth in the department’s number of majors, a growth that was outdistancing the unit’s ability to offer enough courses. While the department was growing in terms of internships and student majors, it was falling behind in terms of instructional equipment in its student writing labs, photo labs and affiliated stations. As recently as 1993, electric typewriters were still being used in some classrooms, but by 2002 the department could boast two state-of-the-art, networked computer laboratories with modern software for word processing, media design and video editing. Also, the department relied quite heavily on part-time instructors through the mid-1980s, thereby reducing the availability of faculty to students, not to mention limits on research and professional service productivity. That situation improved when new faculty were hired in the period from 1987 through 1992. By the middle 1980s, reliance on part-time faculty was limited to the instructors from the television and radio stations and a handful of adjuncts from off campus. In 1991, the faculty voted to adopt a language skills test called the Grammar-Spelling-Punctuation (GSP) test. A passing score on the GSP test became a prerequisite to Journalism 210 and thereby into the major. The test had an immediate impact. The number of majors dropped, perhaps because some students were unable to pass the test and changed majors. In 2002, the passing score on the GSP test was raised to 70% from 60%, and by fall 2004 became a prerequisite to being considered a full journalism major and for taking the first journalism writing course. In 1993, a proposal was made by the College of Arts and Sciences to consider merging the journalism and communication studies departments, a proposal that was voted down by an overwhelming majority of faculty members in both departments. Since 1997, the department has been successful in recruiting students from nearby El Paso County, Texas, since students from across the state line may attend NMSU for in-state tuition rates. The department’s number of majors has fluctuated from a high of 410 in 1988 to a low of 194 in 1995. With the advent of ACEJMC accreditation from 1999 to 2011, the stature of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications was significantly enhanced. During this period, the unit showed significant advances in instructional equipment holdings, alumni outreach and curriculum reform. Dr. Thayer stepped down as department head in 2008. Dr. Anne Hubbell of the Department of Communication Studies took over as interim department head before she was eventually replaced by Dr. Hwiman Chung in 2011. Dr. Chung spearheaded the transformation of Room 157 in Milton Hall, which once served as a computer lab, into a multimedia center. The multimedia center was completed in 2013. In addition to a computer lab, it houses a TV studio and audio booth. In 2018, the official name of the department was changed from Journalism and Mass Communications to the Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
