2008 Woodie Awards
Skyline revives journalism program
Associate degree and certificate now offered
Fionnola C. Villamejor
Date created: 2/14/05 Section: NEWS
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"Hot off the presses," said Skyline College's journalism professor Nancy Kaplan-Biegel, in making an announcement on the first day of the current semester. "It's official. We now offer students the opportunity to obtain an associate degree in journalism, or, alternatively, a certificate in journalism."
Both programs are offered through the language arts division and are designed to target a variety of students' needs. For example, re-entry students, or people who may already have degrees, may simply want to transition into another career.
"There are a wide variety of needs out there and the goal is to provide students with more flexibility and a greater number of options," Kaplan-Biegel said.
While a combined total of 22 core and required units are needed for the certificate accreditation, the A.A. degree entails a larger number of core and required units, as it covers a broader area of study.
This revival of sorts for journalism at Skyline follows a hiatus of more than 15 years since the previous journalism department flourished at the college. Its rebirth was embraced by Kaplan-Biegel, who willingly nurtured its metamorphosis.
With her bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in English, Kaplan-Biegel was initially hired to teach English at Skyline. When she was asked to teach a newswriting class in 1999, Kaplan-Biegel realized that "it hardly made sense to do so without an actual live publication up and running, because that's where the real hands on experience lies, the ultimate goal being to get students published."
Two weeks later, Kaplan-Biegel and her students set out and produced what was to be the first publication in years from the Skyline newsroom.
That semester, two newsletter publications of The Skyline View were published, followed by six the next. From then and to date, it has become a regular, newsprint publication, running strong at eight issues per semester.
With expanding numbers in the newsroom staff, and increasing growth in numbers of students enrolling in journalism, Kaplan-Biegel's contributions to the department have broadened the variety of accreditations already offered by the college.
Both programs are offered through the language arts division and are designed to target a variety of students' needs. For example, re-entry students, or people who may already have degrees, may simply want to transition into another career.
"There are a wide variety of needs out there and the goal is to provide students with more flexibility and a greater number of options," Kaplan-Biegel said.
While a combined total of 22 core and required units are needed for the certificate accreditation, the A.A. degree entails a larger number of core and required units, as it covers a broader area of study.
This revival of sorts for journalism at Skyline follows a hiatus of more than 15 years since the previous journalism department flourished at the college. Its rebirth was embraced by Kaplan-Biegel, who willingly nurtured its metamorphosis.
With her bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in English, Kaplan-Biegel was initially hired to teach English at Skyline. When she was asked to teach a newswriting class in 1999, Kaplan-Biegel realized that "it hardly made sense to do so without an actual live publication up and running, because that's where the real hands on experience lies, the ultimate goal being to get students published."
Two weeks later, Kaplan-Biegel and her students set out and produced what was to be the first publication in years from the Skyline newsroom.
That semester, two newsletter publications of The Skyline View were published, followed by six the next. From then and to date, it has become a regular, newsprint publication, running strong at eight issues per semester.
With expanding numbers in the newsroom staff, and increasing growth in numbers of students enrolling in journalism, Kaplan-Biegel's contributions to the department have broadened the variety of accreditations already offered by the college.
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