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Current Students

Incoming M.S. Students

Congratulations on your admission to the M.S. program.

Start of Classes

The academic year for full-time M.S. candidates begins on Monday, Aug. 11.

Check-in and distribution of ID cards and class schedules begins at 8 a.m.; we’ll also provide plenty of caffeine and a continental breakfast.
By 9 a.m., please be in the Lecture Hall, one flight up from the lobby, for the start of orientation.
(Special Instructions for International Students)

To anticipate the question that we know is coming: Yes, orientation is mandatory. There are many activities – including activation of your J-School computer account, training in the use of our electronic databases, and an initial meeting with your RW1 instructor – which you must complete during your first two days on campus. You will not have the opportunity to make up these sessions later, so please plan accordingly.

To answer the other question that we often get at this time of year: You will be busy five days a week throughout August and many evenings as well, participating in classes, discussions and equipment-training sessions, and working on assignments. Although there are no classes scheduled for weekends or on Labor Day, it is likely that you will have assignments that will require you to do some reporting at those times, so take this into consideration when making your plans.

Fall Schedule

You will take between 16 and 19 credits during the fall semester, depending largely on which concentration – newspaper, magazine, broadcast, or new media – you designated on your admissions application. A broad outline of the fall course requirements for each concentration is below, and descriptions of individual classes can be found here M.S. Fall 2008 Courses. Requests for modifications to individual schedules are processed by the Dean of Students Office during the official add/drop period, which begins at 10 a.m. on Aug. 25 and ends at 10 a.m. on Sept.12.

Required fall classes for newspaper/magazine concentrators:

  • Reporting and Writing I, or RW1: 6 credits
  • Critical Issues in Journalism: 2 credits
  • Journalism, the Law and Society (or, for international students, The U.S. as a Foreign Country): 2 credits
  • RWII elective: 3 credits
  • The Master’s Project: 3 credits
  • At least one 5-week “skills” class: 1 credit each (Note: Students in the Stabile Investigative program are automatically enrolled in a special 10-week investigative skills class )

Required fall classes for broadcast concentrators:

  • Reporting and Writing I for Broadcast: 8 credits
  • Critical Issues in Journalism: 2 credits
  • Journalism, the Law and Society (or, for international students, The U.S. as a Foreign Country): 2 credits
  • The Master’s Project: 3 credits
  • At least one 5-week “skills” class: 1 credit per unit

Required fall schedule for new media concentrators:

  • Reporting and Writing I, or RW1: 6 credits
  • Critical Issues in Journalism: 2 credits
  • Journalism, the Law and Society (or, for international students, The U.S. as a Foreign Country): 2 credits
  • The New Media Newsroom: 3 credits
  • The Master’s Project: 3 credits
  • At least one 5-week “skills” class: 1 credit per unit

Changes in Concentration

During their first semester at the journalism school, students occasionally ask to switch their medium of concentration. Because there are equipment and lab demands associated with each concentration – particularly broadcast and new media – we can’t automatically accommodate all requests for change, but we do try. If at any point you are thinking about switching concentrations, you should talk to Assistant Dean of Students Melanie Huff, who will put you on the waiting list.

Registering for Classes

You do not register yourself for classes; we do that for you. We do, however, ask you to let us know your preferences via an online ballot which will be available from 10 a.m. July 7 to July 14 only. We can’t guarantee that you will get into every class you ask for, because inevitably some classes are oversubscribed. We do promise, however, that we will do our best, as long as you fill out the correct ballot for your concentration and submit it by 10 a.m. on July 14 deadline. If you fail to do so, you will be assigned to classes on a space-available basis. The procedure for submitting your ballot is as follows:

  • Click on the ballot for your concentration, fill it out and submit it by 10 a.m. on July 14. The balloting process is not first-come, first-served; as long as you fill out the correct ballot and submit it by the deadline, you will be given equal consideration for all classes. Please note that you do not ballot for RW1, law, critical issues, or any skills classes and/or electives dictated by your area of concentration. We automatically place you in those classes.
  • If you want to be considered for one of the two sections of Prof. Judith Crist’s "Personal and Professional Style" elective, you must submit writing samples along with your ballot. These can be sent via e-mail or as hard copies. If you wish to submit hard copies, send them to Melanie Huff, Assistant Dean of Students, Graduate School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway, Mail Code 3800, New York, NY 10027. Hard copies must be received by 10 a.m. on July 14. If you wish to send your clips electronically, e-mail them in the body of an e-mail – not as an attachment – to Dean Huff at dos@jrn.columbia.edu, by 10 a.m. on July 14 and indicate in the subject line that they are for Judith Crist’s class.
  • To repeat: If you submit your ballot after 10 a.m. on July 14, we will place you into classes on an as-available basis.

Adding or Dropping Classes

You may request to change one or more of your classes during the official add/drop period each semester. The add/drop period for Fall 2008 begins at 10 a.m. on Aug. 25 and ends at 10 a.m. on Sept. 12.

During this time, a link to the add/drop form will be available on the Dean of Students Blog. On each form, you may request to add one class and drop one class. All add-drop requests are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. We stress that they are only requests; there is no guarantee that we can accommodate them.
We do not send e-mails approving or rejecting requests for schedule changes. You must keep checking your class schedule on the web at Student Services Online. Sometimes it takes days for a space to open in a class. Sometimes the space never opens up. Until you see a change reflected on your class schedule there, your request has not been approved. All requests remain on file during the add/drop period.

Outside Classes

In lieu of one of your required journalism electives, you are permitted to take a 4-point language course or a 3-point elective in another division within the university. To do so, you must do the following:

  • Fill out the J-School’s Fall 2008 ballot as if you were taking all of your classes within the J-School, since cross-registrations aren’t always possible.
  • Identify a graduate-level class (4000+) that meshes with your proposed J-School schedule and is justifiable in light of your journalistic goals.
  • After your Journalism course assignments have been posted in Student Services Online, send an e-mail to dos@jrn.columbia.edu asking to replace your elective with the outside class. You must include the class name, course number, professor, number of points, and a description of how it will help you to achieve your professional objectives. Note: The meeting time of the outside course must fit within your J-School course schedule. We will not adjust your J-School schedule to accommodate an outside class.
  • Once the Dean of Students Office has approved your request to take the outside class, you must fill out the M.S. approval form and get it approved by the outside division (dean or professor).
  • Once you have done this, you must give the form to Assistant Dean Melanie Huff in the Dean of Students Office, you for the course. Please note that for Fall 2008, this must be completed between 10 a.m. Aug. 25 and 10 a.m. Sept. 12. 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 12.

Internships

Students often express interest in doing internships during their time here at the J-School. While this is not forbidden, it is highly discouraged during the fall semester and encouraged with extreme caution in the spring, because we feel strongly that your studies must come first. Our curriculum is intense and demanding, and we find that students often underestimate the amount of time that it will take them to complete their coursework.

That said, some students do manage to juggle internships and schoolwork successfully, particularly during the spring semester. If you are interested in an internship, you should let Career Services know early in the fall; they will help you to identify appropriate opportunities and hone your applications.

Please note that if you wish to receive credit for an internship – and many of the media companies that offer internships require this – your academic advisor must confirm to Career Services that you will be able to handle both internship and coursework. Read more on internships and about Career Services.

Auditing Classes

Students often ask if it is possible to audit classes in which they are not formally enrolled. The answer is yes, as long as the instructor agrees. However, you should also keep in mind that most instructors expect student auditors to attend all classes, participate in all discussions, and do all coursework. In addition, university regulations prohibit the instructor from editing your work unless you’re formally enrolled in (i.e., paying for) the class. So before you approach an instructor for permission to audit, think carefully about your fall workload and whether you want to add to it, especially since you won’t have the benefit of formal feedback from the instructor.

Grades

The journalism school has a pass-fail system of grading, which we hope will encourage you to do your best here without making you feel as if you’re competing with your classmates. To give you a sense of your progress, you’ll receive a written evaluation from most of your instructors at the end of each term; in RW1, you’ll also receive a written midterm evaluation.

If at any point during the semester, an instructor feels you are not doing passing work, he or she will inform the Dean of Students Office, which will issue you a letter placing you on warning or, in more serious cases, on probation. The letter also will describe what you must do in order to be removed from disciplinary status. If you have not met the conditions of the probation letter and remain the end of the semester, you will not be permitted to register for the following semester’s classes or to graduate.

In a happier scenario, an instructor who judges your work to be superior can choose to pass you with “honors in class,” a designation that is taken into account when considering graduation prizes.

Copies of all evaluations, honors designations, warnings and probation letters are kept on file in the Dean of Students Office.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate, you must complete all required course, accumulate at least 33 credits and pass the four “core” courses in the curriculum: RW1, the Master’s Project, the Spring Reporting/Writing Seminar and the Spring Workshop. A student who fails any two courses, or the same course twice, will be dismissed. In addition, the faculty reserves the right to withhold a degree from any student deemed unworthy because of poor performance or unprofessional behaviour.

Causes for Dismissal

Faking a story, making up quotes or plagiarizing constitutes grounds for instant dismissal.

E-Mail

When we received your enrollment deposit and you were logged into the university system, you were assigned a UNI (short for "university network identifier"), which consists of your initials plus an arbitrary number.

To activate your UNI, go to http://uni.columbia.edu/. If you don’t know what your UNI is, find out.

Once your UNI is active, you can log into your Columbia e-mail. (Your e-mail address is your UNI plus "@columbia.edu"; however, when entering your UNI into the system as a login, leave off the "@columbia.edu" and enter only the letter-number combination.)

All official communications from the J-School and the university will be sent to your Columbia e-mail address; if you wish them to go to another e-mail, you can set up your Columbia account to forward your messages electronically.

Tuition

Your tuition bills are issued by and paid directly to the university, not the journalism school. The university will send you an electronic statement at the beginning of each semester; you can also access it through the Student Services Online link on the university’s website. There is no need to worry if you have not received a tuition bill yet; the university tells us they won’t go out until Aug. 18, with payment coming due on Sept. 11. You can find information on payment options by logging on to your online account.

Technology

You can expect to use both a digital camera and a digital tape recorder while reporting print stories for class and for our main student web site, http://columbiajournalist.org. We have this equipment on hand, so it is by no means mandatory for you to purchase your own; however, many students wish to do so. If you are considering this, please take a look at our technology guide for incoming students, where you’ll find suggestions for affordable equipment that interfaces smoothly with the rest of our technology. The guide also discusses computers and laptops, and includes information on vendors who have agreed to give discounts to our students.

An abbreviated version of the technology guide is online.

Dean of Students Blog

For one-stop access to information about all aspects of student life at the J-School, check out the Daily Plan-It, a blog published by the Students Affairs Office. On the blog, you’ll find special-event announcements; links to upcoming (and archived) chats and webcasts; transcripts of talks by guest speakers; housing resources; financial-aid information; technology resources; and links to the official school calendars – to list just a small portion of the information you’ll find here. Get into the habit of checking the blog regularly; in particular, we recommend that you read the "Prepping for the J-School" section on the blog.

Academic Calendar

For quick reference, here is a link to the page through which you can access (and import) the J-School’s master calendar.

Social Life

The Society of Professional Journalists, our student organization, organizes a wide variety of social activities, from movie nights and the ever-popular Friday happy hours to the annual Halloween party and the end-of-term faculty roast. Elections for SPJ officers are held in September. The 2008-2009 SPJ adviser is Prof. Duy Linh Tu, who will be happy to talk to you about how to get involved. Here is a link to the SPJ calendar.

Class of ’09 Facebook Page

Interested in getting to know some of your classmates before you arrive on campus? Join the Class of ’09 Facebook group.

Suggested Reading

New York City will serve as your journalistic laboratory for the next 10 months, and the more you know about its history and dynamics, the better prepared you will be to cover it. To that end, we recommend that you read The Power Broker, author Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of master planner Robert Moses, as well as some additional titles and web sites of your choice from this reading list suggested by the faculty.

Things to do Before Arriving on Campus