May 2, 2008

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is making a new promise to its students. As the tools of journalism continue to evolve in the Internet age, they can return to the school throughout their careers to update their technical and professional skills.

The school will organize special workshops throughout the year so that alumni can adapt to the latest requirements of their profession. Alumni will pay a modest fee to attend the sessions.

Workshops will fall into one of three categories: refresher, update, and new skills. In a refresher workshop, grads could review skills or tools they haven’t used lately. An update class might teach new versions of software, such as Final Cut or Photoshop. A new skills session might cover how journalists can use social networks and other new online phenomena.

"This is like a 100,000-mile warranty on a car," said Jeff Jarvis, director of the school's interactive program. "Things are changing so rapidly and constantly in journalism that we realize our students need some assurance they can keep up. We also believe it will be a benefit to employers when they see CUNY will help keep its graduates up to speed."

This ongoing professional educational commitment is a natural extension of other educational enrichment efforts offered by the CUNY J-School. These include its January Academy between the first and second semesters, offering students an opportunity to take 1-5 day workshops on everything from freelancing essentials to how to get the most out of Flash software. The school also holds voluntary evening and weekend enrichment workshops for students.

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which opened its doors in 2006, is one of 21 colleges and graduate schools that make up The City University of New York. It is the only public graduate school of journalism in the Northeastern United States.