King's masters program approved by senate

New program is first of its kind in Atlantic Canada

Journalism students Tari Wilson and Stephanie Directo lounge in the King's Arts & Administration building. (Photo: Ezra Black)

The proposed master of journalism program at the University of King's College cleared two important hurdles Tuesday.

Both the Dalhousie senate and King's faculty approved the program.

"These were two extremely important votes that will happen in the course of the approval process," says Kelly Toughill, director of King's School of Journalism.

The proposal still needs to be endorsed by both King's and Dalhousie's boards of governors and the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.

Toughill says she hopes the program begins in June.

Classes would run through the summer and fall. Students would work on a final project during the program's last three months. The project could be completed internationally.

For the final project, students would be teamed with mentors from the industry. Anjali Kapoor, managing editor digital at the Globe and Mail, could be one of the supervisors.

Toughill says King's will start accepting applications in January if the program passes the board of governors. She says she anticipates 15 students for the first year and 20 in subsequent years.

She says there would be two scholarships available worth $2,500 each.

In its submission to the Dalhousie senate, King's cited strong market demand for the program. A survey of 198 King's alumni and graduating students found strong support for the masters of journalism program.

Of all the respondents, 72 per cent said they are or might be interested in taking the program.

The document says the master of journalism program at Ryerson University receives 10 applications for every admission space.

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