University of Colorado Closing J-School

iMediaEthics wrote in March when reports surfaced that University of Colorado-Boulder “campus leaders” advised that the school be shut down.

The school’s regents board voted to shut down the school by the end of June, according to the Huffington Post.

The regents voted 5-4 to close.  Current journalism students may finish their degree program, but no new students will be able to enter as journalism majors.

Dean Paul S. Voakes wrote to CU journalism “alumni and friends” that while the school is ending, it will create a Journalism Plus program, in which students can double major in journalism and another subject.

Two of the four regents who voted against the closure wrote a letter explaining why they disagreed with the decision.

“We chose not to support the recommendation from President Benson, because we felt strongly that a formal ‘program discontinuance’ or structural change was not required to meet the changing dynamics of the journalism profession,” regents Monisha Merchant and Sue Sharkey wrote.

“Make no mistake, ‘discontinuance’ means closure,” the regents added, noting that they “were not being asked to create a new” journalism program.