The Media Studies and Journalism (MSJ) program of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has recently been accredited by the prestigious Academic Council of the Swiss-based Global Alliance (GA) for Public Relations and Communication Management. This accreditation will allow the students and faculty members to get connected with a network of academics, professionals, experts, and associations of communication and public relations from more than 200 counties around the world. The global capability framework of GA will allow students to prepare themselves for the global market. GA President and CEO Justin Green and GA Delegate-at-large/Academic Council Member Angel Alloza handed over the accreditation certificate to ULAB’s MSJ Department Head Professor Jude William R. Genilo.
As part of series of events to celebrate the accreditation, the MSJ Department organized a webinar on 28 July. Speaking on the occasion, Justin Green said the certificate is a testament to high quality of education at ULAB. “It will help the ULAB students and faculty members to get insights about all aspects of public relations by participating in training, seminars, presentations, and access to a wealth of resources and materials,” he said.
Meanwhile, Angel Alloza said that the accreditation process of the GA is very stringent. The Academic Council of GA gives accreditation on the basis of multiple criteria which include program objective and learning outcome, program structure, academic leadership, students’ services, and learning environment. “We have seen that the MSJ program has met all the criteria. ULAB has an interdisciplinary, progressive, and research-intensive orientation. It offers opportunities for continuing education. The department has the necessary technological resources. The curriculum is well balanced in theory and practice with active apprenticeship programs in the various media” he said.
MSJ Department Head Professor Jude said that ULAB is committed to providing quality graduates for the industry. “We always work hard for making sure that graduates are ready in such a way what industry needs. We make sure that our curriculum is aligned with industry manpower requirements,” he added.
GA for Public Relations and Communication Management is the confederation of the world’s major public relations and communication management associations and institutions, representing over 320,000 practitioners and academics around the world. Its mission is to unify the public relations profession, raise professional standards all over the world, share knowledge for the benefit of its members and be the global voice for public relations in the public interest. Some of the universities and institutes that have received GA accreditation include LSPR Communication & Business Institute (Indonesia), Universidad San Martin de Porres (Peru), European Institute of Communications (Belgium/Ireland), Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK) and Public Relations Society of America (USA).