U of Ottawa suspends its Bachelor of Journalism program

The University of Ottawa will not be accepting students in its Francophone four-year Bachelor of Journalism program this fall and it may discontinue the program altogether. It has been run in partnership with Algonquin College and La Cité. A story in Le Droit, says that the decision is an outcome of a scathing report issue in May 2012 by the university Senate.

"It seems that these" programs "are nothing more than experiments. They are poorly constructed and undermine the reputation of the University," said the previously confidental report, obtained by the paper. "In light of the extent of the difficulties faced by these programs," the committee said a complete overhaul of these programs was warranted - or their outright abolition. The committee said the problem had essentially been ignored for a decade by U of O administration. 

Students who are enrolled now will be able to carry on as will 36 freshmen enrolled for September. Other students will begin their studies in journalism in one of the colleges.