Journalism schools offer ample potential to revitalize the profession and practice of journalism while engaging communities. But many of them aren't stepping up to this challenge. This week on the Knight Blog, Eric Newton (senior advisor to the Knight Foundation president) offered a pointed example of how one journalism school's efforts at reform may be falling short.

In Do universities hear the critics of journalism education?, Newton responded to recent remarks by Indiana University provost Lauren Robel on the future of that university's award-winning J-school:

"[The provost announced plans to] "improve" the School of Journalism by running it out of Ernie Pyle Hall and mashing it into the College of Arts and Sciences where the scholars in charge will have their way with it. She said the journalism education reform Knight has been been writing about was part of the reason for change. Yet from all appearances, she knows nothing of our work.

"We've argued journalism education needs to grow. At Indiana, the discussion is about attrition. We think journalism education should become more important. At Indiana, the school is losing independence. Journalism schools should be nimble. At Indiana, they're increasing the layers of decision-makers. We say top professionals should be equal to scholars. They'll bury the pros in a college run by scholars.

As Newton notes, Knight has observed four transformational trends that characterize great journalism schools today:

1. Connect with the rest of the university.
2. Innovate with digital tools and techniques.
3. Master more open, collaborative approaches.
4. Become not just community information providers, but "teaching hospitals" that inform and engage their communities.

Change is hard and generally slow for any academic institution, but on this front urgency and innovation would benefit new journalists, communities, and journalism schools in the long run. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to get started on this path.

For instance, journalism schools that are seeking to enact the type of reform Knight envisions (and supports with funding) might start by partnering with community organizations and foundations already doing in local engagement projects -- and by getting students involved with engaging communities, not just covering them.

Indiana University is just one university wrestling with the future of journalism education. The University of Colorado is another, and there are many others. Times of transition are scary and may seem threatening, but they are also opportunities for growth -- as long as there's a real commitment to change and a willingness to experiment.