Communications

Communications is one of the most dynamic industries in the nation, employing more than a million people and providing hundreds of different career opportunities.

The Communications faculty has developed four different majors to assist students in selecting courses according to individual interests and career goals. Students may select a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree.

The Bachelor of Arts degree requires 12 credit hours in the same non-English modern or classical language or demonstration of proficiency at that level of study.

In order to enroll for any communications internship, a student must be of junior or senior standing and have consent of instructor.

Communications majors must earn 1) a 2.25 overall GPA for major coursework, and 2) a grade of C or better in any course applied toward any major or minor in the Department of Communications.

The mass communication majors of public relations and advertising, journalism, and radio and television adhere to the guidelines of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Students in these three majors must take a minimum of 80 hours in courses outside of these majors, including no fewer than 65 hours in arts and science courses. Liberal arts courses include all courses offered in the areas of anthropology, art, communication studies, criminology, economics, English, modern and classical languages, history, humanities, liberal arts, music, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, and theatre. Science courses include all courses offered in the areas of astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, mathematics, and physics. No more than 16 credit hours of lower division mass communication coursework (100-200 level) may be counted in the major.

Students in the three mass communication majors are required to take six hours of cognates: a three-hour course in gender studies and a three-hour course in ethnic diversity; both are subject to approval by students’ academic advisors. Freshman and transfer students must take six hours of diversity cognates.

Because of the 80-hour rule, mass communication majors who seek a double major in mass communications or who select a mass communication minor may need additional credit hours to graduate. No more than 12 credit hours of mass communication courses taken at a two-year college may be transferred into a mass communication degree program. Mass communication transfer courses not accepted toward the major cannot be used as elective credit toward the 124 hours required for a bachelor’s degree. Students in the three mass communication majors must pass the department’s grammar, spelling, and punctuation examination prior to being admitted to junior- and senior-level classes in the major; however, the GSP test is waived if a student earns a minimum C for ENG 101 and ENG 201 .