Communication Major

All students must complete a total of 41 credits within the major

Requirements are as follows:

• COM 105 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3 Cr.) Should be taken during the first year; needs to be taken before enrolling in 200-level courses.
• COM 132 - Writing for Film, Television, and Radio (3 Cr.) Needs to be taken before enrolling in 200-level courses in history, theory, and analysis.
• COM 262 - Research Methods in Communication Studies (3 Cr.) To be taken sophomore year after achieving college writing proficiency. Student needs to earn a B- or above for departmental writing proficiency.
• Three 300-level courses. At least two of these 300-level courses must center on critical/theoretical or historical issues. Can be taken only after achieving departmental writing proficiency and meeting 200-level prerequisites.
• COM 290
    - An internship of three or four credits in a field relevant to communication studies. To be taken after achieving at least nine credits in the major.

Writing Proficiency in the Major

Students are required to take COM 132  and COM 262  and achieve a grade of B- or better in COM 262  to be granted writing proficiency in the major. To achieve writing proficiency, students are expected to master the ability to

• write grammatically correct, syntactically sophisticated sentences and construct cohesive, effective paragraphs consistently and spontaneously;
• research and integrate information from multiple sources; and
• provide substantial and appropriate support for theses and propositions and demonstrate the correlating ability to develop and write well-reasoned arguments of merit in the field of communication studies.
• Students who fail to obtain writing proficiency in the major twice, will be dropped from the major.

Qualifications Required to Graduate with Departmental Honors

Honors are decided by a vote of the full-time and half-time faculty just prior to Commencement each year. The following guidelines are used to determine honors:

• Students must achieve a grade point average of at least 3.67 in all 200- and 300-level courses taken in the major to be considered for honors.
• No student will be considered for honors who has taken any 200- or 300-level course for the major pass/no pass, except for those courses that can only be taken on a pass/no pass basis (internship and applied video).
• Students must demonstrate via their course work or a senior thesis either (1) a superior grasp of communication and media studies theory, criticism, and/or history, or (2) creativity and substance in an applied skill.
• Students must complete a variety of rigorous courses in the major and should take courses from many of the full-time faculty.

Multiple Failed Courses

It is the department’s policy that students majoring in communication must receive at least a C- in every course taken toward the completion of the major. Any student who receives a grade below C- in more than two courses will not be permitted to continue in the major.