Mar 28, 2024  
2019-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2019-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Communication/Journalism, Public Relations Concentration, B.A.


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The public relations professional emphasis prepares students for careers working in media relations, public affairs and digital strategic communications. The department offers a wide range of PR classes that not only teach students how to research, create, design and implement strategic communication plans and campaigns, but also how to use social media effectively in commercial, non-profit and governmental environments. Students have the opportunity to get involved in the PR departments of our student media groups and to join and lead our chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), a network of more than 11,000 students across the nation who study and practice professional public relations for real-world clients.

Note:


All students completing a Bachelor of Arts degree are required to attain proficiency in a foreign language. Proficiency may be satisfied by completing a language class at the 103 (intermediate) level or three years of any one foreign language in high school. Students may also meet this requirement through AP testing or CLEP testing.

42 crs.


All majors must take 42 credits in the Communication/Journalism major to graduate.

The Communication/Journalism major consists of a required Communication/Journalism Core (5 courses; 15 credits), a student-selected Professional Emphasis (4 courses; 12 credits), and Communication/Journalism Electives (5 courses; 15 credits).

Theory and Writing Core (15 crs.)


Each student must complete COM 111  and COM 112  with a C or better grade before taking any other communication/journalism courses:

Each student must have the appropriate class standing before taking the final two core courses (6 crs.):


Prior to taking COM 355  students must have Jr. standing and have taken the following: COM 201  & COM 241 , or COM 285  & COM 293 , or COM 224  & COM 284 

Note:


Once a student has selected a professional emphasis area, he or she can transfer to another area if there is an opening in that emphasis and with the permission of the student’s academic advisor.

Professional Emphasis (12 crs.)


General Education Requirements


Foundations (15-16 crs.)


Foundational courses coupled with other experiences provide students with their core First Year Experience, providing opportunities to develop the requisite quantitative, analytical, written communication, and oral communication skills needed to succeed while in college and throughout life after college. Five program goals express the purpose of these foundational courses and how they support student success.

Interconnections (9 crs.)


This curriculum will provide students with opportunities to explore human behavior, social interactions, and global communities through humanities and the social and behavioral sciences. Open discourse about the causes and consequences of human behavior and thought, and the interconnectedness of societies revealed by examining traditions and structures, provides a pathway to mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse world.

Three program goals express what we will do for students. Each goal has an associated rubric that outlines what we expect students to learn or accomplish. Students must complete three (3) courses in this curriculum, with at least one (1) course being a diversity course (‘D’ rubric) and at least one (1) course being a global perspectives course (‘G’ rubric).

Citizenship and Responsibility (6 crs.)


This curriculum will provide students with opportunities to consider the function and development of institutions, as well as their own responsibilities in society. Tools for development of students as informed and responsible citizens can include study of principles and research in social science, analysis of the development of social and political systems and practices, application of critical analysis and reasoning, and contemplation of ethics and values. Each goal has an associated rubric that outlines what we expect students to learn or accomplish.

Students are required to complete two (2) courses (or their equivalents) in this curriculum, with no more than one (1) course being attributed with the same program goal.

Citizenship


Guide and prompt students to understand responsible citizenship through the development of ideas of citizenship and rights, how society protect or fails to protect basic rights, and avenues for individual or collective action.

Ethical Reasoning


Guide and prompt students to identify ethical theories or guidelines and apply appropriate ethical reasoning to reach conclusions and support moral judgments.

Natural World and Technology (9 crs.)


This curriculum will provide students the opportunity to learn how new knowledge is created by applying scientific principles and technology to address historical and contemporary questions. Two program goals express what we will do for students. Each goal has an associated rubric that outlines what we expect students to learn or accomplish.

Students must complete 3 courses in this curriculum, with at least two (2) courses (or their equivalents) involving the natural world (‘N’ rubric).

Creativity and Expression (6 crs.)


This part of the curriculum will provide students with opportunities to explore artistic and literary disciplines and their modes of expression, considering the processes by which artistic works are imagined and created as well as the analytical tools for describing and appraising works of art and literature. Each goal has an associated rubric that outlines what we expect students to learn or accomplish.

Students must complete two (2) courses (or their equivalents) in this curriculum, with one (1) course being a literature course (‘L’ rubric)and one course in either the arts or creativity (‘A’ or ‘C’ rubrics).

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