Download School of Communication

To:
University Curriculum Committee
From:
Laura Prividera, Chair of Curriculum Committee
School of Communication
Linda Kean, Interim Associate Director and Liaison
School of Communication
Date:
March 23, 2007
The School of Communication is submitting a packet of information that
represents substantial revisions to our current curriculum. The revised curriculum is a
culmination of market research, discipline trends and standards, students’ needs,
enrollment and resource management, guided curricula, and revised CIP coding. The
School of Communication faculty unanimously supported these changes and worked
together in the creation of this revised curriculum package.
Our current curriculum consists of two degrees, a BA and a BS in
Communication, with six concentrations: (1) BA Communication Studies, (2) BA Public
Relations, (3) BA Print Journalism, (4) BS Broadcast Journalism, (5) BS Media
Production, and (6) BS Media Studies.
Our revised curriculum will consist of one BS degree in Communication with
five concentrations: (1) BS Interpersonal/Organizational (formerly Communication
Studies), (2) BS Media Studies (3) BS Public Relations, (4) BS Journalism (formerly
Print Journalism and Broadcast Journalism), and (5) BS Media Production. Under our
new curriculum, all students will earn a BS in Communication. As with our previous
curriculum, all students completing a BS degree in Communication will complete 6
school hours of foreign language.
The following is a summary of our curricular changes as well as a more detailed
description and justification of these decisions.
Summary of Changes
1) The School of Communication has adopted a 12 s.h./four course core for all
concentrations. All students in the School of Communication must take the following:
COMM 1001 Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 Media Writing
COMM 2410 Public Speaking or 2420 Business and Professional Communication
Capstone course (Concentration Specific)
Students will declare their major upon entering ECU but must complete COMM 1001
and 1002 with a C or better before taking additional Communication courses.
2) In our current curriculum, we have a concentration titled Media Studies. The
original intent of this concentration was to allow students to combine more than one area
of emphasis, e.g. public relations and media production. Although the idea was a good
one, we have found that the emphasis is difficult to deliver both pedagogically and
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practically. Additionally, the Media Studies description was not commensurate with
disciplinary trends that situate media studies as a critical analysis and critique of
contemporary media and mediated forms of communication. Therefore, the Media
Studies area as it was originally structured has been substantially revised.
3) Our broad based Communication Studies concentration has become more
focused on the areas of Interpersonal and Organizational Communication. In this
concentration, students explore human interaction and relationships and message
construction within organizational settings.
4) Our Public Relations curriculum will change very little in its face to face
delivery of the program. What is changing is the online delivery of this program. The
School of Communication is committed to Distance Education (DE). Our current online
concentration is in Media Studies, with students taking classes in both PR and
Journalism. We have found that student needs and our ability to deliver the program
would be enhanced if we dropped the Journalism portion of that online degree and
focused solely on Public Relations.
5) Our Print and Broadcast Journalism concentrations have combined to form one
emphasis in Journalism. Our new Journalism emphasis embraces a converged curriculum
that is standard across universities throughout the US. This is described in detail under
the Journalism segment of this memo.
6) Our Media Production curriculum has been retooled to provide an intense focus
on moving images or more colloquially, video. Students will learn how to build
messages using a script, a single camera and a computer editing platform. The video solo
camera has proven to be one of the most expressive tools in communication. Therefore,
developing the skills necessary to master single-camera production is the focus of the
revised Media Production concentration.
7) Currently, we have two minors, one in Communication Studies and another in
Media Studies. The former will be revised while the later will eventually be phased out.
The revised Communication Studies minor represents the theoretical components of
communication within the contexts of interpersonal, media, group, organizations, and
culture. In simple terms, several courses will be added to the Communication Studies
minor while a few courses will be deleted. Due to the nature of the classes in the Media
Studies minor, small in size and equipment-dependent, we found we could not continue
to offer these classes to both minors and majors.
Review of the School of Communication’s Five Revised Concentrations:
Interpersonal/Organizational Communication
The Communication Studies emphasis has been divided into two areas:
Interpersonal and Organizational and Media Studies. Interpersonal/Organizational
Communication is widely studied across colleges and universities throughout the U.S.
This revised emphasis represents a degree focused on an analysis of human and social
interaction and message construction for organizational and professional settings.
However, it does retain many of the same courses as previously listed in the
Communication Studies emphasis. The main difference is that our revised series of
course offerings is more focused on the theoretical and applied components of human
communication. This area is knowledge-based and practically oriented to prepare
students for future job placement where human communication skills are paramount to
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organizational goals. As such, the degree has moved from a BA in Communication to a
BS in Communication.
Required Communication Major Courses: (12 s.h.)
COMM 1001 – Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 – Introduction the Media Writing
COMM 2410 – Public Speaking or COMM 2420 Business and Professional Comm
Capstone: COMM 4080 – Senior Seminar or COMM 4060 – Special Problems in
Communication
IPC/ORG Concentration Requirements
(21 s.h.)
COMM 2030 – Research Methods
COMM 3110 – Persuasion Theories
COMM 3142 – Small Group Communication
COMM 3152 – Interpersonal Communication
COMM 3160 – Organizational Communication1
Choose One: 3 s.h.
COMM 3180 – Intercultural Communication
COMM 4135 – Gender and Communication
Choose One: 3 s.h.
COMM 3172 – Media Effects
COMM 4905 – Media Ethics
COMM 4040 – Media, Culture, and Society
COMM 4045 – Media Literacy for Professionals
COMM 3380 – Computer-Mediated Communication
COMM 4400 – Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
Communication Electives
9 s.h.
Media Studies
Our Media Studies degree has been substantially revised. The goal of Media
Studies is to critically examine mass and mediated forms of communication. More
specifically, this curriculum focuses on the analysis and criticism of media institutions
and media texts, how people experience and understand media content, and the roles of
media in producing and transforming culture. Our revised concentration is commensurate
with these goals and discipline trends. The concentration is as follows:
Required Communication Major Courses: (12 s.h.)
COMM 1001 – Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 – Introduction the Media Writing
COMM 2410 – Public Speaking Or COMM 2420 Business and Professional Comm
Capstone: COMM 4080 – Senior Seminar or COMM 4060 – Special Problems in
Communication
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Media Studies Concentration Requirements (21 s.h.)
COMM 2030 – Research Methods
COMM 3172 – Media Effects
COMM 4040—Media, Culture, & Society
COMM 4045 – Media Literacy for Professionals
COMM 4000 – Media Ethics
Choose One: 3 s.h.
COMM 3180 – Intercultural Communication
COMM 4135 – Gender and Communication
Choose One: 3 s.h.
COMM 3142 – Small Group Communication
COMM 3152 – Interpersonal Communication
COMM 3110 – Persuasion Theories
COMM 3160 – Organizational Communication
COMM 3380 – Computer-Mediated Communication
COMM 4400 – Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
Communication Electives
9 s.h.
Public Relations
Our Public Relations emphasis has received minor changes that illustrate
theoretical and applied skills for the public relations professional. In summary, a PR
writing course has been added (Comm 2104) as a requirement to the concentration.
Additionally, a more focused list of Interpersonal, Media, and Diversity/Culture courses
has been included – because these courses are most needed for the Public Relations
professional. Finally, to be consistent with the goals and aims of the PR professional, the
degree has moved from a BA to a BS degree in Communication.
Because most distance education students were interested in the PR portion of the
Media Studies curriculum and because this was the portion of the curriculum that was
delivered in an online format, the SOC faculty has unanimously approved our PR
curriculum to be executed in both a face to face and Distance Education format.
The BS in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations is as follows:
Required Communication Major Courses—12 s.h.
COMM 1001 – Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 – Media Writing
COMM 2410 Public Speaking OR COMM 2420 Business and Professional
Communication
Capstone: 4080 – Senior Seminar
Public Relations Majors Required courses—27 s.h.
COMM 2030 Communication Research
COMM 2104 PR and Corporate Writing
COMM 2320 Basic Reporting
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COMM 3120 PR Theory
COMM 4180 PR Strategies
Interpersonal Communication Courses
Choose 6 s.h. from the following:
COMM 3110 Persuasion
COMM 3142 Small Group Communication
COMM 3152 Interpersonal Communication
COMM 3160 Organizational Communication
COMM 4130 Conflict and Communication
Advanced Design Courses
Choose 3 s.h. from the following:
COMM 3310 Copy Edit and Design
COMM 3362 Visual Editing
COMM 3500 Web Design
Mass Media Theory Courses:
Choose 3 s.h. from the following:
COMM 3172 Media Effects
COMM 3520 Sports Media Survey
COMM 4032 Mass Media Law
COMM 4040 Media Culture and Society
COMM 4905 Media Ethics
Intercultural/Diversity Experience courses:
Choose 3 s.h. from the following:
COMM 3180 Intercultural Communication
COMM 4185 International PR
COMM 4135 Gender and Communication
COMM electives: 3 s.h.
Journalism
In journalism, people now talk about “media platforms” that have converged and
are converging more. At universities across the U.S. and beyond, journalism educators
are redesigning their programs to meet those changing realities for journalists, news
audiences—and journalism students. Evolving, too, is the journalism program at ECU’s
School of Communication.
“Media platform” refers to a technology for delivering news and information. The
newspaper is a print platform. TV is a broadcast, or electronic, platform. The InternetWeb is a digital platform. “Convergence” refers to the merging of so-called “old media”
platforms—print and broadcast—with such “new media,” or digital, platforms as the
Internet-Web, cell phone, PDA and iPod. A newspaper reporter, for example, no longer
works in print only. She may also prepare stories, or “content,” for her newspaper’s TV
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partner and for its digital edition on the Internet-Web. She now works across platforms;
she does converged, or multiple-media, journalism.
Today’s journalists must have cross-platform skills to be marketable. And today’s
university journalism programs must reflect that reality in their curricula. For university
journalism programs, it is a simple choice: evolve—stay current and relevant—or get left
behind. And for ECU’s School of Communication, the choice was simple: evolve.
Here is the rationale for the school’s Journalism Guided Curriculum:
To better serve students, the school merged its two journalism sequences into a
single one. Now, under the proposed guided curriculum, there is one streamlined
Journalism Sequence, rather than a separate BA in print and a separate BS in broadcast
journalism.
To better serve students, the proposed guided curriculum streams students through
courses aimed at equipping them with the cross-platform skills they need to succeed in
today’s converged journalism. The proposed curriculum allows students to specialize in
print or broadcast or Internet-Web journalism and to acquire those additional, crossplatform competencies that they feel they need to reach the career goals they set for
themselves.
To better serve students, the proposed guided curriculum incorporates the
competencies set by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication. That, in turn, well positions the school for its eventual application for
national accreditation. Also, the proposed curriculum meets the competency requirements
set by the school.
To better serve students, the proposed guided curriculum ensures that the school’s
journalism majors are exposed to a survey overview of the theoretical approaches in
communication, and to the legal and theoretical issues that are unique to mass-mediated
communication, journalism included.
There are a few final points to make. Under the proposed, streamlined Journalism
Guided Curriculum, students may easily complete the degree in four years. Also, the
proposed guided curriculum provides the school’s course schedulers with greater
predictability. It gives them greater certainty about how many sections of each required
course the school needs to offer each semester.
Required Communication Major Courses—12 s.h.
COMM 1001 Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 Media Writing
COMM 2410 Public Speaking or COMM 2420 Business and Professional
Communication
Capstone: COMM 4293—Editing and Producing the News or COMM 3321—
Investigative Reporting
Journalism Majors: Required courses—15 s.h.
COMM 2320 Basic Reporting
COMM 2210 Writing for the Electronic Mass Media
COMM 3220 Video Field Production
COMM 3320 Advanced Reporting
COMM 4032 Mass Media Law or COMM 4042 First Amendment Law
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Journalism Advanced Skills: Choose 9 s.h. from the following:
COMM 2230 Announcing
COMM 3310 Copy Edit and Design
COMM 3311 Business and Economic Reporting
COMM 3321 Investigative Reporting
COMM 3322 Computer Assisted Reporting
COMM 3330 Feature Writing
COMM 3500 Web Design
COMM 4293 Editing and Producing the News
Mass Media Theory: Choose 6 s.h. from the following:
COMM 3172 Media Effects
COMM 3390 International News Communication
COMM 3520 Sports Media Survey
COMM 4040 Media Culture and Society
COMM 4045 Media Literacy
COMM 4075 Media Criticism
COMM 4135 Gender and Communication
COMM 4905 Media Ethics
Media Production
The Media Production curriculum has been retooled to provide an intense focus
on the premiere communicative medium of our time: moving images, or more
colloquially, video. Just as a rhetorician builds her or his speech with logical
construction and pleasing aesthetics, so our communicators build their messages using a
script, a single camera and a computer editing platform.
The video solo camera has proven to be one of the most potentially expressive
tools in communication. Therefore, developing the skills necessary to master singlecamera production is the focus of the new curriculum. The course progression is designed
to produce fluent communicators in this area. The skills developed can be, and in the
curriculum are, used in a wide array of genres: documentary, news, music video,
entertainment, etc. Further the video produced can be distributed in an expanding
number of media: broadcast television, cable television, home video, and the internet.
Thus, this intensified focus will paradoxically expand the opportunities available to our
students.
Because media production is so broad a discipline, we will also offer courses in
related fields: multi-camera television, audio, and even Web design. These will
supplement rather than supplant the main focus.
A comparison of our program to other nationally recognized schools, including
private universities such as Northwestern University and state institutions such as Florida
State University, shows that our approach is both well established and gaining ground. A
quick glance at Northwestern’s program (available online at
http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/rtf/) shows that their curriculum, like ours,
requires courses in history and aesthetics and focuses on single-camera video. Similarly,
Florida State’s program (available online at http://media.comm.fsu.edu/) focuses on
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digital video as a means of personal creative expression that reaches the audience through
a variety of channels.
In short, our modifications to the existing curriculum are based on established
models, and on our own evaluation of the state of the industry and its likely future.
Required Communication Core Courses (12 s.h.)
COMM 1001 – Introduction to Communication
COMM 1002 – Media Writing
COMM 2410 – Public Speaking OR COMM 2420 Business and Professional
Communication
Capstone: COMM 4250 – Media Production Capstone
Media Production Concentration Required Courses (30 s.h.)
COMM 2210 Writing for the Electronic Mass Media
COMM 2215 Audio Production
COMM 2220 Video Production
COMM 2260 Image Theory and Aesthetics
COMM 3020 Videography & Lighting
COMM 3250 Video Post Production
COMM 3275 Advanced Video Production
COMM 3235 Advanced Writing for Media or COMM 3215 Advanced Audio Production
or COMM 3500 Interactive Media Design
COMM 3660 History of the Moving Image
COMM 4210 Video Direction or COMM 4280 Digital Practicum for Professional
Distribution
6 Communication Election Hours
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