Advisory Templates

Advisory templates help to ensure students take classes appropriate to their interests. (Advisory templates are available in the menu to the right -->)

Read through the following important information for all Communication and Media Studies majors and find the advising templates below:

Writing Proficiency in the Major
Students are required to take COM 262 and achieve a grade of B- or better in order to be granted writing proficiency in the major. Students may not enroll in COM 262 until they have achieved college writing proficiency. In order 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
  • provide substantial and appropriate support for theses and propositions and the correlating ability to develop and write well-reasoned arguments of merit to the field of communication studies.

Computer Proficiency Requirement
Students meet their computer proficiency requirement by passing (with a grade of C- or better) Introduction to Communication Studies (COM 105). This course critically and ethically examines information revolutions including the current computer revolution. As part of the required course work, students are expected to learn to construct an Internet web page, be proficient in the use of word processing, and conduct Internet-based research. Students are also expected to gain an understanding of the social, political, and ethical issues surrounding the computer revolution and the advent of the Information Society.

Qualifications Required to Graduate with Departmental Honors
Honors are decided by a vote of the full-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 course for the major pass/no pass, except for those courses which can only be taken on a pass/no pass basis (internship and applied video).
  • The student must have demonstrated to the full-time department faculty a superior grasp of communication and media studies theory and/or applied skills. Such superiority can be demonstrated via either an academic senior thesis, a portfolio of superior written work or a theoretically grounded body of creative work which includes substantial written documentation.

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 fails to receive a grade above C- in more than two courses will not be permitted to continue in the major.

Internship
All majors are required to complete a minimum 3 credit internship. Students may not enroll for internship credit until they have completed 15 credits in the major. Normally, internships are completed during the junior or senior year or during the summer between the junior and senior year. Many students opt to complete two internships during their course of studies. Students may take up to 8 total credits in internship to apply toward the 120 credits needed to graduate. Only 6 credits, however, may be counted toward the completion of the Communication Major. Students interested in pursuing an internship need to follow these steps:

  • Determine what type of internship will best meet your career and intellectual needs
  • Make an appointment with the Career Development Office to help you with your search and to attain necessary forms and instructions
  • Find an internship, complete the required forms, take the forms to your advisor for his/her signature
  • Return the required, signed forms to the Career Development Office prior to the deadlines established each semester by SAS
  • Complete the internship by working 30 hours for each credit; keeping a journal of your activities and observations while on the job; writing a 3-4 page typed summary essay upon the completion of your internship; and, if applicable, constructing a portfolio of work completed
  • Submit the above to your advisor upon the completion of the internship and before the deadline established each semester by SAS

Advisory Templates: