Communication Degrees Online

Communication
Did you know that you communicate every second of your life and that there is no way to stop it? It’s true. A degree in Communication from Greenville College will help you understand the way you communicate. COM students are prepared to lead groups, debate with the best of them, and understand interpersonal and gender issues. You can use your skills to go into mass media, theatre, public speaking … the possibilities are endless.

The Dietzman Center houses the Communication Department including WGRN, GC’s student-run radio station. COM students have many opportunities to get involved. From WGRN management to Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Honors Society, you’ll find plenty to keep your interest and build professional skills.

The professors in the Communication Department want to help you become the best “world” citizen possible. This means that they invest in you as a person, not only as a student. GC’s COM Department has one passionate professor for each major emphasis. One of them has a textbook being used in classrooms worldwide. Each prof cares about you and where you are headed.

The communication process constitutes the fabric of human society. This relational process is woven into personal, community, business, artistic, and religious life – and into the dialogue among the cultures and nations of the world.

Critical examination of this process describes, interprets, and evaluates these relationships. As faculty in the Department of Communication Arts, we seek to assist students in becoming effective, creative, and ethically responsible communicators who can understand theoretical choices and design, express, interpret, and critically evaluate oral, written, nonverbal, and electronically mediated messages. Communication, as an academic discipline, draws upon the humanities, the social and natural sciences, and the professions. The Communication Arts faculty have multidisciplinary backgrounds that enrich the academic and cultural environment of the University and the department.

The curriculum is both conceptual and applied. Courses prepare for an in-depth exploration of one or more areas of inquiry. Bachelor of Arts degrees are offered in these areas: (1) applied communication studies; (2) broadcast studies; (3) journalism; (4) public relations; (5) speech communication; and (6) theatre arts.

Additionally, we offer a minor in advertising that is jointly taught by Communication Arts and Marketing faculty. The pedagogy combines lecture, seminar, production, and performance. The intent of our program is to guide students toward academic excellence and realistic career goals. Communication Arts at Gonzaga reflect the Catholic, Jesuit character and liberal arts tradition of the Institution.

The Communication Arts Department offers a number of opportunities for Service Learning classes, internships, a class in communication and cultural diversity and opportunities for broadcasting, newspaper, magazine and theater productions. Students are also eligible for membership in Iota Rho, the Gonzaga Chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Honor Society of the National Communication Association.

Note: No upper-division courses may be applied to two separate majors and/or minors within the Department of Communication Arts, with the exception of COMM 305 and COM 364.

Communication Resources
The Department of Communication maintains an extensive video library of important media events over the past five decades and provides video editing suites in Carlyle Campbell Library to teach students how to shoot and edit videos. The communication faculty also provides contacts from the professional world.

Student Organizations

Communication Club
The communication club provides an opportunity for the education and fellowship of Meredith College communication majors and those interested in the fields of interpersonal and mass communication. The club seeks to offer opportunities for growth and development in the communication field, including panels, speakers, internships, socials and networking relationships.

Lambda Pi Eta
The honor society of communication, Lambda Pi Eta, recognizes and rewards outstanding scholastic achievement in communication studies. The purpose of Lambda Pi Eta is to promote and encourage professional development among communication majors, to provide an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas in the field of communication and to establish and maintain closer relationships and mutual understanding between communication studies faculty and students.

The requirements for membership are as follows:
GPA of 3.0 with 60 semester or 90 quarter credit hours completed.
GPA of 3.25 in communication studies with 12 semester or 18 quarter credit hours completed.

Speakers and Events
Throughout the communication curriculum, guest speakers will bring their expertise and knowledge to many communication classes. Past guest speakers include, Kevin Miller, morning air personality and program director at WPTF-AM, Don Curtis, president of Curtis Media Group, Ted Vaden, public editor of The News and Observer, and Sharon Delaney, anchor and reporter for NBC-17.

Internships
Radio Disney/ESPN Radio, MSNBC, Clear Channel Communications, Infinity Broadcasting, Republican National Committee, Atlantic Records, AFLAC Insurance, KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh Magazine, Bynum Advertising, and the Milton S. Hershey Foundation.

Speaker Series
The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Speaker Series has attracted such speakers as the deputy chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army, vice president for communication and marketing at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, award-winning photojournalist with the Philadelphia Inquirer, and two former U.S. Congressmen.

Student Clubs
Three student-run campus media organizations: ETV, the Spectator, and WFSE-FM; Boro Online, a community web publication; PRSSA; and Lambda Pi Eta. In addition, the department coordinates the annual Edinboro Highland Games and Scottish Festival.

Successful Alumni
Graduates are enjoying careers all over the world with such employers as: National Public Radio, St. Bonaventure University, WJW-TV in Cleveland, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, Richmond the American International University in London, the Mayor’s Office for the City of Pittsburgh, and the Erie Times-News.

Highlights
Dr. Andrew Smith was awarded a Senior Fulbright Scholarship for 1998-99 to lecture and conduct research in Morocco. The project opened areas of research and teaching that continue today. In addition, the department has been awarded charters for Lambda Pi Eta, the official honor society of the National Communication Association, and the Public Relations Student Society of America. The department was one of just 15 colleges and universities in the nation to receive a bid to host a PRSSA Regional Activity in 2008.

Graduates of our program find jobs as writers, anchors, directors, disc jockeys, station managers, casting directors, producers, public relations managers, newspaper reporters, editors, media buyers, copy writers, and speech writers.

Graduates also find jobs in the business world as sales executives, managers, public information officers, and human resource managers.

Starting Salaries after completing the program (estimates only)

$35,000 to $50,000.

Campus organizations and activities affiliated with the program

The Lion’s Roar, the student newspaper
KSLU, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting radio station
The Southeastern Channel, a cable television channel that reaches over 90,000 households
Lambda Pi Eta and Pi Delta Epsilon honor societies
The Public Relations Student Society of America
The SLU Press Club
The SLU Debate Team

Related fields that might interest you

English
Psychology
Marketing
Management

How do I know this is the degree for me?
Common Strengths and interests of students in the program

Good oral and written communication skills
Curiosity and interest in human behavior
Ability to meet deadlines
Creativity

Forensics Program. A nationally recognized forensic program provides individualized training in competitive intercollegiate debate, and individual events such as persuasive, extemporaneous, impromptu and expository speaking.

Many of the programs offered by the School of Communication are closely related to students’ academic activities. Student Clubs and Organizations available through the School include Lambda Pi Eta.

Student organizations provide social and alumni events, career-related programs, field trips, and guest speakers. New members are always welcome and information about the organizations and how to contact club officers is available from the School of Communication office.

Work Experience. Internship programs that place students in work situations requiring the direct application of the skills learned in the classroom help students gain greater insight into the career they are about to enter, and also provide employers a glimpse of the capabilities of potential employees.