The department offers courses leading to the bachelor of arts degree in communications, with an emphasis in either print or broadcast journalism. Students seeking a degree will be required to complete the following outline of courses:

COMMUNICATIONS REQUIREMENTS

General Education Core               47 credit hours
Communications Major                 42 credit hours
Liberal Arts Concentration           21 credit hours
Restricted and Free Electives        18 credit hours
                                    _______________
Total                               128 credit hours

All students majoring in communications must take the 
following sequence of required courses:

   CO 317 Introduction to Mass Communications
   CO 251 Basic News Writing
   CO 252 Basic Reporting
   CO 460 Communication Law & Ethics

Depending on their choice of emphasis, students must take 
the following courses:

Print Emphasis                      Broadcast Emphasis
   CO 352 Copyediting                  CO 211 Television Production
   CO 353 Advanced Reporting           CO 221 Radio Production
   CO 357 Layout and Design            CO 348 Broadcast Journalism
   CO 361 Intro. to Still Photo        CO 448 Adv. Broadcast Journalism

The remaining 18 hours for the communications major may be 
chosen from the following courses:

   CO 212 Adv. TV Production	       CO 417 Research Methods
   CO 231 Radio News Production        CO 451 Public Relations
          and Announcing               CO 452 Advertising
   CO 301 Mass Media and Minorities    CO 457 Infographics and
   CO 341 Broadcast Management                 Website Creation
   CO 342 Understanding Movies         CO 461 Public Relations
   CO 343 Understanding Television     CO 462 Adv. Copy and Layout
   CO 351 On-Line Journalism           CO 481 Photojournalism
   CO 354 Feature Writing              CO 485 Videomaking
   CO 370 School Publications          CO 495 Internship

Every student majoring in communications must take at least 80 hours of courses outside the major; at least 65 of these hours must be in courses from the liberal arts.

Because we believe every student who seeks to understand and practice communications must have a strong background in some area of specialized knowledge, every student must, in addition to the communications major, complete a concentration of 21 credit hours in some discipline or combination of disciplines in the liberal arts. Recommended concentrations include economics, English, history, music, political science, and sociology. In some instances, the natural sciences and mathematics may also be suitable. The specific courses in the liberal arts concentration will be determined by consultation with the student's advisor and the department offering the concentration.

Finally, each student majoring in communications must take 24 hours of restricted and free electives. The restricted electives are EN 314 Applied Grammar, EN 316 Advanced Composition, and EN 362 Prose Analysis. The free electives may be taken from any area in the university, but they may not be communications courses.

Before being admitted to CO 251 Basic Newswriting students must take and pass a qualifying examination, consisting of sections on reading comprehension, basic grammatical usage, and essay writing. They must also demonstrate basic proficiency in typing and computer skills.

Before graduating, students must take and pass a comprehensive exit exam in their area of concentration.