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CURRENT 2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
Communication, BS
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Total number of hours for the program: 120.
Emphasizing leadership, teamwork, relationship-building, writing, storytelling, and proficiency in the use of digital audio, video, and multi-media production tools, the programs in communication are designed to help develop those skills consistently identified as the most in-demand for success in today’s world. Communication majors are required to complete a core program that includes interpersonal skill-building and professional development in their chosen field of study. In addition, students choose a concentration in Broadcasting, Health Communication, Interpersonal and Cultural Communication, Journalism, or Public Relations. With the required minor portion of the program, students are given the ability to customize their studies based on their own personal interests.
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Major Requirements
The major requires 40 hours including 19 hours in communication core courses and a 21-hour concentration. Communication Core (19 hours)
Required Practical Course:
Required Professional Courses:
Select two (2) of the following communication courses:
Note: Students in the Interpersonal and Cultural Communication Concentration must take COMM 312 and COMM 345. Concentrations (21 hours)
Broadcasting:
WCU’s Broadcasting concentration emphasizes the creative development and production involved with quality storytelling. Coursework includes instruction in writing, video shooting and editing, audio recording, and working with professional lighting, digital camera equipment and production software. Students also have the opportunity to work and learn in an advanced, network-quality digital television studio and in Jackson County, North Carolina’s only FM radio station, comparable to any major market radio station.
Select two (2) of the following Broadcasting courses:
Select three (3) hours of communication department electives
Health Communication:
The Health Communication concentration focuses on how people, individually and collectively, understand health and illness, as well as the role of communication and media in shaping professional health care messages and public acceptance of these messages. The program includes instruction in the development and use of health-related and care-related messages and media; the goals and strategies of health care promotion; relationships, roles, situations, and social structures in the context of health maintenance and promotion; and the applications of communication to disease prevention, treatment, and health advocacy. Select one (1) of the following communication courses:
Interpersonal and Cultural Communication:
The Interpersonal and Cultural Communication concentration focuses on how people communicate in interpersonal, small group, intercultural, professional, and public contexts. It includes instruction about cultural ideologies; theories and practices for managing interpersonal and group connections; and theories and strategies for social action. Emphasis is placed on face-to-face discursive behaviors in a variety of contexts related to individual and collective identity formation, conflict management, and cultural differences. Select three (3) of the following communication courses:
Select three (3) hours of communication department electives
Journalism:
The Journalism concentration provides the basis for a fascinating and challenging career in a field that is changing daily as digital technology continues to revolutionize the way news is gathered and distributed in today’s world. With required coursework that includes training in interviewing, writing, reporting, digital technology, journalism ethics, and investigative research, the program is designed for students to learn and apply the new innovations, best practices, and current skills required to succeed as a working journalist.
Select two (2) of the following communication courses:
Public Relations:
Spanning a variety of industries and organizational settings, today’s public relations professionals are responsible for building and maintaining a variety of important relationships for their organizations. The Public Relations concentration is designed to help students develop skills and gain practical, real-world experience in reputation management, crisis communication, integrated marketing communications, media relations, event marketing, public policy influence, and community outreach.
Select one (1) communication course from the following:
Select three (3) hours of communication department electives
General Requirements
To become a Communication major: The student must have a minimum overall GPA of 2.00. First semester freshman and transfer students can declare without an established GPA and are required to obtain a 2.00 GPA at the end of their first semester. Required prerequisites: All students must complete COMM 240 as a prerequisite to many communication classes. Program Completion: Students must pass with a grade of C (2.00) or better all required courses in the communication degree program. To complete the degree, a total of 38 additional hours is required, including a minor, second communication concentration, second major, or other approved program and student selected general electives. To meet one of the general university degree requirements, students must take at least 30 hours at WCU and must be at the junior-senior level.
The Health Communication concentration requires 21 hours. Students who have completed their Liberal Studies courses (42 hours) and the Health Sciences pre-professional major course requirements (20 hours) and who are in good academic standing shall have met the minor requirement for the communication major.
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