Communication

Students may earn either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Communication. Students majoring in Communication are often interested in careers in media, public relations, journalism, marketing, advertising, event planning, sports, politics, and law. Students are also prepared to enter and succeed in graduate school should they choose to pursue that option upon graduation. Students develop and improve skills such as researching, writing, editing, listening, speaking, interpersonal communication, and reasoning.

Communication Program Learning Outcomes

Students will learn to communicate effectively.

Data: Senior thesis rubrics
Benchmark: The mean score will be 80 or higher on the senior thesis rubric (out of 100).
Note: Sub-scores can be examined to determine how students written, verbal, organizational, logical, and critical thinking communication skills compare.

Goal: Students will learn to communicate ethically.

Data: Ethical Quality scale
Benchmark: The mean score will be 5 or above on the EQ scale (7-point scale).
Note: Outside evaluation of ethical communication is a more reliable measure than self-report measures as they tend to be skewed.

Goal: Students will be confident in their communication skills.

Data: Personal Report of Communication Apprehension scores
Benchmark: The mean score will be below 70 (120 max score, above 72 is considered apprehensive).
Note: Sub-scores can be examined to determine what communication contexts students arrest confident in. Sub-scores include: interpersonal, small group, meeting, and public speaking.

Goal: Students will be prepared for jobs in communication-related fields.

Data: Job placement rates
Benchmark: 70% of students will be working in a communication-related field, or attending graduate school, within six months after graduation.
Note: Students job placement rates will be collected and categorized after several years of stat collection to determine the frequency and type of jobs that graduates are obtaining.