"A Story to Tell"

Perhaps you’ve seen the Press Release regarding the changes in the Communications majors. Perhaps you were a little confused by it, wondered how it will affect you, why the changes were made, and when changes will happen again.

Previously, students wishing to major in Communications could choose between Intercultural Communication or Organizational Communication. In August 2005, the Communication department added a new major, Community Journalism. They also changed the name of the Organizational Communication major to Corporate Communication and put more of an emphasis on public relations. Intercultural Communication was unchanged.

They also added new optional emphasis areas, meaning that students have the option to get a degree in Corporate or Interpersonal Communication or Community Journalism alone or they can choose an emphasis area to fortify their degree. For Interpersonal or Corporate Communication majors, the optional emphasis areas are business, global commerce, or media relations. For Community Journalism majors,

visual and broadcast media, design, or writing are optional emphasis areas to choose from.

According to Program Director Kate Joeckel, students shouldn’t feel much of an impact. Courses have been re-grouped, but the curriculum hasn’t changed.

The changes to the majors have been made in order to be more responsive to the needs of prospective employers. Dana faculty wants students to get good jobs after college and they feel that this gives students a head start. The addition of the Community Journalism major gives Dana more marketability in that Dana is one of only a few colleges offering the program.

When can you expect the Communications majors to change again? Joeckel says, “There is no set cycle for changes, but the Communications department has changed significantly during the last five to six years. We try to stay informed of trends in business and make changes accordingly.”