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Program Mission Statement

The Bachelor of Arts program in Communication Studies is dedicated to providing students with learning experiences to enable them to understand communication and its practice in a variety of relationships. Our Mission is to deliver learning opportunities of the highest quality that investigate the processes of human communication so our students become skilled researchers, writers, speakers, listeners, critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and leaders in the field of Communication Studies. We are committed to providing a faculty engaged in the research and teaching of communication theory and practice that examine the creation, transmission, and analysis of verbal, nonverbal and interpersonal messages as they occur within and among individuals, groups, organizations, and cultures. To achieve our mission learners will engage in experiences within and beyond the classroom that promote theoretical understanding and professional/personal practice of ethical human communication in the areas including but not limited to: rhetoric, persuasion, political, health, interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communication.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

Content/Discipline-Specific Knowledge/Skills

• Apply research methods appropriate to the communication professions to address relevant communication problems. Such methods include quantitative and qualitative research applied in primary and secondary research.
• Apply appropriate human communication theories in academic and professionally oriented work.
• Use the tools and technologies of mediated communication appropriately in the presentation and dissemination of messages.
• Empathetic to diversity in the significance and impact of human communication amongst the peoples and cultures of the world.
• Apply ethical principles to professional practice with rhetorical sensitivity in interpersonal, group, and organizational contexts.
• Connect scholarly research and academic inquiry with conflict management approaches and concepts to become active, contributing members of society.

Communication Skills

Construct messages in written, oral, and mediated forms appropriate to the purpose, the audience, and the occasion in the study of communication and professional practice.

Critical Thinking Skills

Conduct reasoned evaluation of information to assess its relevance, accuracy, purpose, and meaning. Reflectively constructs well-supported arguments intended to influence belief, attitudes, values, and practice.

Assessment Approaches

The B.A. in Communication Studies will utilize direct and indirect measures to assess student mastery of eight Student Learning Outcomes, called the Osprey 8. Direct Measures include a test of the Student Learning Outcomes (Osprey 8 test) at selected points in the students' progression through the major; Indirect Measures will include University Surveys of Graduating Seniors; and Alumni Surveys.