Course Descriptions
Communications
COM 245
Writing for the Media
3 credits
This course is designed to improve effectiveness in communication by developing prewriting, writing, and rewriting skills. Students will learn how to organize their ideas in a clear, methodical manner with emphasis on concept development. This course will explore various techniques used to produce scripts for spot advertisements, corporate video, television pilots, and features (movies). Students will produce scripts for radio and television spots and a short corporate video, as well as go through the story development process for a feature-length screenplay or television pilot.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 121
COM 250
Technical Writing
3 credits
This course introduces the requirements for designing and developing technical documentation. Students will define audience and purpose, determine appropriate format and style, improve the clarity and organization of writing, and review and edit work effectively. Students also will discuss teamwork and oral communication and presentation skills
Prerequisite(s): ENG 122
COM 255
Communication Editing
3 credits
Thorough, careful, and sensitive editing is needed to prepare written material for time-pressed readers. This course teaches four types of editing (revising, substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading) for multiple forms of writing. The capstone project combines these skills for a hypothetical website.Prerequisite(s): ENG 122
COM 260
Social Media Management
3 credits
This course will take an in-depth look at social media for business uses, including setting social media goals, finding the proper media platforms for specific purposes, using analytics to achieve goals, and more. An introduction to social media distribution tools like Hootsuite and others will be included. COM 300
Communication Theory
3 credits
This course examines various popular theories of interpersonal and mass communication, with emphasis on mass communication. The ways in which society and mass communication affect each other are critically examined, with the goal of developing the students’ own ideas, opinions, and preferences concerning these theories. Students will receive practical assistance in the areas of speaking, reading, writing, listening, and research. An advanced library orientation has been incorporated as part of this course.
Prerequisite(s): COM 245 or ENG 122.
COM 310
Legal Aspects of Communication
3 credits
Students will examine various aspects of the law and mass communications in America. Special emphasis will be given to the evolution of present day interpretations of the First Amendment, censorship, libel, obscenity, privacy and public access to the media. In addition, students will study copyright law and government regulation of the media.
COM 314
Technical Communications and Project Management
3 credits
This course focuses on many types of writing assignments faced in the technical and business worlds. Program planning and project management skills are emphasized as students work individually and in groups on a variety of increasingly complex assignments in short formats. Projects are drawn from case studies simulating real world assignments in a variety of industries. Students practice their skills by writing the various types of documents, including technical correspondence, analytical reports, proposals and PowerPoint presentations.
Prerequisite(s): COM 250
COM 332
Managing Crisis Communications
3 credits
In addition to possessing excellent verbal and written skills, today's professional communicator must be prepared to produce crisis communication plans. Students will learn to identify crisis communications teams and spokespersons, train spokespersons in dealing with the media, establish notification systems, identify stakeholders, and develop key messages. Students will have the opportunity to create a full crisis communications plan as part of their final project.
COM 344
Writing and Reporting for the News Media
3 credits
This course examines how to report, write, and edit news for the mass media, including newspapers, magazines, newsletters, radio, television and digital outlets. Using Associated Press style, emphasis will be on methods and styles of writing pertaining to various media, stressing differences in the approach demanded by each medium.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 122
COM 355
Advanced Technical Communication
3 credits
Advanced Technical Communication will continue the work of the introductory course, COM 250, covering the requirements for designing and developing technical documentation. Students will further define audience and purpose, determine appropriate format and style, improve the clarity and organization of writing, and review and edit work effectively. Project work will require teamwork, oral communication, and presentation skills. This course provides specific training for the Certified Professional Technical Communication™ (CPTC™) exam (an optional offering). Contact College of Arts & Sciences for testing dates.
(CPTC™ is a trade mark of the Society for Technical Communication.)Prerequisite(s): COM 250 and ENG 122
COM 365
Advanced Reporting
3 credits
This course continues the work of COM 344. It examines how to report, write, and edit news for the mass media, including newspapers, magazines, newsletter, radio, and television. Emphasis will be on methods and styles of writing pertaining to various media, stressing differences in the approach demanded by each medium. Additionally, use of analytics will be emphasized, leading to a final reporting project analyzing data on a particular topic and resulting in a publishable article. Use of standard industry style - Associated Press - is required in this course.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 122, COM 344, MAT 308
COM 390
Current Trends in Social Media
3 credits
This course will continue the work of COM 260 in examining social media for business uses, with an emphasis on using analytics to achieve goals, and reviewing current issues in social media. Practice using social media distribution tools like Hootsuite will be included. Other tools like Google Analytics will be examined. The final project will focus on a special problem or issue in which analytics will be used to complete the assignment.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 122, COM 260
COM 400
Co-Op Experience
3 credits
This course will provide students with real-world experience in the field of communication where they will become acquainted with daily operations, while enhancing their professional skills and interacting with other communication professionals. This course will include a portfolio component.
Prerequisite(s): Student needs at least 60 credits completed and a minimum GPA of 2.5. This course requires approval from the Program Chair and the Director of Cooperative Education.
COM 402
Co-Op Experience
3 credits
This course will provide students with real-world experience in the field of communication where they will become acquainted with daily operations, while enhancing their professional skills and interacting with other communication professionals. This course will include a portfolio component.
Prerequisite(s): Student needs at least 60 credits completed and a minimum GPA of 2.5. This course requires approval from the Program Chair and the Director of Cooperative Education.
COM 431
Media and Society
3 credits
This course examines the mass media and its influence on society. Students will compare how the press and the television and entertainment industries create images and perceptions for or against established social and political structures at home and overseas. The course will make students conversant with the economic, social, political, and cultural pressures that structure the way the media is produced and provide them with an understanding of the same theories against which it is measured.
COM 495
Communication Capstone
3 credits
This course presents the capstone to academic studies in communication, which allows the student to practice and display the skills developed throughout the program.
The student will work as a professional -- developing a news report topic (either print/digital hard news or feature format) in consultation with the instructor, report on it by conducting research and interviews, adding electronic or digital enhancements, and then pulling that together into a usable print/digital news package.
Additional course study can include analysis of ethical situations in communication, and review of communication law and theory, among other topics.
The student will develop a professional portfolio online, into which work projects can be posted.
Prerequisite(s): Senior status (at least 90 credits), ENG 310, COM 344, MAT 308
COM 499
Communication Ethics
3 credits
This course presents an overview of ethics as it applies to media communication and its practical applications in the communication field. Topics include ethical origins and theories, ethical principles and standards, free speech, responsibility, accountability, social media, accuracy, transparency, cultural sensitivity, minimizing harm, ethical advertising, news judgment, and more. This course may serve to assist students in analyzing and resolving myriad ethical dilemmas they could encounter on the job.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 122