Contents of This Chapter
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Ellen A. Wartella
PhD
Dean
John M. Quinn
JD
Acting Associate Dean
Patricia A. Stout
PhD
Associate Dean
Patricia D. Witherspoon
PhD
Associate Dean
Jack L. Whitehead
PhD
Associate Dean
David M. Catherman
BA
Assistant Dean
Robert J. Risher
BA
Assistant Dean
Darrell D. Rocha
BA
Assistant Dean
In an increasingly crowded and complex world, communication plays many roles.
Accurate communication from person to person and individual to public is
essential to understanding, and understanding is basic to intelligent agreement
or disagreement. The swift exchange of information permits business to grow,
stimulates public taste, and brings about change while helping individuals and
institutions to adapt to change. Decreasing the time between the discovery of
new knowledge by scientist, scholar, or industrial experimenter and the
comprehension of this knowledge by large segments of the public counteracts
inertia and spreads the benefits of such discoveries. Communication makes
possible the marshaling of public opinion and increases the effectiveness of
forces for political progress.
The academic discipline of communication combines the characteristics of an art
and of a science. Those who study communication as an art seek to improve in
themselves and in others the oral, written, and visual skills of exchanging
information. As a science, communication emphasizes the objective study and
investigation of this fundamental aspect of human behavior.
The four departments of the College of Communication do not represent all of
the academic disciplines concerned with the process of communication or the
effects of communication on the individual and society. Engineering and physics
shape and design the instruments by which communication is transmitted, and in
the process become involved with human desires and reactions. Linguistics
investigates the symbols by which human beings convey messages to each other.
All language study bears on the process of communication. Art, drama, music,
and literature are forms of communication. Psychology studies the relationship
of communication to the individual, and sociology examines the impact of
communication on society. Education relies heavily on effective communication.
Thus the student who majors in the College of Communication should find
relationships between the major and every course in the program. The major
should give focus to the student's educational experience at the University.
Those who minor in one of the communication departments should find means of
increasing their personal effectiveness through developing skill in writing and
speaking and in discerning the role of the mass media in the communication
process in society.
In addition to the extensive library and computer resources of the University,
certain special resources provide support for work in communication. Chief
among them is the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center, a three-building complex
housing academic and production facilities for the College of Communication and
production facilities for Texas Student Publications, Inc. The Communication
Center consists of the following:
A six-level, 100,000-square-foot academic building, with classrooms, offices, a
computer writing laboratory, a multimedia auditorium, and the dean's office.
A nine-level, 110,000-square-foot production building to accommodate studios
for training students in radio, television, and film production and production
facilities for KUT/90.5 MHz and the University Cable System.
A four-level, 25,000-square-foot building housing editorial, business,
advertising, photographic, printing, composing, circulation, and storage
facilities for Texas Student Publications, which publishes the Daily
Texan, Cactus and Peregrinus yearbooks, and other
publications authorized by the University and oversees the operation of KVRX,
the University's student-run radio station, and Texas Student Television.
These facilities provide opportunities for academic programs that cross
departmental lines, interrelate print and electronic media, and otherwise
combine the resources of the college in ways not feasible within its component
departments.
Although students have access to the college's computer writing laboratory,
they are encouraged to purchase personal computers for their own use.
The College of Communication has a large number of scholarships that are
awarded annually. Students interested in receiving one of these scholarships
should apply by February 15 for scholarships to be awarded the following fall
semester. Application forms are available in the Dean's Office. Each department
also awards scholarships. For further information, contact the dean's office or
the department.
The College of Communication Career Services Office helps both students and
graduates to find career-oriented employment after graduation. Students receive
some assistance in obtaining part-time jobs and internships while in school.
The office provides advice on preparation of resumes, portfolios, and letters
of application; maintains permanent placement files for mailing to prospective
employers; schedules interviews with prospective employers; and publishes a
semimonthly job listing.
As a complement to the assistance available from the college, the University
Career Center provides comprehensive career services to all students. The
center offers professional assistance to students in choosing or changing their
majors or careers, seeking an internship, and planning for the job search or
for graduate study.
The University makes no promise to secure employment for each graduate.
Admission and readmission of all students to the University is the
responsibility of the director of admissions. Information about admission to
the University is given in
General Information. Admission to a major may
be restricted by the availability of instructional resources.
Undergraduate students admitted to the College of Communication who have not
completed two years in a single foreign language in high school must complete
in the classroom or by examination the first two semesters in a foreign
language (usually courses 406 and 407 or 506 and 507), which will not be
counted toward the degree.
A few students who already have a bachelor's degree and who are not candidates
for an advanced degree are admitted to the college each year as special
nondegree students. Such students are admitted only with the approval of the
department chairman concerned and the dean.
The Student Division Office oversees all advising in the college. Advising
procedures for the two general classifications of communication students are as
follows:
-
A student with fewer than sixty semester hours of credit may register as an
undeclared major or declare an intended major. In either case, the student
should confer with advisers in the Student Division Office for information on
degree requirements and the appropriateness of course selections.
- Students with sixty or more semester hours of credit must declare a major
in advertising, communication sciences and disorders, journalism,
radio-television-film, or speech. These students should continue to consult
advisers in the Student Division Office to make sure they are meeting all
degree requirements and to obtain a degree audit at the time they declare a
major.
For advising in depth on specific programs of study, courses, and
career choices in their majors, students should consult their departmental
advisers. In departments that require preregistration advising, the
departmental adviser is also responsible for approving the student's schedule
of courses for each semester and summer session. Finally, each student should
consult advisers in the Student Division Office for assistance in preparing for
graduation.
General Information gives information about registration, adding and
dropping courses, transfer from one division of the University to another, and
auditing a course. The
Course Schedule, published before registration
each semester and summer session, includes registration instructions, advising
locations, and the times, places, and instructors of classes. The Course
Schedule and General Information are sold at campus-area bookstores.
They are also published on the World Wide Web and are accessible through the
registrar's Web site, http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/.
Enrollment in upper-division courses in the College of Communication may be
restricted because of limitations on instructional resources.
Advertising and journalism majors must pass the College of Communication
Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation Test before enrolling in Journalism 312 or
any upper-division advertising course. Students who receive transfer credit for
Journalism 312 or Advertising 325 must also take and pass the Grammar, Spelling
and Punctuation Test before enrolling in subsequent courses in the major.
Students may take the test up to three times. If a student has not passed the
test after three trials, the student may not enroll in courses that require the
test. Students whose native language is not English may appeal to their major
department to waive the three-trial limitation. Information about test dates is
available from the Measurement and Evaluation Center, 2616 Wichita, the
Department of Advertising, and the Department of Journalism.
The Senior Fellows Program is a college-wide honors program providing a broad,
interdisciplinary supplement to the departmental majors. The program is
designed for students with the talent and interest to go beyond the usual
undergraduate experience; participants complete four honors courses in
communication while fulfilling the requirements of one of the majors in the
college. Students with a grade point average of at least 3.30 are invited to
apply to participate during their junior and/or senior years. Requirements for
admission include completion of the formal application process, which includes
a written statement of purpose indicating why the student wishes to be part of
the program, and an interview with members of the faculty committee that
oversees the program. Thirty-five to forty students are selected for the
program each year.
Each department in the College of Communication offers an honors program to
students majoring in the department. Requirements for the programs vary, but
all include (1) a minimum University and department grade point average for
admission to and continuance in the program; (2) three to six semester hours of
honors coursework; and (3) completion in residence at the University of at
least sixty semester hours of coursework counted toward the degree.
Each department encourages eligible students to apply for admission to the
honors program. Students who complete the program receive a certificate
indicating "Special Honors in (name of department)." This notation also appears
on the transcript.
Advertising Honors Program
Candidates
for special honors in advertising should apply to the undergraduate adviser for
admission to the honors program upon completion of sixty semester hours, but in
no case later than upon completion of ninety semester hours. A University grade
point average of at least 3.25 and a grade point average in advertising of at
least 3.50 are required for admission. The requirements for graduation with
special honors are (1) Advertising 379H, Honors Tutorial Course, with a
grade of at least B; (2) a University grade point average of at least
3.25 and a grade point average in advertising of at least 3.50; (3) completion
in residence at the University of at least sixty semester hours of coursework
counted toward the degree of Bachelor of Science in Advertising; and (4)
demonstration of professional skill to the satisfaction of the Advertising
Honors Committee. Such demonstration should involve performance beyond
classroom requirements and may be provided by excellence in work for student
publications, on a summer internship, in a conference course, or in part-time
professional employment.
Communication Sciences and Disorders Honors Program
Candidates
for special honors in communication sciences and disorders should apply to the
Honors Committee for admission to the program upon completion of ninety
semester hours of coursework. A University grade point average of at least 3.00
and a grade point average in communication sciences and disorders of at least
3.50 are required for admission. The requirements for graduation with special
honors are (1) Communication Sciences and Disorders 359H, Honors Tutorial
Course: Reading, with a grade of at least B; (2) Communication
Sciences and Disorders 379H, Honors Tutorial Course: Special Project,
with a grade of at least B; (3) a satisfactory score on a comprehensive
honors examination; (4) a University grade point average of at least 3.00 and a
grade point average in communication sciences and disorders of at least 3.50;
and (5) completion in residence at the University of at least sixty semester
hours of coursework counted toward the degree of Bachelor of Science in
Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Journalism Honors Program
Candidates
for special honors in journalism should apply to the honors adviser for
admission to the honors program upon completion of sixty semester hours of
coursework, but in no case later than upon completion of ninety semester hours.
A University grade point average of at least 3.50 and a grade point average in
journalism of at least 3.50 are required for admission. The requirements for
graduation with special honors are (1) Journalism 379H, Honors Tutorial
Course, with a grade of at least 85 on a thesis; (2) a University grade
point average of at least 3.50 and a grade point average in journalism of at
least 3.50; (3) completion in residence at the University of at least sixty
semester hours counted toward the degree of Bachelor of Journalism; and (4)
demonstration of professional skill to the satisfaction of the Journalism
Honors Committee. Such demonstration should involve performance beyond
classroom requirements and may be provided by excellence in work for student
publications, on a summer internship, in a conference course, or in part-time
professional employment.
Radio-Television-Film Honors Program
Candidates
for special honors in radio-television-film should apply to the Honors
Committee of the department for admission to the honors program upon completion
of ninety semester hours. A University grade point average of at least 3.00 and
a grade point average in radio-television-film of at least 3.50 are required
for admission into and continuation in the honors program. The requirements for
graduation with special honors are (1) two semesters of Radio-Television-Film
378H, Honors Tutorial Course, with a grade of at least B each
semester; (2) a University grade point average of at least 3.00 and a grade
point average in radio-television-film of at least 3.50; and (3) completion in
residence at the University of at least sixty semester hours of coursework
counted toward the degree of Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film.
Speech Honors Program
Candidates
for special honors in speech should apply to the Honors Committee for admission
to the program upon completion of ninety semester hours of coursework. A
University grade point average of at least 3.00 and a grade point average in
speech of at least 3.50 are required for admission. The requirements for
graduation with special honors are (1) Speech 359H, Honors Tutorial Course:
Reading, with a grade of at least B; (2) Speech 379H, Honors
Tutorial Course: Special Project, with a grade of at least B; (3) a
satisfactory score on a comprehensive honors examination; (4) a University
grade point average of at least 3.00 and a grade point average in speech of at
least 3.50; and (5) completion in residence at the University of at least sixty
semester hours of coursework counted toward the degree of Bachelor of Science
in Speech.
The designation University Honors, awarded at the end of each long-session
semester, gives official recognition and commendation to students whose grades
for the semester indicate distinguished academic accomplishment. Both the
quality and the quantity of work done are considered. Criteria for University
Honors are given in chapter 1.
Students who, upon graduation, have demonstrated outstanding academic
achievement are eligible to graduate with University Honors. Criteria for
graduation with University Honors are given in chapter 1.
Outstanding students in the College of Communication are eligible for election
to the following national honorary and professional organizations with chapters
at the University: AAF/ADS (for men and women in advertising); Delta Sigma
Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha (speech); Kappa Tau Alpha (journalism); Public Relations
Student Society of America; Sigma Alpha Eta (speech pathology and audiology);
the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi (for men and women
entering journalism); Women in Communications, Inc. (a professional
organization for women in communications).
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28 August 1996. Registrar's Web Team
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