Communication Studies Day Address

Good afternoon students, faculty, and parents, and welcome to the 2009 Communication Studies Day Convocation! My name is Rick Olsen, and as Department Chair of the Communication Studies Department at UNCW, I would like to extend a hearty invitation to everyone here today and thank those of you who have graciously took the time and hard work to make this event a success. However, for those of you who are new to our department, I would like to formally introduce you to Communication Studies and show you a glimpse of what this diverse field has to offer.

For starters, let me clear up a question that has undoubtedly been on some of your minds, which is, “What exactly is Communication Studies?” The word “communication,” as you know, is basically is used to describe the exchange of ideas whether it is intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, or public. Our mission statement informs us that “the department covers the spectrum of applied communication, ranging from rhetoric, public address and performance studies to communication technologies, including media production and computer-assisted interaction,” but this is only the beginning. In this field, we aim to give students the option of choosing from a variety of concentrations such as advertising, public relations, performance studies, video production, intercultural communication, and so on. This is probably what you would call the luxury of our department because there are but a few courses which are required, and the remaining classes are dependent upon your specific field of interest. These required courses include Introduction to Communication, Research Methods, Communication Theory, Public Speaking, Rhetorical Theory, and Discipline Capstone. You’ll find that each of the courses, in some way, encompass the core concepts in every communication course offered at UNCW and is the basis from which students build their degree. But in order to fully comprehend our department, it is essential to understand that we are not simply all about communication in the purest sense. We also integrate other subjects related to communication like sociology, psychology, history and philosophy. Of course, performance and literary studies are an inherent part of our field as well and can be found in our Public Speaking and Storytelling classes. Now that you know a little more about this exciting field, I would like to briefly share with you the history and core beliefs of our department.

Founded in the 1970s, the Communication Studies Department was originally an extension of the Creative Arts Department, and has grown considerably each year, adding a variety of new classes every semester. Historically speaking, Communication Studies has been primarily based on rhetoric or public speaking, but recently has also come to mean other forms of messages like the internet and television. To accommodate the differing modes of communication, we at UNCW offer an array of modern courses which teach students technical skills dealing with mass media such as Field Video Production and Digital Multimedia. Our core beliefs stem from Aristotle’s idea that rhetoric is a field without boundaries, and we hold this to be the main focus for our goals in our future endeavors. Because we believe that communication is at the heart of personal development and effective citizenship, our department is proud to know that we are central to the human condition and have been for centuries. Taking pride in the core skills taught in our department, we strive to enhance our confidence, intellectual curiosity, responsibility, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, civility, and praxis. Because we know that these tools lay the groundwork for a successful career, they are incorporated into every class in the Communication Studies department and are carried out when students finally choose to enter the professional world.

But you may be wondering what type of career requires a Communication Studies degree. Surprisingly, there are quite a number of avenues graduates have the opportunity to take. Jobs in event planning, mediation, advertising, marketing, sales, broadcast journalism, public relations and human resources are only a few of the many possible choices to those graduating from our program. But the workplace is not the only area in which a student may benefit from a Communication Studies education. Building positive family relationships is another area in which our students may exercise their accumulated knowledge and skills. Courses like Mediation and Conflict Management teach us how to negotiate and find a middle ground in an argument. If this is applied to a family environment and the students use their “praxis” skills, they will reap the rewards of this department’s effort to make students better citizens and their livelihood will be enhanced because of this. From the workplace to daily family interaction, past students will find their abilities much improved from the average college graduate. Now that I have described the practical uses for this powerful department, I would like to satisfy your curiosity about what type of equipment and facilities are offered for Communication Studies majors.

As most of you know, our department is located in Leutze Hall, which is shared with the related fields Political Science, Foreign Language, Social Work, and Film Studies. In the Communication Studies field, however, we aim to give students the option of choosing from a wide range of technical skills. For students interested in such abilities as making documentaries, becoming newscasters or cameramen, there is a Macintosh edit suite where such programs as Final Cut Pro, iDVD, and Motion are available for projects. Also, we have several prosumer professional camera equipment and light kits for in-the-field video recordings. If students are more geared towards graphic design or photography, there is a Communication Studies lab where any student in the department may access software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. On the other side of the spectrum, for those wishing to direct and produce news shows, UNCW provides a fully functioning studio that gives students the opportunity to learn essential hands-on experience in such areas as news casting and television hosting. In fact, students with this experience host our very own television station called UNCW-TV and report the local weather and news on channel 77. While our equipment and facilities may be state-of-the-art and modern, it is a strange coincidence that our weakness lies in what is considered to be our greatest strength, and that is in the growing number of students interested in becoming a major of our department.

Here, I would like to talk with you all a little bit about the way the numbers run in our department and inform you of the recent improvements that have been implemented to correct this issue. For most classes in the Communication Studies department, the student teacher ratio is about 30 to 1, but in our more technical classes, this ratio drops sharply to about 15 to 17 students per professor. I can see that some of you are impressed. Yes, here at UNCW, we pride ourselves greatly in the close first-name-basis relationship we have with our students, but with each semester this becomes increasingly difficult to manage due to the rise in the numbers of Pre-Communication Studies students. Right now, the average number of entering students stands at approximately 550, which is an overwhelming number for only 19 full-time faculty members. Because of the tightening budget in our department, we, for the time being, cannot hire more faculty, but we have improved an aspect of course listings that will greatly facilitate our students to move into the major and graduate in a timely manner. Research Methods, which is the second and last gateway course into the department is usually taught by me, and many students have come to know this as one of the most difficult classes required by the Communication Studies department. Because most assignments are large group projects, the issue of a very large class size is irrelevant, and therefore our Research Methods class usually contains about 130 students. Traditionally, UNCW has only offered one section per semester for this course, but with the growing number of students, there is what one might call a “major traffic jam.” I know, cheap pun. To illustrate my point, I’ll use the cliché example of what normally takes place on advising day, which is a headache all of its own. Students are squeezed into the narrow hallways that separate the faculty offices and they will wait 20 sometimes 40 minutes to see their advisor. We have even implemented little passes that will allow a student to jump in front of the line if they attend our event, Make the Most of Your Major. Unfortunately, with 550 students, there is little choice. But I believe that the root of the problem stems from the unavailability of our gateway courses, which sometimes pushes students’ graduation dates further ahead, which can be an obstruction for them financially and developmentally. This is why I am pleased to announce that starting in Spring 2009, the Communication Studies department will open up a double section of Research Methods to facilitate this traffic. With this new class installed, it is my wish that students can continue along the way toward an exciting and enriching experience in our department. In addition to this added class, I would like to share with you the several more courses which will be offered this spring for majors in our program and are new to the department.

These new courses, I believe, have been long overdue and will add more flavor to the department overall. We have six new courses beginning this spring and I will briefly go over them in minor detail according to course number. First is Ms. Jeanne Persuit’s class, COM 295 section 2, which is entitled Intro to Integrated Marketing Communication, otherwise known as IMC. Our online website describes this class as providing “a theoretical ground that informs every communicative activity between an organization and its audiences.” Next we have COM 295, section 3 taught by Mr. Bill Phillips, which “introduce[s] students to the ways in which British authors have communicated in terms of genre and literary expression.” This class is entitled Communication, Rhetoric and British Literature. Finally, a class that incorporates truly sophisticated literature with communication! After this we have what is known as Experimental Theatre and is taught by our inspiring Dr. Carole Tallant. This course is COM 415 section 1 and “explores ways to adapt, stage, and perform both original and published literary texts.” I will be most looking forward to see how this course plays out, Dr. Tallant. In addition to these classes is COM 495 section1, which will “look at various examples of political communication throughout history, focusing on different aspects of a campaign.” Entitled SEM Political Case Studies, this class combines Political Science with Communication Studies and will be taught by the lovely Dr. Jennifer Brubaker, who takes a keen interest in our political systems and is academically concentrated in this field. Next there is Advanced Public Speaking taught by Mr. Frank Trimble, who did the book, lyrics, and music for the very entertaining “Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol” this past winter. His class is COM 495 section 2 and will include such assignments as impromptu speaking, memorized delivery of a “famous” speech, ceremonial speech, press conferences and so on. Not for the faint of heart, right Mr. Trimble? Finally we will be offering an additional production class entitled, Creating a Professional Demo Reel which will of course be taught by Dr. Bill Bolduc, who teaches all of our Television Production classes here are UNCW. This class is COM 495 section 7, and is an advanced class that will prepare production students to make a video presentation of their collected work for future professional interviews. In the past, students were expected to do this on their own without much guidance, but now we are delighted to have a specific class geared toward improving student’s work and their chances of finding their way into the workplace. Now that you know what new classes are being offered, I will inform you about the many clubs and organizations we have in our department.

As many of you know, here at UNCW, we like to support our students’ interests by offering extracurricular activities that will give them added experience in their specific field as well as provide them with friendships and the opportunity for networking. Such clubs include Communication Studies Society, Lambda Pi Eta, Storytelling in the Community, and the UNCW Advertising Chapter. The first club, Communication Studies Society, also known as CSS, hosts our event Make the Most of Your Major, which I mentioned earlier. This event is held each year and includes panel discussions as well as future course offerings, where instructors introduce their upcoming courses and invite students to register. In the spring, the club also hosts an event called Dress for Success, which will be held today shortly after this convocation. The main idea behind this runway-type of clothing presentation is to give students an instructional of how best to dress in the workplace and for interviews. CSS, however, is best known for their many community service activities such as “Rock for the Cure” and “Relay for Life.” The next club I would like to bring up is Lambda Pi Eta, which is our department’s honors society. Their main contribution to UNCW is in their charity events and fundraisers. Last year, they held, “Walk for the Innercity Scholarship Fund,” of which 2,700 dollars in funds were donated to the a non-profit organization in New York City. The next club I will introduce today is actually a 2-credit hour course of Dr. Tallant’s, known as Storytelling in the Community or COM 216. This co-curricular class allows students to transform theoretical knowledge into practical application. In this class, students visit elementary schools in Wilmington, performing stories and entertaining children. Because every semester is a unique experience, students may take the course up to four times, earning 8-credit hours. Now, I would like to move on to the UNCW Advertising Chapter, which offers its own unique experiences. Students involved in this club conduct discussion panels with advertising executives. Also, this club earns professional experience by working with campus departments, local businesses, and other campus organizations to make persuasive promotional campaigns. By just glancing at this impressive list of extracurricular opportunities, I can see just how exceptional our department really is. Of course, this list is but a sampling of what the Communication Studies department includes, and it is my hope that once all of you leave this event, you will consider becoming a new member to one of these wonderful clubs.

To wrap up this introduction, I just want to say thank you to all of you who came out to our big event, and also thank you to those of you who contributed to the development of the Communication Studies Day. Without your help, we wouldn’t be here today. So, to reiterate my points, let me remind you that Communication Studies is not simply a department in UNCW academia. We are a volatile, motivating, and constantly growing group of friends and associates who strive for the betterment of society and take pride in knowledge of our contribution to the community. Now, for those of you who completely forgot the topics, I have gone over what Communication Studies is, what careers require this degree, our equipment and facilities, the history of the department, new courses in the spring, improvements in the field, and shared with you some of our many clubs. That’s quite a bit to digest, isn’t it? Well, in the words of Plutarch, “the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” So I suppose you can stew over this one while you enjoy the rest of the program. Thanks and enjoy the show!