Kristina Leigh Wright

Rohler- Speech Writing

Communication’s Day Speech

Good evening and welcome students, alumni, faculty, and invited guests. It’s that time of the year again that we look forward to so much, Communication’s Day! Robert Frost once said that “education is hanging around until you caught on” and we could not agree more. It is through the perseverance and hard work of our students and staff that our program has grown to what it is today, and we could not be any more proud than we already are.

Once again welcome to everyone that came out today to take part in Communication’s Day. For those of you who do not know who I am my name is Richard Olsen. I received my PH.D from Regent University and I’m currently the Associate Professor and Department Chair here at UNCW.

I’m very proud of what our department stands for and how meaningful it is to have our degree. Today I will talk about not only what our students get from our program but how they are able to do it. I will also discuss the demand for this degree in the job market and how it will be beneficial to your everyday life.

Communications is a course of study that most seem to overlook and its value is very much underestimated. However we here at UNCW notice its importance and strive to show others why we feel this way. One is not truly able to appreciate where we are without knowing where we have come from so with that said let me spend some time on the history of our program.

The success of our program can be credited all the way back to Dr. Betty Jo Welch who was the first COM faculty member and unit coordinator, it was because of her that the program has flourished into what it is today. The UNCW Department of Communication Studies actually began in the early 1970s as the Division of Speech Communication in the Department of Creative Arts but as of 1990 the unity was granted independence and the Department of Communication Studies was founded.

Today our program has grown and with approximately 550 pre-communications studies and communication studies majors combined became one of the largest undergraduate programs on campus. We are very proud of what our department has accomplished and what it stands for. The department recognizes, embraces, and represents the humanities and liberal arts roots and foundations of its discipline.

Our mission statement makes very clear that our primary purpose is to provide our majors an undergraduate degree program in which the philosophy, practice, criticism, and study of communication are emphasized and balanced. It is important to us that students are able to integrate application with theory.

Many students who chose to be communications majors find interest in areas such as advertising, media studies, and public relations. Other areas that are primary to our studies are digital media and video production, interracial/intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, rhetoric and communication theory, and public speaking.

I feel that the reason that our program is so successful is that it does not set limitations and boundaries when it comes to what your concentration of study is. The beauty of not emphasizing on a certain area is that one has the flexibility to customize their own degree program based on their individual goals.

We try to keep our classes smaller so our students are able to get more personal attention from their instructors. Most lecture classes have 30 students but the more intense courses that need more face time with the teachers have 16-25. However there are a few large classes that have 100-250 students that are offered but these are mainly UNCW basic studies offerings, which mean everyone is open to taking them no matter what their major.

As for our faculty most are full-time and very dedicated to their work but we do have some part-time members as well who also love what they do. We stand behind our staff all the way. They strive to help our student succeed anyway that they can and open themselves up by making themselves available to students as many ways as possible.

The communications studies program can be a very broad disciple but we do focus on four primary areas of intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, and public communication, we investigate numerous styles and modes of interaction. Our program covers a wide range of applied communication, ranging from rhetoric, public address and performance studies to communication technologies, including media production and computer-assisted interaction.

We also have core skills that we feel are conveyed through are curriculum and are not only important in our course of study but everyday life and they are: confidence, intellectual curiosity, responsibility, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, civility, and praxis.

We also stress the importance of being involved outside of class in extracurricular activities. We feel like opening yourself up and expanding your boundaries by trying new things is essential to being more successful. The most accepted organization is the communication studies

Most people when coming to college and trying to decide upon which major is right for them find themselves concerned with being able to find a job with their degree after they graduate. We can safely say you can rest assured with a communications degree, our graduates are able to leave the university with sense of satisfaction and confidence that they will find work promptly after graduation. The main forms of work that our students go into after they leave the university are television, sales, marketing, and of course journalism.

We are able to help many students find jobs so quickly because of our internship programs that we offer. Most employers find it reassuring to know that their future employee has some experience in the working world and are able to deal with situations that may arise.

As I’m sure you are all very well aware that the job market this day is very competitive and having a degree has become more than just a good thing to have on the resume and now has become a necessity. When going into the job market it is good to know you are well prepared and that you’re going in with the understanding that you are going to enjoy the job you’re applying to. Since our program offers a wide variety of classes you can rest assured that you will find what you are looking for. Each student is able to learn what they should specialize in on the basis of what classes they enjoy taking and what they are most skillful in. Once you have narrowed down your choices you can even take specialized courses that will help sharpen your skills.

I’m sure you can realize by now I’m very dedicated to the communications program here at UNCW and I hope you aren’t that today’s activities will change your perception on our curriculum and you will come to love it as much as our students and staff do. I have much confidence that you all will come to find that our facility’s number one goal is to helping our students accomplish their goals and succeeding in their goals.

I hope to see you all at our other sponsored events such as Make the Most of Your Major, professional panel presentation

the dress for success fashion show and our Annual Banquet.

We love to see how our alumni have reached their dreams and hope that you all will too with the help of our great institution. Once again I would like to thank everyone for coming out today and I hope you all enjoy the festivities.

I would love to leave you with something to think about and nothing seems more appropriate than a quote from Nelson Mandela: “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” So in order to prepare for greatness we hope you chose to better prepare yourself for the future through our program. Thank you and goodnight.