Departmental courses focus on two-person interaction, small group decision making, communication patterns in organizations and other complex systems. Focus is also on speaker-audience interaction in public speaking contexts. The department encourages students to work closely with faculty in advising, teaching, research projects, and informal interactions. Speech Communication majors and minors receive their formal academic advisement from a faculty member assigned by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Within American society, employers increasingly recognize the need for more effective communication.
Graduates often have several career choices.
Career opportunities in communication are expanding for women and minorities. The department is committed to helping undergraduate majors identify jobs and work environments for which they are suited best, and to assist them in selecting internships, minors, and elective courses to complement the speech communication major. In addition to their academic responsibilities, the department expects students to integrate into their learning a broad range of campus and community communication activities. The independent projects course, SPC 309, offers one to six hours of academic credit for such activities. SPC 491, an internship course, enables qualified juniors and seniors to gain professional experience in career environments.