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119 Gregory Hall
810 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-2350
For students with two years of college and commitments to careers
in communications, the College of Communications offers an additional
two years of education leading to bachelor of science degrees in advertising,
in journalism, and in media studies.
Through its professional programs, the college strives to give students
in advertising and journalism broad career competence in their chosen
fields of communications while ensuring they acquire solid backgrounds
in the social sciences and humanities. The college's premise is that
students need an understanding of people and the world in which they
live if they are to communicate effectively through print and electronic
media.
Through its nonprofessional media studies program, the college offers
students an opportunity to study, analyze, and critique modern communications
media, again with a firm foundation in the social sciences and humanities.
The college has modern equipment and facilities for teaching future
communications practitioners-reporting, editing, design, and photojournalism
laboratories, in addition to editing suites for radio and television
production and a teaching studio. The Communications Library is generally
recognized as one of the best in the nation. The Departments of Advertising
and Journalism maintain job placement services for their students.
The college also is the supervising administrative unit for the Division
of Broadcasting (WILL-AM, -FM, and -TV) and the Institute of Communications
Research, where the media studies program is administered.
Instruction in journalism at the university began in 1902 and was
organized as a division of the Department of English in 1916. A school
of journalism was established in 1927. In 1950, it became the School
of Journalism and Communications, with divisions of journalism, advertising,
and radio, which later added instruction in television. In 1957 the
school was elevated to college status, and two years later the college's
three divisions were redesignated departments. The present name-College
of Communications-was adopted in 1968.
Departments and Curricula
Through its Departments of Advertising and Journalism, the college,
which is fully accredited by the American Council on Education for
Journalism and Mass Communication, offers professional education in
three sequences-advertising, news-editorial journalism, and broadcast
journalism. A bachelor of science degree also is offered in media
studies through the Institute of Communications Research.
The Department of Advertising supervises work in the advertising curriculum
for students expecting to enter advertising agencies, public relations
firms, non-profit organizations, or the marketing departments of corporations.
The department aims to educate students to become analytical, flexible,
and creative professionals who are able to deal with current and future
advertising challenges.
The Department of Journalism seeks to prepare students for varied
and long-term careers in such areas as newspaper, magazine, broadcast,
and online journalism. The primary professional aim is to train students
as public affairs journalists by providing them the skills, knowledge,
and understanding required for success. The department aims to prepare
broadly educated professionals who eventually will assume decision-making
and leadership roles.
The Institute of Communications Research, through the media studies
curriculum, gives students concentrated formal academic study in the
development of the communications media and their underlying technologies.
The Departments of Advertising and Journalism offer graduate programs
leading to master of science degrees in advertising and in journalism.
The college offers an interdisciplinary program leading to a doctor
of philosophy degree in communications under the direction of the
Institute of Communications Research.
Requirements
Admission
For admission to the College of Communications, a student must complete
60 semester hours of acceptable undergraduate college work and present
a grade point average of at least 3.0 (A = 4.0) and evidence of interest
in the practice or study of communications. The competitive grade
point average in recent years has been higher for some majors. Applicants
with less than a 3.0 grade point average may be considered if they
demonstrate strong motivation and aptitude, provided spaces are available.
Because they must have junior standing to be eligible to enter the
College of Communications, students at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign are advised to register as freshmen and sophomores
as pre-journalism majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
and to follow a broad general education program. Students at other
institutions should follow similar programs.
Although there is no formal pre-advertising or pre-journalism curriculum,
a strongly recommended program for each college major for the first
two years is available in the college office. These programs include
basic courses in economics, English, history, philosophy, sociology,
and anthropology, as well as courses satisfying the university's general
education requirements. Students who do not have reasonable typing
ability should acquire this skill before entering the college. Basic
computer skills also are useful.
Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign should
apply at the college office early in the second semester of their
sophomore years to transfer to the college. Junior standing is necessary
for students to take most courses offered by the college.
Students completing their freshman and sophomore studies at institutions
other than the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are strongly
advised to defer courses in advertising, journalism, and communications
until they enroll in the College of Communications. Students must
take all of their required communications courses in the College of
Communications. They may be permitted to transfer up to nine hours
of elective communications courses taken elsewhere, provided that
they take an equivalent number of additional hours in advanced social
studies, arts, and sciences beyond the 20 semester hours required
for graduation from the college.
The college does not recommend that students with more than 90 hours
enter any of its undergraduate programs. The programs are designed
for completion within four semesters. In certain cases, it is possible
to complete the curriculum requirements in three semesters if prerequisites
in sequential courses can be met. The college does not accept a student
who already has received a bachelor's degree as a candidate for a
second bachelor's degree. Instead, it recommends that such a student
enter one of its graduate programs.
Graduation
The college offers programs of study leading to bachelor of science
degrees in advertising, in journalism, and in media studies. To
meet degree requirements, all students must satisfy general university
requirements as to registration, residence, scholarship, and fees
and must complete the university's general education requirements.
All students also must fulfill these general requirements of the
College of Communications:
- Complete a total of 124 semester hours of course credit. Basic physical
education activity courses (KIN 100-111, 122-136 and 167-169), vocational
and technical education courses, math courses numbered below 100,
introductory chemistry (CHEM 101) and basic courses in military science
(except for up to six hours in MILS courses numbered 300 and above)
will not be counted toward this total although such credits may be
counted toward meeting the admission requirement of 60 semester hours.
Up to 12 hours earned of Institute of Aviation courses and, with approval
from the student's major department head, up to a total of 12 hours
earned in Undergraduate Open Seminar (199) courses, in independent
study courses outside the college, and in other experimental courses
(such as LAS 110) may be counted. Ordinarily, only one such course
for a maximum of three hours of credit may be taken in any semester.
While the college encourages its students to have internships in communications,
particularly in the summer between their junior and senior years,
it does not allow academic credit for such experience alone nor does
it allow credit for internships obtained outside the college's academic
courses.
- Complete not less than 30 hours in courses numbered 199 or above
offered by or cross-listed with advertising, communications, or journalism
regardless of the rubric under which they are taken.
- Complete not less than 80 hours of credit outside the college, of
which 65 hours must be taken in traditional liberal arts and sciences,
which may include some courses offered outside the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences. No course of any number that is offered by or cross-listed
with journalism, advertising, or communications may count in this
total. For each hour of credit beyond 44 in such courses, the number
of hours required for graduation increases by one additional hour
to ensure that the requirement of 80 hours outside the college is
met.
- Complete not less than 20 hours in advanced (300- and 400-level)
courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in social
studies, arts, and sciences approved by the faculty. Independent study
and experimental courses outside the college; courses in applied music,
dance, engineering, military science, and theater; elementary and
introductory non-English language courses; and certain courses in
kinesiology, applied art, community health (including CHLTH 340) and
educational psychology (including EPSY 419) do not fulfill this requirement.
- Complete the specific requirements of one of the curricula offered
by the college, as listed below.
- Earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (A = 4.0) in all courses
presented for the degree, a 2.0 cumulative grade point average for
all courses taken while registered in the college, and a cumulative
2.0 grade point average for all courses taken in the major.
General Education
To graduate from the College of Communications, students must satisfy
the university's general education requirements, which currently include
completion of a two-course composition requirement and a two-course
cultural studies requirement; a third-semester (college) or three-year
(high school) foreign language requirement; and six hours in each
of these categories: quantitative reasoning, humanities/arts, social/behavioral
sciences, and natural sciences/technology. Any substitution of courses
for those approved by the university's General Education Board must
be approved by the dean of the college.
Special Programs
Edmund J. James Scholars
The College of Communications does not have a college honors program.
However, a student who transfers into the College of Communications
from another college on the Urbana-Champaign campus and is a James
Scholar in the previous college at the time of transfer will continue
to be listed as a James Scholar in the College of Communications through
the end of his or her first spring semester in the college. James Scholars' academic records are reviewed annually. If the
student has a cumulative and semester grade point average of 3.5 or
above (A = 4.0) at the time of review, he or she will be certified as a James
Scholar for the next academic year. Any student whose
cumulative and semester average falls below 3.5 will not be certified
and will be removed from the James Scholars listing. Designation as
a James Scholar is available only to a student who was so designated
previously.
Dean's List
To be eligible for Dean's List recognition for any semester, students
must rank in the top 20 percent of their respective classes and
successfully complete 14 academic hours, of which at least 12 hours
are traditionally graded hours (excluding course work graded pass-fail,
credit-no credit, satisfactory-unsatisfactory, excused, or deferred
and hours in basic physical education courses
and religious foundation courses).
Honors at Graduation
For graduation with honors, a student must have been named to the
Dean's List of the College of Communications for at least three semesters,
rank in the upper 20 percent of the student's graduation class,
and have earned a minimum grade point average of 3.5 or above
in all courses taken after admission to the College of Communications.
For graduation with high honors, a student must have been named to
the Dean's List of the College of Communications for at least three
semesters, rank in the upper 10 percent of the student's graduation
class, and have earned a minimum grade point average of 3.7 in
all courses taken after admission to the College of Communications.
For graduation with highest honors, a student must have been named
to the Dean's List of the College of Communications for at least three
semesters, rank in the upper 5 percent of the student's graduation
class, and - have earned a minimum grade point average of 3.8 or
above in all courses taken after admission to the College of Communications.
Kappa Tau Alpha
Each year, scholastically high-ranking undergraduate and graduate
students in the College of Communications are considered for membership
in Kappa Tau Alpha, a national honorary society in journalism and
communications. The society was founded to recognize and promote scholarship
in advertising, journalism, and media studies.
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