Guy O. Wall, Chair
Academic Policies Committee
Indiana University Southeast
Dear Dr. Wall,
I am writing as coordinator of the Communication Studies Department to seek approval for minor changes in our major, minor, and associate degree programs. The changes to the major program include the following:
1. Eliminate W290 (Writing for the Arts and Sciences) as a required course for entrance to the major.
2. Eliminate T270 (History of Theater) as a required course for the major.
3. Add S228 (Argumentation and Debate) as a required course for the major.
4. Add S229 (Group Discussion) as a required course for the major.
5. Eliminate S407 (Rhetorical Theory) and add S421 (Speech Criticism) in its place as a requirement for the major.
6. Minor adjustments to the electives we allow students to take with no change to the number of elective hours required.
The decision to eliminate the Theater and Writing courses was made to allow us to offer courses that include more specific training in the field of Communication Studies. According to a survey of Communication Departments nationwide, these courses are required in about 70% of the programs (Wardrope, 1999). As part of our self-study, we have identified these courses as essential to our major and believe our major program is out of step with current trends in communication education without them. By eliminating W290 and T270 we are able to offer these essential courses without increasing the total number of required hours for our majors. In response to the review of our assessment program, we have taken steps to increase the intensive writing experiences our students receive within the major in order to minimize any negative consequences to our students. We have notified the writing program coordinators Dr. Sweigert and Dr. Wyandotte of our intention to eliminate W290 as a requirement and have not yet received a response.
The elimination of T270 was also undertaken to allow for more specific training in communication. Communication Studies and Theater departments have long ago been separated on most campuses. This decision was made after having several discussions with our colleagues in the Theater Department.
We intend for these changes to coincide with the issue of the next IUS Bulletin. Only students entering the Communication Studies major next Fall will be effected by these decisions. Further, we plan to wait one full year before we begin to offer the new courses so that there is time for our majors to complete the required prerequisites for the group discussion and argumentation courses. We expect there to be minimal impact on our current students or on the Theater or Writing programs.
The Communication Studies Department also intends to make the following changes to the minor program:
1. Eliminate W290 as a requirement.
2. Eliminate S322 (Advanced Interpersonal Communication), S334 (Persuasion), and S405 (Communication Theory) as required courses and allow students to choose two courses from among any of the upper division core courses with the exception of S405 (Communication Theory) and S424 (Empirical Research Methods).
The rationale for the elimination of W290 follows our rationale above. We are restricting enrollment in S405 to majors only because it is a capstone course and is really only appropriate for students who have completed all of the core courses in advance. We are restricting enrollment in S424 because the research methods course does not contain a great deal of content specific to the field of communication. We are also reducing the total number of hours required for the minor from 21 to 15 to make the minor more attractive to students and to bring the total hours required into line with the majority of units on campus.
Finally, The Communication Studies Department intends to make the following change to the Associate of Arts program:
1. Eliminate S322 (Advanced Interpersonal Communication), and S324 (Persuasion), as required courses for the degree and, in their place, require students to choose any 2 courses from among the 200 and 300 level courses (as well as S427, Cross Cultural Communication) offered by the department.
This decision was made because we believe restricting students to S322 and S324 is extremely limiting. Allowing students to tailor their coursework to their personal and/or professional needs will better serve them. We think this change will provide students with an opportunity to put together a program that specifically fits their lifetime learning goals and objectives.
Thank you for taking the time to review these changes. If you have any concerns, questions, or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Harry Weger, Coordinator
Communication Studies Department
Indiana University Southeast