Ohio University’s School of Communication Studies is restructuring its communication studies major, adding a required portfolio project, pathways of specificity and required and rearranged classes.
New diplomas for the program will say Bachelor of Science as opposed to a previous Bachelor of Science in Communications. According to School of Communication Studies Director Ann Frymier, the school was required by the state to implement the changes.
“(OU is) out of line with how the other schools in the state award degrees,” Frymier said. “Most degrees are either that in Bachelor of Science (or) a Bachelor of Arts.”
Frymier said the changes are being implemented to help students build skills, connect them with alumni and support them in choosing the pathways students want to pursue.
The communication studies major is highly flexible, which can be beneficial to students ad their professional goals but also a hinderance, according to Frymier
“The problem with (the communication studies major’s academic freedom) is there's too many options,” Frymier said. “When you're a student, it's really hard to say, well, wow, ‘what do I want to do?’ and so the portfolio is also designed to help students start making connections between the skills they have.”
The major will start requiring students to complete a portfolio which will be available in Canvas, where students will be able to put their information and create projects.
“It's a little bit like setting up your own website,” Frymier said. “We will give students a template for some of the projects that they have to do that will be required, and then students can also add their own projects.”
At least four projects, in line with the major three learning outcomes and the student’s career goals, will be required. Frymier said some of the projects will have a template given but students have the option to lay it out themselves.
Frymier said students can go into their profiles and add a separate email, taking the portfolios with them after graduating from OU. The different emails will then be shared as a link where the portfolio can be viewed.
Students will learn about the portfolio in the new required introduction class COMS 1020 Introduction To Undergraduate Communication Studies.
“COMS 1020 introduces (communication students) to the major, and introduces them to how to do the portfolio,” Frymier said. “The idea is that they're going to do that their first year, or maybe their third semester at the latest.”
The portfolio will then be finished in the class COMS 4020 Professional Development in Communication Studies. The class is considered one of the two capstone experiences students will have to take.
Students also are now to complete a major emphasis by taking three of the four classes for their pathway. They can choose from four options including interpersonal and cross-culture communication, public communication and advocacy, health communication and organization communications.
Currently, the changes will apply to any freshmen or new transfer student. Students under 75 credit hours have the option to continue with the previous requirements or switch over.
Colin Hurell, a sophomore studying communication studies, chose not to switch.
“I did spend a lot of time when I first was applying here figuring out what specific type of communications major I wanted to be a part of,” Hurrell said. “Having to deal with switching my major and I'd already kind of figured out what I wanted to do with it. I ended up just staying in the same."
Hurell said the portfolio project also did not appeal to him.
“It just wasn't really something that caught my eye,” Hurrell said. “I'm sure for a lot of people it would be something that would be something that they're more interested in. Just for me personally, that wasn't always something that I wanted to focus on.”
Hurrell said he is pretty sure others decided to switch, but his friends and peers in his classes stayed with the original structure.
“Changing your major is kind of a hassle and ... communications is so broad,” Hurrell said. “It's not always coming down to what the specific branch of comms that you're in. It's just the fact that you have a degree in communications for the most part.”
Candice Rios Wenmoth, an assistant professor at the School of Communication Studies, has been in charge of reaching out to students who are eligible to switch to the new structure. She said it is important to inform students about the benefits of switching.
According to Rios Wenmoth, the process to switch is “pretty short and sweet" and making the switch will not impact how long it will take for a student to graduate.
“It's just filling out a form that says ‘I consent to this major change,’” Rios Wenmoth said. “In that form, it essentially asks that students have either met with a success advisor or a faculty mentor to discuss the change first and then they check a box that says ‘I've consented to this major change.’”
Rios Wenmoth said if communication studies students have any questions, they can contact her via her OU email.
“If students are feeling unsure, have follow-up questions or want to talk through if this change is right for them, they can certainly reach out to me and schedule a lot of one meeting so we can talk through it,” Rios Wenmoth said.
