►CONTACT US at the DEPARTMENT of COMMUNICATION         

Degrees 2007 - 2008

What kind of job
can I get with my Communication Degree?

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Do I have to visit with an advisor before registering each semester?

No. The university and the department encourage self-advising as much as possible. Moreover, with the advent of the Degree Progress Report on BroncoWeb, students are able to get a very clear picture of what the requirements are for a specific degree, and what requirements they have already met. For more information on the Degree Progress Report, please go to http://registrar.boisestate.edu/students.htm

What are the basic hoops I have to jump through in the process of getting my degree?

The most flexible degree in the department is the Bachelor of Arts in Communication. To earn that degree, there are seven things you need to accomplish. Those are:

1)      Meet the university’s “minimum credit requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree.” In the 2006-2007 catalog (available online at http://registrar.boisestate.edu/Catalogs.htm), you’ll find these requirements on page 41. Students need to get a C or better in university core classes.

2)      Take an additional nine credits of coursework in Area I and Area II departments.

3)      Meet Department of Communication core requirements by taking at least one course from each of five departmental categories. For example, the first category is “Communication Arts.”  Students need to get a C or better in department core classes.

4)      Meet Department of Communication elective requirements by taking 21 more credits in the department, at least 18 of which are upper-division (300 or 400 level).

5)      Earn at least 128 total credits. This is the minimum required for a bachelors degree. For most Communication majors, this means after they do the university core, the departmental core, and departmental electives they still need 20-30 credits of electives to graduate. These electives MAY be Communication classes but do not HAVE to be.

6)      Of your 128 total credits, at least 40 must be upper-division. This is a university requirement and where the 40 credits come from does not matter.

7)      Attain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 by the time of graduation and a grade of C or better in all required classes.   

Are there specific courses that COMM majors must take for Area I, II, and III core?                                                     <<Back to top   

In the past, COMM majors had to take specific Area I, II, and III courses. For example, in Area I, all COMM majors had to take a Philosophy class. Starting in fall 2005, this requirement will be lifted. COMM majors will simply have to meet the university’s requirements for core. Do note, the university has restrictions. For example, all students must take a literature class, a history class, and a math class.

Can I use COMM 101 or COMM 112 to meet university core requirements (for Area II)?

You can use either COMM 101 or COMM 112 for Area II core requirements, but not both. If you really want to take both, one could count as your three credits of lower division COMM electives (see requirement 4 above).  

I have lots of other questions about Area I, II, and III core requirements. Should I see a COMM advisor to get these answered?

You probably do not need to. Academic advisors in the Gateway Center can answer these, as they are not questions specifically related to COMM majors. Also, each student should begin using the Degree Progress Report system in BroncoWeb to assess his/her progress. The DPR will give an accurate account of what is required of the student and what he/she still needs to take. For help on running a DPR, please go to http://registrar.boisestate.edu/degree-progress-report.htm

Do the additional nine credits of Area I and II courses (see #2 above) have to be from the list of “approved Area I and II courses” that is in the catalog and schedule of classes that is distributed each semester?

No, the courses need not be from the list of approved Area I and II courses, they need only be from Area I and II departments. The goal here is to get students to take additional credits in departments that have significant overlap with the field of communication. So, a student can take any class from any of the departments that are listed in the Area I and Area II lists. For example a student could take 9 more credits from Art (an Area I) department even if he/she had already taken six credits of Art to meet Area I requirements. These classes can be any level (100-400).

What is the department core?

The department core is a menu of courses that is intended to insure that students are exposed to a number of ways of looking at communication. Each student must take one class from each of the five categories. The categories are Communication Arts, Communication Contexts, Analysis and Criticism/Research, Communication Theory and Philosophy, and Advanced Studies. Sometimes faculty refer to these categories by letter. For example, Communication Arts is “Area A” or “Category A.” 

I took more than one class in one of the five categories. Is this a big mistake?

Most students will eventually take more than one class in some of the categories. As only one class is needed to meet the category requirement, the other class moves down to become a “departmental elective” (see #4 above). If the student is working on a degree other than the general major (B.A. in Communication) he/she should be more careful with this, because those majors have specific requirements that need to be met after the department core.

Can I take my departmental electives before finishing the departmental core?

Yes. One need not finish the departmental core before moving on to departmental electives. Most will do these  at the same time.

Can I take Internship credits and have them count toward my departmental electives?

If you are a general major yes you can, within limits. If you are working on a specific degree (e.g., Mass Communication/Journalism) there is no place for those to fit into the 36 Communication credits of the degree. Even if you are a general major, you may count only 6 credits of internship toward your 21 credits of departmental electives. And, you may take no more than a total of 9 credits of any combination of internships, independent study, practica, or communication activities to meet this 21 credit requirement.

Can I take workshop credits and have them count toward my departmental electives?

Yes, workshop credits can count toward the departmental electives requirement.

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