Academic Requirements

Paths of Study:
Undergraduate Requirements

Undergraduate Requirements:
Major Requirement Sheet
Undergraduate Checksheet
Course Descriptions

JCOM policy on minimum grades
A semester-by-semester plan for graduation in four years with a JCOM degree

Undergraduate education objectives: The communication major, leading to the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism, is designed to prepare students for careers in a wide range of communication fields, through instruction in the philosophical groundings, theoretical perspectives and hands-on applications of communications skills and practice.

The curriculum integrates practical mass communications skills training with critical thinking skills and understanding of the processes and effects of communication, and the relationship, roles and interactions of mass communication with other social institutions.

The Department of Journalism & Communication offers a flexible program of study designed with individual student objectives in mind within the following framework:
1) to provide students with theoretical and practical understanding the workings of mass communication principles and practice;
2) to provide students with abilities and practical skills required to work in communications professions;
3) to provide students with a grounding in the philosophical, ethical and legal frameworks of mass communication, and an understanding of the role and responsibilities of mass communication in a democratic society;
4) to develop in students critical thinking and analytical abilities, facility in social science research methods, and strong written and oral communication skills, within a broad liberal arts context.

The Department of Journalism & Communication maintainsstudios and labs designed to train students in various communications skills. These include the multimedia computer newsroom, a video preproduction studio and full TV studio, a photographic darkroom.

Students receive instruction both in traditional communications basics such as writing, information-gathering and reporting, video productions, etc., and in new technologies of on-line information gathering and in critical skills of media literacy.

Requirements: Majors must take a minimum of 30 and maximum of 36 credits in JCOM, pursuing one of the four concentration course sequences outlined below. Of the basic 120-126 semester credits needed to graduate from Utah State University, JCOM majors must take at least 90 credit hours outside the major, including 65 in the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences.

Beyond the basic 120-126 hours needed for graduation, students may take as many JCOM courses as they like. In addition, majors must complete a minor/cognate area outside of JCOM, selected with the approval of an advisor, and a minimum of 18 credits from the department's list of approved "Breadth Requirements," courses in disciplines outside the major. Thus, the basic JCOM course of study looks like this:

Pre-Major Core Requirements:The following courses are required of all majors and must be completed prior to application for major status. These courses must be taken in sequence.

Major Status: Students may apply for major status upon completion of a minimum of 60 credits, including the Premajor Core requirements, while maintaining a 2.5 cum GPA.
Majors must maintain a minimum 2.5 overall GPA, and must earn at least a C+ in all JCOM courses in order to remain in good standing. Students whose GPA drops below 2.5 will be placed on probation and may be dropped from the major if grades do not improve within one semester.
No JCOM class may be repeated more than once. All courses in the major must be taken for a grade (not Pass-Fail). Courses must be taken in sequence. Students transferring from other institutions may be accepted into the major if they fulfill these requirements; no more than 9 semester credits may be transferred in to count toward the major, in consultation with an advisor.